CAPTAIN MACKINNONsaid, he would beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty, Whether the Admiralty have arrived at any decision as to the utilization or disposal of the many millions' worth of unarmoured Screw Line-of-Battle Ships now unused?
ADMIRAL SEYMOURsaid, in the absence of the right hon. Gentleman the First Lord of the Admiralty, he would answer the Question of the hon. and gallant Gentleman. There were certainly a considerable number of the ships to which the hon. and gallant Gentleman referred in our ports, but he was afraid the hon. and gallant Member had been greatly misinformed as to their saleable value when he spoke of their being worth millions. The fact was there was no market whatever for those ships, although there was a demand for them as guard, drill, and hospital ships. The subject was now under consideration by the Select Committee upstairs, und in all probability the evidence taken before the Committee would be placed in the hands of Members in a few days.