MR. NORTHsaid, he rose to ask, Whether the Board of Admiralty persisted in their determination to refuse Marine Volunteer Artillery facilities to practise afloat. There were a great number of seamen wishing to practise artillery afloat, and the Admiralty, by taking them on board a gunboat and giving them gun drill, might thereby assist in manning the navy?
§ LORD CLARENCE PAGETsaid, he could assure his hon. Friend that the Admiralty were not behind the rest of the public in admiration of the Volunteers of this country. The question now put had been much considered by the Admiralty. They had received propositions from various parts of the country to send one or two gunboats to the ports in order to embark those who were enrolled as Volunteers, to take them to sea, and drill them in the use of the great guns. No doubt that would be done if the Admiralty could do it without cost to the public; but if they sent gunboats for such a purpose, they must provide accommodation and bedding and comforts such as the seamen enjoyed. It was, therefore, a mere question of expense. That was the reason why the Admiralty, with every desire to further the Volunteer movement, could not comply with the various requests made to them on this subject. But the hon. Gentleman had omitted to mention that every seafaring man in this country had the opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of the drill, besides which, he would be paid for his time and trouble in acquiring it. If he disliked entering into the Naval Reserve, and the consequent liability to be called out for service in the fleet, he might join the Naval Coast Volunteers. The latter force would only be called upon to serve in the immediate neighbourhood of the coast in the event of war, and that would be the precise duty of the Volunteers, whose cause had just been advocated. If they wished to "get their sea legs," and to become useful to Her Majesty in such an emergency, the obvious course would be for them to join the Naval Coast Volunteers; and it would be advisable for Gentlemen who took an interest in these 829 matters, to encourage our seafaring population to enter either this body or the Naval Reserve, with a view to practice heavy gunnery. When the House came to discuss the Estimates, it would be seen that the system of teaching our merchant sailors the use of heavy guns was a very costly one, and it was upon that ground only that the Admiralty, however desirous they might be to forward the Volunteer movement felt bound at the present moment, where the naval expenditure was so large, to refuse these applications on behalf of the Marine Artillery Volunteers. He would, however, convey the wishes expressed by the hon. Gentleman to the Board of Admiralty, and he was sure they would receive due consideration.