VISCOUNT POWERSCOURT said, he merely rose for the purpose of saying, before the Bill left the House, that, in his opinion, the first Amendment of the noble Marquess (the Marquess of Salisbury), which had been carried, was equal to the rejection of the Bill. He would wish their Lordships, even at that last moment, to consider whether it was their intention to condemn Ireland to another such winter of outrages and murder as the last ?-a result, above all things, to be regretted. two years' rent upon the average would | Question before the House was the be an enormous blessing. My Lords, Amendment proposed by the noble Duke this is the state of things which makes, (the Duke of Abercorn), and general as I have said, good and wise men look observations on the Bill were out of with dismay on the chance of the loss Order. of this Bill and its possible consequences -a continuance of the social wretchedness which has too long prevailed in Ireland, and an increase of the disorder which has grown unendurable. My Lords, in presence of such dangers, I trust your Lordships will not deprive the country of the Bill; and I pray you to remember, when it is condemned as violating economic laws, that abnormal circumstances require abnormal treatment, and that the circumstances of Ireland are abnormal in the extreme. The late Government did not hesitate to help THE EARL OF REDESDALE (CHAIRthe peasant with his seed and the land- MAN of COMMITTEES) said, that, in his lord with his loans, largely, at 1 per cent, opinion, the conclusion of the noble Visbecause there existed an exceptional count (Viscount Powerscourt) was ennecessity. The present Government, with tirely indefensible. In his (the Earl of deep reluctance, have passed, with your Redesdale's) opinion, the responsibility, Lordships' help, a measure of repression if the measure should not become lawwhich violates the Constitutional prin- for that was the real point in questionciples they cherish most, and destroys would rest, not with the majority of the Constitutional safeguards they hold their Lordships, but with the Governmost precious for the security of public ment. In 99 cases out of 100 the Amendliberty. If these things have been jus- ment of the noble Marquess would bave tified by the necessity of the case, this no effect; it was not likely that the inBill is amply justified. The measure of terference of the landlords to prevent coercion should not be dissociated from the operation of the Bill would be at all the measure of relief which has been pro- extensive. He believed that the enormised to make it more tolerable. Whilst mous majority of the tenants affected by you accept what is harsh, do not reject the Bill would not in the least degree be what is beneficent. If you have felt your-interfered with by the Amendment of the selves driven to restrain and punish, do not be obdurate to the appeal of expediency and mercy. In the interest of the embarrassed landlords and the suffering people of Ireland, and still more in the interests of peace, law, order, and prosperity, I appeal to your Lordships, and specially to such of your Lordships as follow the lead of the noble Marquess opposite (the Marquess of Salisbury), so to shape your course as not to take from Ireland the advantages which will be conferred by this Bill, and leave the country to the miseries to which its rejection will unquestionably expose her. I trust most earnestly that it may be allowed to pass. VISCOUNT POWERSCOURT said, he wished to make a few observations upon the Bill. EARL CAIRNS rose to Order. He apprehended that as the third reading of the Bill had been carried, the only Lord O'Hagan noble Marquess; and, therefore, the re- Amendment agreed to. Bill passed, and sent to the Commons. SETTLED LAND BILL. (The Earl Cairns.) CONSIDERATION OF COMMONS' AMENDMENTS. EARL CAIRNS said, that he had to ask their Lordships to consider the Amendments which had been made in this Bill by the House of Commons. The Bill had been referred by the House of Commons to a Select Committee, presided over by Sir R. Assheton Cross, and composed of some of the strongest Members of the other House, both as regarded cording to Order), and agreed to. Commons Amendments considered (ac NAVY (SHIP-BUILDING). MOTION FOR RETURNS. VISCOUNT SIDMOUTH rose to move for legal attainments and knowledge on the | gested by himself, making alterations in subject of land. That Committee con- the law, so that he had, therefore, the sidered the Bill with great care, and in- gratification of finding himself considertroduced certain Amendments into it. ably ahead of the present House of ComIt spoke very eloquently for the solidity mons. of the labours of that Committee, that when the Bill was reported to the House of Commons and recommitted, there was not a single further change made. Although the Amendments made by the Commons appeared to be numerous, yet a considerable number of them consisted of the transfer of a number of clauses from the Conveyancing Bill. A certain number of the Amendments were "1. Steam ships (ironclad) now building, with the state of forwardness in each case, the thickconnected with the subject of married ness of armour proposed; stating also whether women. Some Amendments were im- the armour-plating is to be carried from end to provements, and others not; but he was end of the vessel, the number and weight of glad to admit that not a single one in- guns, whether breech or muzzle loading, and terfered with the general principle of the estimated draught of water; 2. The number of swift cruisers now building, estimated speed in Bill. If it were a different period of the each case, and state of forwardness; 3. The Session, he might propose a few verbal number of vessels of every class which it is Amendments; but, under the circum- intended shall be laid down during the present stances, he should not do so. Therefore, year." he had the pleasing task of asking their Lordships to accept the Bill as it stood. He returned his warm thanks to Members of the Legislature on both sides, in both Houses, for their valuable assistance on the Bill. He felt convinced that when it became law it would have a most beneficial effect on the Land Law of this country. That was not only his own opinion, but it was also the opinion of the Royal Commission on Agriculture, over which the noble Duke (the Duke of Richmond) had presided. He trusted their Lordships would accept the Amend ments. THE LORD CHANCELLOR said, it was a cause of great satisfaction to him that the work of his noble and learned Friend (Earl Cairns) had been crowned with success. He tendered him his sincere congratulations on the passing of the measure, which would add to a reputation which was already so high that it could hardly be increased. The noble Viscount said, that the Returns for which he moved were not so comprehensive as he had originally intended, owing to a statement which appeared in The Times some time since, furnishing some of the information which he desired to obtain. He complained that the country had not received sufficient information with regard to the relative position of our Navy as compared with that of foreign nations. It had always been the policy of England that our Navy should stand not only superior in every respect to the Navy of any Power, but in a position to resist the united Navies of Europe. At the Battle of Trafalgar we had no less than 176 line-of-battle ships, against 100 French and Spanish vessels. It was, therefore, important that a comparison should be made between the condition of our Navy with that of the Navies of other countries. During the past 20 years the whole system of the Navy had been completely revolution THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY said, he had nothing to add to the congratula-ized; and he felt that the country tions which the noble and learned Lord on the Woolsack had just offered to his noble and learned Friend (Earl Cairns), except to take note of his own gratification in finding himself in a wholly unusual position. The House of Commons had made certain Amendments in the Bill-Amendments which were usually called Conservative-and they had struck out certain provisions originally sug was not thoroughly informed as to the position of our Navy in relation to those of other countries. He wished to ascertain what preparations were being made to place our Navy on an equality with the powerful Navies now being constructed by Italy and some other Powers. When he brought the subject before their Lordships on a previous occasion he was told that it would be injurious to House Returns of,- with the state of forwardness in each case, the Service to enter into any comparison | £100,000,000 was invested in ships alone. between the English and Foreign Navies; So large an amount of property required but since then certain statistics had been a corresponding amount of protection in issued and had appeared in the news-time of war. The country, therefore, papers which rendered reticence unne- must make up its mind to lay aside the cessary. It was true that the French question of expense, as it was only by Navy was numerically inferior to ours; enormous outlay in this direction that but it comprised many ships of great we could hope to maintain the position power. Thus, while we had only three of this country as it ought to be as repowerful vessels which could pass through garded the prestige of our Navy. No the Suez Canal, and thus protect our doubt we had some very powerful ships, trade with India, the French possessed such as the Inflexible; but the great de11 such vessels. He hoped the noble fect of her was that she was not arEarl the First Lord of the Admiralty moured all round. He hoped that the (the Earl of Northbrook) would be able noble Earl would be able to give a full to inform the country that the Govern- answer to his question, otherwise he ment were on the alert; because, from should feel it his duty to bring the all appearances, the French Navy in matter forward again next Session. The 1885 would be one of the most powerful noble Viscount concluded by moving for in the world; for by that time they the Returns mentioned. would have four of the most powerful vessels afloat, whereas we should only be able to add a second Inflexible to our Fleet by that date. They should also bear in mind that the Navies of Italy, Germany, and other European Powers would be very powerful. One of the new French vessels was protected with 23-inch or 24-inch armour all along her water line, and it was continued round her ram; whereas the Inflexible's ram was mounted on a wooden framework, which greatly diminished the force of the blow she delivered. The French were in a position to turn out their vessels far more rapidly than we could, inasmuch as that nation voted £1,200,000 annually towards increasing her Navy, a sum which was far larger than we appropriated for that purpose; and, moreover, she employed 23,000 work-cuse him (the Earl of Northbrook) men in her shipyards as against 16,000 we employed. He thought England ought to have vessels at each end of the Suez Canal, and one so constructed as to steam through it. According to the Report of Captain Dawson and Admiral Ryland, ships drawing more than 20 feet of water would be unable to render service in many circumstances; and he condemned the Gorgon class of vessels. He did not blame the First Lord or the Board of Admiralty, because he was quite convinced that the noble Earl at the head of the Admiralty was anxious to secure a good Navy, and, indeed, it was highly necessary, because it was estimated that the value of the property we had at sea was no less than about £800,000,000, of which no less than Viscount Sidmouth "3. The number of vessels of every class which it is intended shall be laid down during the present year."-(The Viscount Sidmouth.) THE EARL OF NORTHBROOK, in reply, said, that the noble Viscount opposite (Viscount Sidmouth) had entered into comparisons and questions of which he had given no Notice. With those their Lordships would, no doubt, ex from dealing. Nothing was more difficult than to decide upon the relative merits of a ship; and against the noble Viscount's opinion of the Inflexible they could set the opinions of many distinguished and experienced officers, who considered her an exceedingly powerful vessel. He should like the noble Viscount to enter into a calculation as to what her weight would be if she were covered with thickest armour throughout, as he suggested. To the second and third heads of the noble Viscount's Motion he had no objection to make, except that the information was already contained in the Estimates of the year. To the first he hoped that their Lordships would not accede. Not that he believed such a Return to be particu larly objectionable, as it had been customary to give very freely, in debates in the other House, the particulars of the ships laid down; but he found that such details had never been given by the Admiralty in a Return, and he did not desire to set a precedent which might possibly, under other circumstances, be contrary to the public interests. Three new iron-clad ships would be laid down this year. One of these, the Benbow, would be of 10,000 tons displacement, and of an estimated measured mile speed of 16 knots. The armament would consist of four breech-loading guns of about 60 tons, of power not less than the 80-ton guns of the Inflexible. Those guns would be mounted en barbette. There would be an auxiliary armament of about six 6-inch breech-loading guns, not completely protected by armour. The armour on the protected part of the hull of the ship would be 18 inches thick, and on the barbettes inclined armour equivalent to vertical armour of 16 inches and 14 inches; all the armour would be steelfaced. This ship would be built by contract, if a reasonable offer could be obtained, and it would take about four years to build. Two other iron-clads which would be laid down this year would be of a type which had not yet been settled. The Admiralty had nearly come to their conclusion as to the particular class of ship which should be adopted in those two cases, when the recent operations took place at Alexandria; and as considerable experience must necessarily be gained when they obtained a full account of the way in which the guns and the iron-plated ships had behaved in that action, it was thought desirable to wait until they had detailed information from the Fleet before they finally determined on the designs of the other two iron-plated ships which would be laid down in the course of the present year. It was never intended to do much work on those ships this year; and, therefore, there would be no inconvenience from a slight postponement of their designs. The Admiralty had this year, for the first time, come to a decision which, he thought, would have a considerable effect in future on the class of ships which they would build for the Service. They had decided to build ships which would be in a position to cruise and keep the sea, depending entirely on steam power. They proposed to build two cruisers, capable of operating with fleets of armoured ships. They would not be rigged, but would have high speed under steam, and a large fuel supply. Their designed measured mile speed was 16 to 17 knots, and they would be able to steam at low speed without coaling for a month. They would have twin screws and be protected by a strong steel deck at or near the water-line from end to end. They would be 300 feet long, of about 3,300 tons displacement, and would have a complement of 200 men. In one of these vessels artillery power would be developed, two breech-loading guns of about 18 tons being mounted, but not protected by armour, excepting against machine guns; and, in the other, Whitehead torpedoes would be the principal armament; but each ship would be capable of receiving the alternative armament at pleasure. Several 6-inch breech-loading guns would be carried in each, in addition to the principal armament. The vessels would, of course, be capable of operating as rams. The Admiralty were quite sensible of the necessity of keeping up the strength of all classes of Her Majesty's ships. He might state the quantity of armoured shipping built within the last few years. In 1879-80 there were built 7,427 tons of armoured shipping; in 1880-1, when the present Board of Admiralty came into Office, there were built 9,235, the amount which their Predecessors had intended to build in that year being only 7,948 tons. In 1881-2 there had been built 10,748 tons; and it was estimated that this year the quantity built would be 11,466 tons. Their Lordships would be glad to hear that, in the last few years, they had been able in the Dockyards to work better up to their programme than had been the case on some former occasions. The total tonnage of the shipping built had increased, so that no class of ships had been neglected. He could not at all concur with the noble Viscount in the feeling he had expressed, that the Navy of this country was not in a satisfactory condition in respect to strength, and was not prepared to take the same position in the world as the Navy of England always had taken. The present Board of Admiralty had especially directed their attention to the construction of armour-plated ships, and also of fast cruisers. The Government had decided, in their programme for the present year, to try the effect of erecting bulwarks round the decks of one vessel of the Gorgon class. In conclusion, he hoped the noble Viscount would accept his assurance, that the Board of Admiralty felt fully sensible of their responsibility in maintaining the Fleet in a proper state of efficiency, and begged him not to believe that any Board of Admiralty, whether present or past, were so insensible to their duties as to allow the Navy to fall into an unsatisfactory condition. taken for the holding of a Board of House adjourned at half past Eight HOUSE OF COMMONS, THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIAN said, the statement of the noble Earl the First Lord of the Admiralty (the Earl of Northbrook) was exceedingly satisfactory to his mind; but he would still press upon the attention of the noble Earl that, irrespective of home demands and of the necessity for protecting our various Possessions, the Navy of this country ought always to be on the footing of being able to place in European waters a Fleet equal to that of any other Power. There was one point which had been very much MINUTES.]-SUPPLY-considered in Committee overlooked in the construction of the vessels of the Navy, and that had struck him with regard to all the ships he had seen-namely, the weakness of the conning-tower. The life of a ship in action depended on the life of the captain, and so long as the conning-tower was not properly protected a great risk was run of losing that officer's life, and, therefore, of the means needed for directing the ship. He hoped that steps would be taken to provide proper protection. Motion (by leave of the House) withdrawn. Tuesday, 1st August, 1882. -NAVY ESTIMATES, Votes 3 to 17; GREEN- Resolutions [July 31] reported. First Reading Mercantile Marine Fund * Select Committee-Report-Agricultural Tenants' Considered as amended-Third Reading-Municipal Corporations [113], and passed. Withdrawn-Church Patronage* [53]. QUESTIONS. ARMY-THE NORFOLK REGIMENT. MR. BIRKBECK asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether his attention has been called to the fact that only two blankets and loose straw were served out to the 4th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment, during their recent training under canvas, that palliasses were not allowed by the Major General Commanding at Colchester, and that waterproof sheets were only issued after fourteen days wet weather? |