SUPPLY—REPORT. (Hansard, 15 April 1861)

§ VISCOUNT ENFIELD
called attention to the fact that, in the early part of the present year a gentleman who took a great interest in the subject of Naval Coast Volunteers had laid a plan before the Admiralty, with the view of perfecting the members of the force in drill by providing them with light gunboats, adding that he Commissioners of the Admiralty had declined to accede to the proposal. The expense of providing the Volunteers with a few light gunboats could not be very great, and he trusted the Admiralty would not neglect so admirable a means of improving the efficiency of the corps.

§ SIR JAMES ELPHINSTONE
said, he understood that the other night, in consequence of the unexpected termination of an adjourned debate, the House went into a Committee of Supply, and some£6,000,000 of money were voted in fifteen minutes, when very few Members were present. He wished that the consideration of the Report might be deferred to some future day, and for that purpose begged to move the adjournment of the debate.

§ LORD CLARENCE PAGET
said, in reply to his noble Friend, the did but justice to the Admiralty in supposing they had a very earnest desire to encourage the movement of the Naval Coast Volunteers. A great many proposals had been made to the Department, and the noble Duke the First Lord had taken the subject into his consideration, and had called for reports on the subject from various quarters. The result was that orders had gone clown to prepare batteries on shore at the various coast guard stations, for giving facilities for drill to that class of Volunteers along the coast. That was all he (Lord C. Paget) had power to state at present. At some future day, when the men had learnt their drill at the great guns he hoped something more might be done. This was the course that was being adopted also with regard to the Naval Reserve. At some particular stations there were ships provided for the use of Volunteers, as in the Thames, When the men had become 621 practised in drill, it would be for the consideration of the Admiralty how far some gunboats or small vessels should be placed at the disposal of the Volunteers, to enable them to get their sea legs. The hon. Baronet the Member for Portsmouth appeared to think that it had been his (Lord C. Paget's) wish to force the Navy Estimates through a thin House. That was not the case. When the adjourned debate closed his name stood next on the list, and the Estimates were called on. The hon. Member for Lambeth, the hon. Member for Birmingham, and others were present who took part in the discussion. At the same time, out of deference to his hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland, who had a Motion on the subject, the important Vote for shipbuilding was deferred, as also the Vote for Public Works, He denied there was any intention to force the Estimates through the House.

§ MR. LIDDELL
said, he was glad to find the Naval Reserve had been a success; but he was afraid that the shipping masters suffered in an unjustifiable manner. The service required from them was extremely laborious, and their remuneration was very inadequate to the duties performed. Theirs were services of a most valuable description and deserved better treatment.

MR. LINDSAY
said, he had on a previous occasion refrained from pressing objections he intended to make to several Votes, on the understanding that they would not be taken until after the Budget, and was surprised to find the next morning from the newspaper report that several of the Votes in question had been passed. He now intimated his intention to oppose Vote 10 when it came on.

§ MR. NORRIS
also complained of the undue haste with which the Votes had been carried through Committee during a thin attendance of hon. Members.

§ SIR JAMES ELPHINSTONE
must submit that when hon. Members objected to particular Votes it was their duty to be present when they were brought on. He, like his hon. Friend, was not present on Friday night, and like him was astonished to find that nearly the whole of the Estimates, except the 10th and 11th, had been run through. He, too, had understood that the Votes would not be taken before the Budget.

§ MR. KINNAIRD
, having been present 622 when the Votes in Supply were agreed to. could assure the hon. Gentleman that they had by no means been run through, but that there had been a very good attendance of hon. Members, and that the Votes had been duly considered. It was not right to stop the business of the House because one or two hon. Members were not present when the Estimates were discussed.

§ MR. CONINGHAM
said, some observations had been made on a previous occasion about malversation in the dockyards. He did not know anything of that, but he could tell the House that a new system of police had been organized in the various dockyards, and the result was that all the marine-store dealers in the towns in which the dockyards were situated were ruined and obliged to leave the locality.

§ MR. SPEAKER
reminded the hon. Gentleman that he was out of order in addressing himself to other matter than the Report before the House.