enable us to say with confidence no great number of ships would be detained for want of guns. In answer to my hon. friend the member for Preston I showed that by the end of the financial year 1888–90 all our ships requiring heavy ordnance would be supplied with their guns. The vessels of this year will be supplied with their guns, though there will be a delay of two months. After that the block will be entirely removed. I speak as to the user, while my right hon. friend speaks as to the manufacture, and we are both quite confident that for the future no block of the same character will occur, and that if orders are given in time, and if no change takes place in the designs (Opposition cheers) during construction, the sources of production will hereafter be quite equal to our naval wants. (Cheers.) I will undertake that the orders are given in time, and my right hon. friend will undertake that there is no change in the designs after the guns have once been ordered. Now I wish to say a word on the subject of designs. We have a Designs of ships. large number of ships which are coming on, and we wish to impose a test more effective than that of the measured mile and the ordinary experimental cruise, because we have formed certain opinions regarding their merits and defects and are conscious that they should be thoroughly tested. We have had the advantage of the naval manœuvres, and that has fully confirmed the opinion we have formed, and all the vessels which we propose to build will be characterized by a high freeboard, more length, more engine room, and we shall avoid cramping too much. (Hear, hear.) We have designed a new ship of war which shall not only be capable of fighting, but shall also give decent accommodation for the officers and men on board and in all weathers. (Hear, hear.) So far as the question of design, construction, or armament is concerned, we can give every assurance that any increase of expenditure which may be sanctioned shall be given effect to in a prompt and business-like manner. (Hear, hear.) I now turn to the exact number of ships which we propose to build, New proand the expenditure associated with them; but I do not propose to give the individual cost of each vessel, following the precedent set by Lord Northbrook in 1885, because, if we are to derive the benefit of contractors, it is not advisable to give them too close a line as to their tenders. (Laughter.) The number of ships which we consider should be added to Her Majesty's Navy in our new shipbuilding programme is 70 (Ministerial cheers), and their estimated cost, including armament, is £21,500,000. (Ministerial cheers and counter-cheers.) We propose to build eight first-class battle-ships, with a displacement of 14,000 tons; two second-class battle-ships, gramme. Time to complete Cost. dockyards and by contract. with a displacement of 9000 tons; nine first-class cruisers, with a displacement of 7300 tons; 29 smaller cruisers, of the Medea class, with a displacement of 3400 tons; four smaller cruisers, of the Pandora class, with a displacement of 2600 tons; 18 torpedo gunboats, of the Sharpshooter type, with a displacement of 735 tons-making a total aggregate tonnage of 318,000 tons. As to the time the ships. each of these vessels will take to complete, the first-class battle-ships will be finished in from three-and-a-half to four years; the secondclass battle-ships, in three years; the first-class cruisers, in two-anda-half years; the smaller cruisers, in two years or somewhat less; and the gun vessels in one-and-a-half year. Of the aggregate cost of £21,500,000 for these 70 vessels, the sum of £16,150,000 will be Expendi- for engines and hulls, and £5,350,000 for the armament. Dividing ture in the sum of £21,500,000 into two portions, one of £11,500,000 and another of £10,000,000, the sum of £10,000,000 represents the work which we propose to put out to contract, and the £11,500,000 is the amount of work which we propose to assign to the dockyards. The first sum of £10,000,000 will enable us to build, arm, and equip the following vessels:-4 battle-ships, 5 first-class cruisers, 17 secondclass cruisers, and 6 torpedo gunboats-making a total of 32 vessels; and I propose to put the whole of these 32 contracts out in the course of the present financial year. (Ministerial cheers.) Funds for this expenditure will be raised by methods and under conditions which the Chancellor of the Exchequer will subsequently explain. If I find there is any tendency to run up prices against the Admiralty we may have to alter our decision on that point, but with that one reservation we intend to put this amount of work out. For the purpose of building and completing the remaining 38 vessels and their armament there is £11,500,000. This sum, which is to be included in the ordinary estimates, can be divided into two heads£8,650,000 for construction of engines and hulls, and £2,850,000 for Dockyard armament. We propose to lay down in the dockyards this year 20 vessels, as follows:-4 battle-ships of the first class, 1 of the second class, 3 first-class cruisers, 6 second-class cruisers, and 6 torpedo gunboats. Adding these 20 to the 32 put out to contract we have 52, leaving 18 out of the 70 still to be accounted for. A second-class battle-ship will be laid down early in the financial year 1891, and the other vessels will take their places on the slips in the dockyards as soon as they become vacant by the launch of the vessels laid down in the first year. The whole of the programme, including time to be both dockyard and contract work, is to be finished in four-and-a-half years from the date of the commencement of the first vessel. How money is to be raised. work. Contract work. Entire occupied in build ing. years Time occupied in building each class of vessel., (Cheers.) There is a naval and an administrative advantage in this distribution of work to which I should like to call attention. Taking the programme as a whole it consists of 70 ships, 10 of which are battle-ships and 60 cruisers of different types. A battle-ship takes very much longer to build than a cruiser-three-and-a-half or four years-and if they are to be finished within four-and-a-half they must all be commenced in the first year. But a battle-ship when completed is not efficient unless she has certain small vessels attached to her as scouts (hear, hear), and we consider that out of the 70 vessels 20 are the satellites of the battle-ships. The remaining 40 cruisers will be effective whether used in squadrons or individually. We propose to commence the construction of the whole of Order of these this year, and thus make an immediate addition to the Navy of building. what it most requires. Later on, when an increase is made to our battle-ships, each battle-ship will be accompanied by two smaller vessels, and thus there will be no drain upon our force of independent cruisers. This enables us to carry out effectively the whole of our shipbuilding programme, and it also enables us to give continuous employment in the dockyards, thus avoiding the great evils of a sudden expansion of business. (Cheers.) In order to absorb the Financial amount represented by this sum of £11,500,000 we raise the ship- arrangebuilding vote in the ordinary estimates by £615,000, and reduce the ordnance vote by £400,000, because we intend to purchase all the ordnance for the contract ships out of the £10,000,000 to which I have referred. If the shipbuilding vote be kept at the level at which we propose to put it, and the ordnance vote at the same level, there will be sufficient to provide for the whole of this work as well as for all the work we have in hand, and to complete in the period of fourand-a-half years. (Hear, hear.) The Committee will observe the extreme rapidity with which we propose to build these ships. In France a battle-ship takes nearly ten years to complete. In this country, previous to 1885, ironclads took six years and large cruisers four years. We propose to lay down 70 vessels, including 10 battleships, in four-and-a-half years. It is in the interests of economy that we make this proposal. "Lord R. Churchill: Are the 70 vessels to be the total shipbuilding production of four years, or in addition to the ordinary programme ? ments. North "Lord G. Hamilton: No; perhaps I may explain. When Lord Lord Northbrook made his proposals there were a large number of ships brok in the dockyards which were in process of building, and what he did arrangewas to increase the existing shipbuilding programme by making ments. Advantages of building ships rapidly. counts to be kept. certain additions to it. I stated that on April 1, 1890, there would only be four ships in Her Majesty's dockyards and under contract, independent of this programme, which would not be complete. These four ships would be in the last stage of construction. After this year, therefore, the whole of the Naval Estimates are available to carry out this part of the programme. The rapidity of construction means economy, because delay occasions twofold waste-not only does the ship cost more in construction, but the longer it is on the stocks the less is its life as an effective ship, and, therefore, the less use you get out of it. In order to ensure rapidity of construction for the whole of these ships, contract as well as dockyard ships, we propose to put them in an Act of Parliament in two schedules, enacting that they shall be completed within the period I have Special ac- mentioned-namely, by April, 1894. A special account will be kept of each of these vessels, and those accounts will be subject to the ordinary control of the Treasury and the Auditors-General. In order that the dockyards may not be subject to certain impediments which prevent the ships from being completed as rapidly as possible, we propose slightly to adjust the financial machinery in two essentials as regards excesses and balances of votes. There is perhaps no practice, however laudable in its pretensions, which results more in extravagance than the practice of surrendering balances because the contractors have failed to deliver within a certain period. The liability remains, but the money goes back into the Exchequer and goes to the reduction of the National Debt. It is practically a misappropriation of funds. The taxpayer is taxed one year for certain work, but because the contractor, through some unforeseen circumstances, is unable to View as to deliver the work a day in advance of March 31, the money so raised goes back into the Exchequer, and next year the taxpayer is taxed again for the same purpose. That is not only unfair, but most prejudicial to economy. The unquestioned tendency in the departments is to surrender as little as possible, and there are a number of devices by which attempts are made to reduce expenditure which would come into the next year by anticipating it, in order that in a subsequent year this deferred liability may be met without upsetting the departmental finance or the estimates of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Therefore, the proposal we make is that balances in reference to shipbuilding should be retained. But we go further. There are certain articles and certain stores, such as armour plates and steel castings, which only a limited number of firms produce, and we must take these goods when we can get them. It is very likely that in dealing with transactions of this magnitude armour the usual financial arrangements. The new proposal. of expense gramme. of the scheme. plates may be delivered sooner than anticipated, and heavy payments have to be made which would disorganize arrangements, and, therefore, provision is made for a temporary advance for the purpose of meeting any such payments, the advance being immediately repaid as soon as there was a surplus at the credit of the department. We propose to Proportion allocate to new construction in the coming financial year, 1889-90, for the £2,645,000, but only £1,360,000 is available for the new programme, new prothe remainder goes to the completion of those ships still in hand. Next year, 1890–91, we propose to allocate £2,590,000 for new shipbuilding, and of that £2,340,000 will go to the new programme. In 1891-92 we propose to allocate £2,560,000 to new construction, and the whole of that will go towards the new programme. Next year we estimate that only £1,650,000 will be required, and in 1893–94, £740,003. These sums in the aggregate amount to £8,650,000. We propose in the same way to distribute the money necessary to arm these ships and to make provision for it out of the ordinary ordnance vote. Adding that sum of £8,650,000 to the amount required for ordnance, which is £2,850,000, we get £11,500,000, which is the whole of the work we propose to put upon the estimates. Therefore, Summary summing up our scheme, it comprises the building of 70 vessels, it involves the expenditure of £10,000,000 out of the special fund, the nature of which my right hon. friend will explain; and it involves an increase of £615,000 in the shipbuilding vote, but there will be a reduction of £400,000 in the ordnance vote, making a total increase of £215,000. I do not wish to anticipate the discussion on the ordinary estimates, but there is certain work which we propose to take in hand, and which forms so essential a part of our shipbuilding policy that I must allude to it. There are a considerable number of our ironclads whose boilers are much worn. We propose to take all these vessels in hand and spread their repairs over a number of years, ironclads. on this principle-that as few vessels as possible should be laid up at one time. (Cheers.) Certain of these vessels are worth re-engining, others are worth re-arming, so that in certain cases these vessels, re-boilered, re-engined, and re-armed, will be more efficient and powerful than on the day they were first commissioned. The vessels we propose to take in hand are the Minotaur, Achilles, Superb, Thunderer, Devastation, and Rupert-they will all be taken in hand this year. Next year we shall deal with the Hercules, Monarch, Sultan, and Invincible. We propose also to thoroughly refit the Nelson, Audacious, and Triumph this year-that is included in the ordinary shipbuilding vote, which has been increased by £615,000. By taking these vessels in hand and repairing them, we are enabled L New boilers for existing |