§ MR. SAMUDA, in rising to call attention to the duties and increased responsibilities of ship carpenters, and to suggest that their designation be varied and pay improved to meet the increased responsibilities which had devolved upon them since the general introduction of steam, said, that the changes which had been made in the substitution of iron for wood, of steam for sails, and in the elaborate system which iron-clads had introduced, required a totally different description of officers from those formerly employed as ship carpenters. Their duties formerly were very simple; all that was required was that the men should be good working shipwrights; they had only to do with wood structures. But now iron vessels were divided into a large number of compartments, which were fitted with sluices and bulkheads and doors, not of cabinet work, but engineering work, all fitted with the greatest accuracy. The whole of the pumping arrangements, too, had to be laid on in the most elaborate manner. The hull of the vessel itself had to be observed and treated with an amount of knowledge and skill altogether different from what was required in wooden ships, and the shipwrights of the present day, whilst being compelled by the Admiralty to come up to a certain standard, were not remunerated in a corresponding degree. It was not deemed advisable, indeed, to leave them wholly in charge of elaborate vessels, and he quite agreed with the Government in this, when a ship's carpenter at the present moment, after 10 or 12 years' service, only received pay at the rate of 9s. 531 a day. Yet their responsibility was such that if not properly exercised the result might be the loss of the ship. Although their duties were so important, their position was inferior to that of ordinary workmen in a ship-builder's yard. Their pay was only 5s. 6d. a-day after five years' service, and a chief carpenter, after 10 or 12 years' service, had only 9s. a-day. That rate of pay was wholly inadequate, and in consequence the Admiralty could not obtain a sufficient number of suitable ship carpenters, and those they had were obliged to work either in conjunction with the engineers, or under their direction. In this way there was a divided responsibility, and the engineer was taken away from his duty at the very time when his most earnest attention was necessary in the machinery department. Again, in the Navy there were only 12 men who held the rank of chief carpenter; all the other ship carpenters were of the inferior class he had described. He thought it would be advantageous if a totally different class of men could be secured to carry out the duties; but that could not be done without offering a better position and better pay, with the prospect of becoming chief in their department as the result of their services, instead of waiting for dead men's shoes, as was the case now. With respect to the rate of pay which, in his opinion, the carpenters ought to receive, he was inclined to suggest the adoption of something between that which they had at present and that which was now given to the engineer officers. Whilst the carpenters had from 5s. 6d. to 9s. a-day, the engineers had from 10s. to 21s.; and his proposal was that in regard to the former class of public servants, a sum of between 8s. and 15s. daily should be fixed upon. The latter rate of pay would, of course, be paid only to those who, after a certain number of years' service, had acquired valuable experience, and he would suggest those should be raised to the rank of chief officers, and be designated chief shipwrights. He would also propose that the men of whom he had been speaking should mess differently from the way they did at the present moment; that, instead of messing with warrant officers and able seamen, the chief, at all events, should mess with the engineers. In that way skilled artizans, who had hitherto 532 worked in wood, would be encouraged to work in iron also. He believed that the whole matter was one of even greater importance to the Navy than to the ship carpenters themselves. It was scarcely possible to overrate the amount of advantage which would result from our having a class of men on board our vessels who would be perfectly capable, independent of other departments, of dealing with an emergency to the hull of the vessel when it arose. He hoped that the First Lord of the Admiralty would take one of two courses in connection with this subject—that he would either, by personal observation, inquire into the question, or refer the matter to a departmental Committee for investigation. Should he do so, he (Mr. Samuda) thought the right hon. Gentleman would come to the conclusion that a condition of things out of which disaster might arise was capable of being remedied with advantage to the Public Service.
§ MR. NORWOODsaid, he had given the subject some little attention; and he felt that it would not only be for the benefit of the Public Service, but an act of justice to the men themselves, that some change and some improvement should be made in the position of ships' carpenters, as suggested and desired by the hon. Gentleman who had just spoken (Mr. Samuda). He would, therefore, press the matter most earnestly upon the consideration of the Admiralty. It was a misnomer to call the men in question carpenters, for, owing to the revolution which had taken place in shipbuilding, they were rather artificers in metal than in wood, and would be more correctly described as shipwrights. Not only should their position, so far as status was concerned, be improved; but it should also be improved in the direction of additional pay. The carpenters were almost the only class of officers in connection with the Royal Navy whose position in recent years had not been improved.
MR. GORSTtook the same view. What had been quite truly said in regard to the carpenters applied with equal force to the engineers and other mechanics and artificers on board our ships. It was really part of a very large question, for as our ships of war and their machinery became more complicated and valuable, and more likely to get out of order, it would be true 533 economy for the Government to endeavour to produce such an improvement in the existing state of affairs as would secure for the country at all times the best men available for the Service. There was one point which had not been touched upon, but to which he desired to refer, and that was the position of warrant officers. These officers received less pay when they were not at sea than they did when they were at sea, and yet their duties were more onerous and important in the former instance than in the latter. This anomaly did not prevail in connection with the other officers, and he hoped the First Lord of the Admiralty would give the matter his attention, and remove the sense of injustice under which a most deserving class of officers were at present labouring.