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of our ancient forbears; and no one will pass in English history till he can sputter out all the guttural names in the Saxon Chronicle. Palæography should keep to its place, in commentaries, glossaries, monographs, and the like. In English literature, the literary name of the greatest ruler of the West is Charlemagne; the literary name of the most perfect of kings is Alfred; and the literary name of the greatest of poets is Shakespeare. The entire world, and not England alone, has settled all this for centuries. Manuscripts and Palæography have nothing to do with it.

FREDERIC HARRISON.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE NAVY.

1880-85.

Ir is proposed in the present paper to give a general view of the administration of the Navy under the late Government. In dealing with naval affairs political partisanship should be forgotten. It is believed that the present statement will be found impartial and accurate.

As an introductory observation it may not be superfluous to remark that each successive administration is bound, at least at the outset, to a large extent by the policy of their predecessors. Now what was the state of the Navy as it was handed over to us by our predecessors? What was the standard of expenditure which they had accepted? What were the distinctive features of their administration? They had devoted great attention to the repairs of the fleet. They had been called upon to prepare for warlike operations in the East. The construction of ironclads had been retarded by the controversy raised by Sir Edward Reed as to the design for the Inflexible;' but four ironclads had been purchased out of money provided under a vote of credit. During the Russo-Turkish war the naval expenditure had been largely increased, and at the conclusion of peace a policy of retrenchment was naturally desired by the country. We cannot complain of the reduction of estimates in the year immediately preceding our acceptance of office; but it may be claimed for the Board of which the present writer was a member, that its policy must in fairness be viewed in connection with that of the previous Board.

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Dealing first with the personnel of the Navy, successive Admiralties have come to a common understanding that the force of bluejackets should be maintained at an average of from 18,000 to 19,000. Lord Northbrook accepted this decision, and, finding that the number of boys in training was insufficient, he largely increased the entries. It is a point of supreme importance to maintain an adequate reserve of men for the Navy. It was decided by the late Board of Admiralty to equalise the numbers in the First and Second class, and to maintain the Reserve at a strength of 20,000. With this force, with 4,000 highly trained seamen in the Coast Guard, with 5,000 men in the Seamen Pensioners' Reserve, and with a body of Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers, which, encouraged by the capitation grant accorded by the present Government, we hope ere long to see raised to 4,000 or 5,000 members, an ample number of men will be available to meet

any sudden emergency. In lieutenants, and in our engine-room complements, we should be deficient. For reinforcements we should appeal with confidence to our noble merchant service.

In the cruise of the experimental squadron under Admiral Hornby several officers of the Naval Reserve were appointed for duty to the different ships. They worked with the utmost zeal, and their services were greatly valued. It will be noticed with satisfaction that the present Board have decided to enter 2,000 stokers for the Reserve.

An important change was made by the late Board, tending to economy in the non-effective charges, and securing increased efficiency, by retaining men in the prime of life for a longer period in the service. The change in question was the extension of the first term of service in the Navy from ten to twelve years. The training of the Navy was closely watched by the naval advisers of the late Board. With a view to make officers and men more efficient in fleet duties, the admirals on foreign stations were directed to assemble each year as many ships as possible for cruising in a squadron. The results have been satisfactory.

From the personnel we pass to the matériel of the Fleet. By far the greater part of our expenditure is automatic. It represents the pay, the victualling, the pensions of officers and men, and the charge for the maintenance of our large establishments at home and abroad. It is therefore in the building votes chiefly that the distinctive policy of a Government is directly and immediately felt. Viewed in the light of these observations the following table affords a clear indication of the course pursued by successive administrations :

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Estimated only.

19,610 792,023 3,615,264 4,245,382

18,819 794,497 3,998,320 | 4,607,237 (512,549)

18,702 1,399,232 5,047,320 6,102,652 (856,908)

These amounts include the cost of armoured and unarmoured tonnage purchased out of vote of "The figures in parenthesis do not include cost of ammunition and small arms.

credit.

(509,429)

The comparison between the shipbuilding votes in France and England is given in the next table, taken from the Navy estimates presented to Parliament in the two countries.

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The amounts provided in Vote 10 for gun-mountings are omitted.

The committee of the Chamber of Deputies on the French estimates for 1886 have given in their report a table prepared by the Ministry of Marine, in which the several items in the shipbuilding votes of France and England are carefully compared. The total amounts are:

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The subjoined table (p. 109), also compiled at the Ministry of Marine in Paris from the published estimates, gives the comparative expenditure on building, as distinguished from maintenance and repairs, in France and England for a period of twenty-five years.

Having shown the increase of the shipbuilding votes in the aggregate, it may be asked, 'What were the objects on which the efforts of the late Board of Admiralty were concentrated?' When they took office their special attention was directed to the active exertions of the French administration in the building of armoured ships. While in completed ships we stood well, anxiety had been aroused by the large number of armoured ships laid down in France. In 1876-80 we had laid down only six ships, and had bought four from the vote of credit for preparations during the Russo-Turkish war. In the same period the French had laid down no less than fifteen ships. To meet this development of construction Lord Northbrook announced in an early speech, as First Lord of the Admiralty, that two ironclads would be laid down in England to every new ship laid down in France. This pledge was observed. In the five years 1880-85, ten ships were laid down in England as against five in France.

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DÉPENSES FAITES POUR CONSTRUCTIONS DE NAVIRES ET D'APPAREILS À VAPEUR.

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The policy of the late Board in relation to the construction of armoured ships is indicated clearly by the additional expenditure to which they gave their sanction. The amount appropriated to armoured building and the machinery for ironclads was raised from 634,000l. in 1879-80, to 699,000l. in 1880-81, 949,000l. in 1881-82, 991,000l. in 1882-83, 1,260,000l. in 1883-84, 1,285,000l. in 1884-85, and 1,593,000l. in 1885-86. In the estimates for 1885-86 we have a great expansion, in response to a strong popular demand; but the advance was not considerably greater than in 1881-82, and again in 1883-84, when the Admiralty were but feebly supported by opinion out of doors and in Parliament in their efforts to strengthen the Navy.

The policy of the late Admiralty was, even in its latest phase, consistent with the line which had been taken from the beginning. It was my duty to speak in public from time to time as the representative of the Board; and while claiming for the Navy that superiority of strength which had been secured by the combined efforts of successive administrations, the necessity for further efforts was insisted upon with a frankness not common in official statements. In a speech delivered at the Colston Hall, at Bristol, in November 1881, I said: 'In the present position of affairs the action of the British

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