§ MR. JACKSONasked the noble Lord the Secretary to the Admiralty (Lord Clarence Paget) whether he intended to proceed with the Motion for the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into the management and expenditure of the shipbuilding department of the Navy, notice of which stood on the paper in his name?
§ LORD CLARENCE PAGETsaid, he was sure that his hon. Friend would give him credit for an earnest desire that there should be an inquiry into the matters connected with the shipbuilding department of the Admiralty, and he was quite certain that the noble Duke who now presided over the Admiralty had it equally at heart that this great branch of our naval service should be throughly looked into. If he now asked permission to withdraw the Motion of which he had given notice it was not that he at all desired to shirk the ques- 437 tion; but that he thought that his hon. Friend and those who, like him, were anxious for this inquiry should put some faith in the good intentions of the noble Duke and in his own. He only asked them not to spur a willing horse, and under these circumstances he should not proceed with the Motion which stood in his name.
§ MR. JACKSONsaid, he should take up the Motion which the noble Lord had dropped and gave notice that in the next Session of Parliament he should move for a select Committee to inquire not only into the ship-building department, but also into the general expenditure of the Navy.