§ DR. KENEALYasked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether it is true as stated in the papers that a sum of £20,000 of public money has been recently expended on the Queen's ship "Osborne," which conveys the Duke of Connaught to the Mediterranean; and, if not, what sum; and, if the said ship has not already cost the Country nearly a quarter of a million?
§ MR. W. H. SMITHI must beg leave, if the House will allow me, to answer the Question, instead of my right hon. Friend. The amount which has been, and will be, spent upon the Osborne is between £18,000 and £19,000. This amount includes the new boilers, an overhaul of the machinery, and a refit generally. I need hardly say that this refit was necessary, or the work would not have been undertaken, and it would have been carried out quite irrespective of His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught's visit to the Mediterranean. It was undertaken, in fact, long before it was known the Duke would visit the Mediterranean. The original cost of the Osborne was £105,919, and, including the £18,000 just spent upon her, a further sum of £71,000 has been expended upon her since, and she has thus cost £177,000. She was built in 1869–70.