§ Report of Address brought up, and read.
§ MR. BENTINCKsaid, he was anxious to take that opportunity of expressing the regret he felt, and which he believed would be very widely shared by the House, that in the gracious Speech from the Throne no allusion was made to the present condition of the Royal Navy of this country. He could not doubt that the people of the country regarded the management of the affairs of the Navy and its condition as highly unsatisfactory. He would not go into the matter then; but he considered this a question of primary importance, and he regretted that there was no acknowledgment on the part of the Government that this was a vital question. He trusted that Her Majesty's Government would not repeat the policy which they indulged in, and which they inherited from their Predecessors of allowing the Navy Estimates to be brought forward at a time when it was not possible that they could be properly discussed. The importance of this subject was paramount to that of every other question that would be brought before the House. He hoped that the Navy Estimates would be laid before the House at the very earliest period, so that they might be properly examined and discussed.
§ Address agreed to:—To be presented by Privy Councillors.