§ MR. ASHBURYasked the First Lord of the Admiralty, If Her Majesty's Government, will, at an early date, appoint a Select Committee to inquire into questions at issue relating to the doubtful stability of H.M.S. "Inflexible?"
§ MR. A. F. EGERTONThe Admiralty cannot consent to the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into the stability of the Inflexible. They consider there is no doubt of her stability, and are prepared to accept to the fullest extent their responsibility for the ship.
§ Subsequently—
§ MR. E. J. REED, in the absence of the First Lord, asked the Secretary to the Admiralty, Whether he will lay upon the Table of the House the official documents from which extracts were read in Committee of the Whole House by the late First Lord of the Admiralty on Monday evening, together with all other Reports which the Construction Department may have made to the Board upon the stability of the "Inflexible," and ships of her class?
§ MR. A. F. EGERTON, in reply, said, that he intended to lay on the Table the Report of the Director of Naval Construction, dated July 4, 1873, which was quoted by the right hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. Goschen) in the recent debate on the Navy Estimates, together with other Correspondence and Reports bearing upon the question of the stability and efficiency of the Inflexible, and the Admiralty Minute stating the opinion of the Board thereon. He might take this opportunity of stating that there was at the Admiralty a floating model of this ship, and he had given instructions that if any hon. Member was desirous of seeing it, he should have every opportunity of inspecting it and of having such explanations given as he might think necessary, which bore upon the question of the stability of the ship.
§ MR. E. J. REEDwished to state, for the information of the House, that the model referred to had been inspected by himself. [Cries of "Order!"] He had beed invited to see the model, in consequence of the doubt raised as to the stability of the Inflexible. It was distinctly a model in which certain wooden material was placed that could not be removed; and it did not represent the dangerous condition of the ship. On the contrary, it represented a very different state of things.