§ COLONEL BERESFORD, in rising to call the attention of the House to the insufficient supply of R.L.G., Pellet, and Pebble Powder, and to move an Address for Copies of the Report of Colonel Campbell (the Superintendent of the Royal Gun Factories), as to experiments made with the 35-ton Gun with ordinary and with pebble powder; and of the Chief Superintendent of Waltham Abbey (Colonel Younghusband's Report), dated the 4th day of March 1869, said, that in February last he had placed a similar Notice on the Paper, but shortly afterwards the subject had been brought forward in "another place;" but in consequence of the unsatisfactory reply which had been given to the noble Earl (the Earl of Carnarvon), who had there introduced the subject, he had placed the present Motion on the Papers of that House. He would give the House a short history of the manufacture of gunpowder for some time back. About 1825 there were three Royal gunpowder manufactories in this kingdom—namely, at Waltham Abbey and Faversham in England, and Balincollig in Ireland. About that period the idea seemed to have got 1471 abroad that there was a prospect of a durable peace, and it was canvassed whether it was not desirable to dispose of one or more of these factories. Under the auspices of Lord Liverpool's Government, Faversham and Balincollig were sold in 1828, at a nominal price. The result of the course taken was, that in 1840 the supply of gunpowder was so sensibly diminished that it was found necessary to resort to private manufacturers in order to get a supply, and contracts were accordingly entered into for getting an annual supply of powder. This system of contracts had been carried on ever since in a very partial and imperfect manner. When the Russian War broke out in 1854, the stock of serviceable gunpowder had been reduced to 125,000 barrels; and here he might be allowed to refer to a Report on the Table of the House, in which that quantity was alluded to as if it were the proper stock that ought to be on hand. But that Report did not point out, as he contended it ought, that the quality was of a very inferior description. In consequence of the outbreak of the Crimean War large contracts were entered into with manufacturers in this country, in Prussia, in France, and also in America; but one contract had been cancelled at a cost of £20,000, and a large quantity of foreign powder had been sold at a loss of 50 per cent. In 1866 a Committee on Gunpowder recommended the introduction of pellet powder. In 1867 that recommendation was confirmed and adopted, and the Secretary of State for War for that year sent instructions to the factory at Waltham Abbey to prepare machinery for the manufacture of this powder. An interval of two years had occurred before anything had been done, not in consequence of any discussion going on, but because the machinery could not be made to manufacture pellet powder. In 1869 the right hon. Gentleman the Secretary of State for War referred the whole question of the best sorts of powder to a carefully selected Committee of experts, and that Committee on Explosives reported, in 1870, in favour of the adoption of pebble powder for all rifled guns and guns over 7-inch calibre. The Committee stated, in their Report, that the L.G. and R.L.G. powder was well worthy of the reputation it had obtained on the Continent. They spoke 1472 of pellet powder as far more moderate, and of pebble powder as decidedly a milder form of powder. In 1870 pebble powder was adopted as the proper powder for rifled guns. The estimate for 1870–71, for the purchase of powder from private manufacturers which had been reduced in 1868 from 15,000 to 9,000 barrels, was still further reduced to 5,000, and the expenses of the factory at Waltham Abbey also dropped. Waltham Abbey, under Ministerial direction, had been subject to chronic changes, such as those which had taken place during the Crimean War, when it was worked both day and night, Sundays included. In 1869 the Surveyor General of Ordnance had entirely suspended the manufacture of powder at Waltham Abbey; and, again last year the right hon. Gentleman ordered the manufacture of powder at any cost. Now, there had been a great deal of well-founded alarm in the public mind as to the inadequacy of the supply of powder, notwithstanding statements which had been made calculated to mislead the public. He (Colonel Beresford) would, therefore, endeavour to put the subject as plainly before the House and the public as he possibly could. At the end of 1869 they had 6,500 guns, of which 800 were rifled guns; and there were 1,000 guns either manufactured, or being manufactured, on the improved rifle principle. According to Colonel Younghusband's Report, while 17,000 barrels of pellet powder were stated to be necessary, the stock in hand was nil, and the stock of L.G. was nearly 100,000 barrels more than was required. In 1868 the stock of powder amounted to 410,000 barrels, and in 1870 to about 300,000 barrels, and the latter quantity had been diminished since 1870. But four-fifths of that quantity of 300,000 barrels was L.G. powder, which had accumulated since the Crimean War, and was mainly obsolete, and not fit for rifled guns. Moreover, the stock of powder at Waltham Abbey was not in keeping with our annual expenditure. The consumption of powder in times of peace was 36,000 barrels a-year, and the consumption in time of war was 80,000 barrels. During the Crimean War the consumption had been 81,000 or 82,000 barrels in each year. In 1868 they ought to have had 260,000 barrels of pellet and R.L.G. powder, whereas there were only 70,000 barrels of 1473 R.L.G. and no pellet powder, and at the present time they required a minimum of 200,000 barrels for the rifled guns. The House should remember that smooth-bore guns had gone out of fashion, and the charges of powder had been enormously increased, so that powder was much more rapidly consumed. For instance, the large 35-ton gun itself consumed one barrel a time each charge. The noble Lord in "another place" (Lord Northbrook), in replying to the Question which had been put to him, did not state what the consumption of powder was, and he had omitted also to state what the powder in stock consisted of. He (Colonel Beresford) had shown that the consumption was 80,000 barrels a-year, and he wished to repeat that four-fifths of the powder in store consisted of powder which had been condemned, and could not be used for our rifled guns. The noble Lord had called to his rescue on that occasion Colonel Campbell, who was Superintendent of the Royal Gun Factory at Woolwich, and Colonel Campbell had had the boldness to report—in the teeth of the Report of the Explosives Committee, and after the subject had been considered for something like two years—against the use of pebble powder; but when the House considered that pebble powder was so superior to other powder, that the velocity of a shot was increased 100 feet in a second of time, with a diminished strain on the gun, they could form their opinion of the value of Colonel Campbell's Report. He wished next to direct one or two remarks to the right hon. Gentleman the Surveyor General of Ordnance, and to state that in spite of the pressing necessity pointed out in the Report of Colonel Younghusband for an adequate supply of powder, the manufacture of powder had been entirely suspended at Waltham Abbey in 1869, at a time when war was considered imminent. And on what ground had that suspension taken place? That the superior powder would develop itself? Well, that superior powder had developed itself. He could not understand why the manufacture had been stopped, unless it was to carry out those doctrines of retrenchment which were now costing the country such a large sum of money. The right hon. Gentleman had stated in his Report that the L.G. powder was for all purposes practically as good as R.L.G.; 1474 but that opinion was in direct opposition to the Chief Superintendent of the factory, in his Report of March, 1869. Further, the Report of Colonel Younghusband did not advocate the increase of the store, and recommended that L.G. powder should be exchanged for 20,000 barrels of R.L.G., in proportion of three barrels to one, which surely showed the difference in value of L.G. and R.L.G. powder. Again, it was stated in the Report that there was no pellet powder on hand.
§ SIR HENRY STORKSasked what document the hon. and gallant Member was reading from?
§ COLONEL BERESFORDFrom a Report made by the Controller General himself, in February, 1871.
§ SIR HENRY STORKSsaid, that he was not aware of having made any such Report.
§ COLONEL BERESFORDsaid, in that case, he would not quote any further from the Report. He believed, however, that he had satisfied the House that the supply of powder necessary for a particular class of guns was totally inadequate for their requirements; and, whatever the differences of opinion as to what was the best sort of powder, he maintained that the Government should have gone on manufacturing the best powder known at the time, instead of leaving the country in such a dilemma as they had done. His own opinion was, that the country should not be left in the hands of private manufacturers, and that they should have public factories capable of making 50,000 barrels a-year. He wished to make a remark or two as to the application of the five years' service rule to the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent of the large manufacturing establishments at Woolwich, Enfield, and Waltham. It was owing to the break-down in our military system during the Crimean War, that it was determined that it was not desirable to maintain the system of continuing officers at their posts so long that they should become unable to do their work. It was also observed that the then existing system gave rise to jobbery and favouritism, and it was, in his opinion, properly determined that Staff appointments should terminate at the end of five years. This rule, however, should not have been applied to these large factories, which employed several thousands 1475 of men at a cost of £2,000,000 a-year. The duties of the principal officers in these factories were not military at all; they were purely technical duties, and it was perfectly obvious that the Government factories should be treated upon the same principle as private establishments were treated. The Chief Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent of these factories were, no doubt, officers in the artillery; but they were responsible for the expenditure of money, and for the way in which the work was carried out. They were, however, to be treated in precisely the same way as Staff officers, whose duties were purely military. He did not think that that was a reasonable mode of proceeding. He was quite sure that if any private establishment changed its principal man once every five years those establishments would very shortly come to grief. These officers to whom he had referred would require a considerable period of time before they could become well informed as to their duties, and surely they should not be sent to the right-about just when their knowledge and ability were beginning to tell in favour of the establishments that they were connected with. Upon these grounds he appealed to the right hon. Gentleman the Secretary of State for War to relax the "hard-and-fast line" in favour of these particular officers. He was informed that the Deputy Superintendent at Waltham Abbey (Captain Smith) had just been sent away. He had written a very able book upon the manufacture of gunpowder, which, was so important and scientific a work it had been printed and published by order of the Secretary of State for War, and surely it was not wise to send such a man away, when it was well known that there would be a great pressure upon the department for a considerable period. In conclusion, he begged leave to move for the Address of which he had given Notice.
§ MAJOR ARBUTHNOT, in rising to second the Motion, said, he must contend that the recklessness of the Government in suspending the manufacture of gunpowder in deference to what he believed to be an unwisely economical policy, and in the teeth of the official protests of authorized and recognized authorities upon such subjects, would have seriously impaired our strength if they had been called upon some six months since to 1476 enter upon a war. He did not know what the quantity they had in store six months ago was, but one month ago, instead of having 300,000 barrels in store, which was the amount they always ought to have in times of peace, according to the best authorities on those subjects, they had only 281,327 barrels there. It was said that it was undesirable to spend money upon the manufacture of gunpowder until the best kind had been determined upon; but the same reason would apply to the manufacture of weapons of all kinds, and might even be urged against teaching their soldiers their drill, for it was always possible that a better system than the one now existing might be discovered. The second excuse urged by the Government was, that there is a large supply of L.G. powder in store, and that it is quite "good enough for all practical purposes" He did not say that L.G. powder was a bad powder, but it was bad compared with R.L.G., just as that was bad compared with pebble, and as L.G. was good compared with that which was manufactured in Abyssinia by Theodore. It was self-evident that they ought to increase either the dimensions of their one manufactory, or to establish another; and that they had to decide at once what was to be the class of gunpowder which they were to manufacture and to lay in a store of. For himself, he was convinced that it would be inexpedient at once to commence laying in a store of pebble powder. It was said it did not suit the 35-ton gun; but what powder did? He was told by those who had witnessed recent experiments that if the calibre of the gun was increased to 12 inches there was every probability of the powder suiting it far better. At any rate, pebble powder had been found successful in the case of guns firing charges ranging from 20 lbs to 85 lbs of powder; and there was no doubt that a greater increased velocity was obtained with less strain with this than with any other powder. For instance, with a 12-inch gun, R.L.G. attained a velocity of 1,168 feet per second as against 1,297 feet attained by pebble powder, being an increase of 129. With a 10-inch gun, the figures were 1,280 against 1,364; increase, 84. With a 9-inch gun, they were 1,338 against 1,420; increase, 82. With an 8-inch gun, they were 1,330 against 1,413; showing an increase of 83. With a 7-inch gun, they were 1,435 1477 against 1,525; increase, 90. These figures, he contended, would amply justify the rapid manufacture of this powder. In conclusion, he begged leave to second the Motion of his hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Southwark (Colonel Beresford).
§
Amendment proposed,
To leave out from the word "That" to the end of the Question, in order to add the words "an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, that She will be graciously pleased to give directions that there be laid before this House, Copy of the Report of Colonel Campbell (the Superintendent of the Royal Gun Factories) as to experiments made with the 35-ton Gun with ordinary and with pebble powder; and of the Chief Superintendent of Waltham Abbey (Colonel Younghusband's) Report, dated the 4th day of March, 1869,"—(Colonel Beresford,)
—instead thereof.
§ Question proposed, "That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the Question."
§ SIR HENRY STORKSsaid, there would be no objection to produce the Papers moved for; and he was also glad of the opportunity to offer some explanations on a subject on which there had occurred some misunderstanding, not to say mis-statements, last autumn. The hon. and gallant Gentleman the Member for Southwark (Colonel Beresford) had stated pretty accurately the qualities of powder we had; but the Report he had quoted was one made by the Director of Artillery, which was lent by himself (Sir Henry Storks) to the hon. and gallant Gentleman for perusal, but which it was afterwards thought inexpedient to lay on the Table of the House, although there was nothing in it which he was not prepared to stand by. With regard to the qualities of gunpowder, L.G. powder was used for all smooth-bore ordnance, for field guns, and for rifled heavy guns of the minor calibres. Until lately it was supposed to be more violent in its action, and more destructive in its effects than the R.L.G.; but that had not been proved to be the case. It gave rather a less initial velocity than R.L.G. with equal charges, and it was, therefore, to that extent inferior; but for practical purposes, and for rifled guns of the minor calibres, not designed for great penetration, there was really nothing to choose between the two. The manufacture of R.L.G. powder had been stopped for some time, and although it was at present used for heavy rifled guns of large 1478 calibre, yet it would be gradually superseded by pebble powder, always supposing that, in experiments, it came up to the required standard of excellence; and here he must say it was his duty to give a few of the progressive stages which occurred in the manufacture of pellet and pebble powder. It was in August, 1866, that a Special Committee recommended the introduction of powder in the form of pellets three-quarters of an inch in diameter, made in moulds by hydraulic pressure, specimens of which he exhibited; but the Committee recommended further experiments to determine the size, hardness, and density of the pellet. It was provisionally adopted in 1867 for all charges of 50 lbs and upwards. In 1867 the Ordnance Select Committee were still dubious of the advantages of this new powder, and were disinclined to its introduction in the form then adopted. Colonel Campbell, Superintendent of the Royal Gunpowder Factory, considered that the introduction of it would be premature. In 1868 orders were given for the erection of machinery to manufacture it, which was to cost £1,380. In the meantime, small supplies of pellet powder were used for experimental purposes; and Colonel Young husband went abroad, to report on the manufacture of it in Russia and Prussia. Colonel Campbell, believing that pellet powder strained the guns as much as R.L.G. powder, thought it his duty to protest against the use of the larger charges of pellet powder. Altogether, the experiments as they progressed gave reason for the belief that pellet powder would shortly be superseded by powder of a superior kind, and in September, 1869, its manufacture was stopped. In February, 1870, a Special Committee on Explosives recommended a new powder called pebble powder, which was sanctioned for provisional adoption; and, after a series of elaborate and scientific experiments had been made, the Committee reported that pebble powder was capable of producing a muzzle velocity equal to that of service powder, with a reduced strain on the gun. Steps were then at once taken to ascertain the best mode of making it at Waltham Abbey, and orders were given that its manufacture should proceed. In August, 1870, a quantity was also ordered from the trade at the ordinary price, and in February last a further contract was 1479 made for an additional supply. The Waltham Abbey Mills had found no peculiar difficulty in the manufacture of pebble powder, and had turned out 4,600 barrels of it between the 31st of March, 1870, and the 31st of March, 1871. So much as to the qualities of those different gunpowders, of which the stock in hand of various kinds on the 31st of March last amounted to a total of 379,401 barrels. The hon. and gallant Member had referred to what he called the suspension of the manufacture of gunpowder in 1869; but the manufacture was not then really stopped, although the quantity produced was diminished; but the fact was, that doubts had then been raised as to the efficiency of pellet powder, which were shortly afterwards confirmed, and the quantity of R.L.G. powder was reduced, because they had a considerable quantity of L.G. powder in hand, which was not deemed so materially inferior to R.L.G. powder as to warrant an undue production of the latter. It was calculated that the total quantity of R.L.G. powder that would be used during the next twelvemonths, according to the authorized allowance for practice and for experiments, would be about as follows:—By the Navy, 4,716 barrels, and by the Royal Artillery about 750 barrels, making together a total of 5,466 barrels; and, therefore, it could not be said that their stock of that powder was not sufficient for all practical purposes and for a reserve, amounting as it did to 85,450 barrels. Owing to the different foreign stations which had been militarily—he would not say abandoned, but reduced, the quantity of ammunition kept there would also be reduced. As to the manufacture of pebble powder for the future, the Estimates for the present year provided for 27,500 barrels; and it was intended that the only cannon powder manufactured this year should be pebble powder. It was proposed to supply five iron-clad ships immediately with the new powder, and gradually to extend it to all our other ships and land batteries as the supplies came in. At the same time, although no doubt the pebble powder was better as regarded the strain on the guns than the R.L.G. or the L.G. powder, still it had been found that there were very remarkable discrepancies in the application of it. The Report of Colonel Campbell 1480 proved this fact, and showed that, even in regard to this description of powder, it was advisable and even necessary to proceed with considerable prudence and caution, in order that they might secure the right powder after all. Nothing could be worse economy than to lay in excessive supplies, particularly of gunpowder, which, as had been observed, did not improve by keeping like port wine, and which might become obsolete and useless like the pellet powder. The cause of the diminution of their gunpowder in 1869 had been referred to, and he therefore wished to state that his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War had given him positive instructions on no account to diminish the supply of any article from motives of economy which could in future years create increased expenditure. To those instructions he had rigidly adhered; and he had no hesitation in saying that the reduction of gunpowder effected in 1869 by his orders was made solely with a view of taking care that they did not order a large quantity of powder which might become obsolete; and even at that time their supply was approximately 343,831 barrels, not reckoning the powder then in possession of the Royal Navy. He did not, therefore, think the department over which he presided could be fairly accused of not providing adequately for the public wants; and he was sure that if they had unfortunately been involved in war, they would have had ample means at their disposal to produce any quantity of powder which might have been required, while the Government would also have had great assistance from the trade. In the course of the present year, Waltham Abbey Mills would produce 16,500 barrels of pebble powder, and 6,000 barrels of R.L.G.—a quantity equal to 28,000 barrels of common powder. It had been computed that the trade of this country could produce 59,000 barrels of powder in a year, in the event of so large a quantity being required. Under these circumstances the country might rest assured that the stock of powder in hand was amply sufficient for any emergency that could arise. He had no objection to produce the Papers that had been moved for, and he would take care in the event of the hon. and gallant Member withdrawing his Motion, that they should be laid upon the Table.
§ Notice taken, that 40 Members were not present; House counted, and 40 Members being found present—
§ COLONEL BERESFORDexplained. He did not say that Colonel Campbell had reported against the pellet powder, but against the pebble powder.
§ Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.