§ CAPTAIN PRICEasked the Secretary to the Admiralty, Whether the ship-building programme, which he has asked the House of Commons to sanction, is sufficient to provide, at the completion of that programme, an armoured fleet fully equal in numbers and fighting strength to those of any two European Powers, or superior in these respects to any single Power?
§ MR. TREVELYANSir, the essential feature of a shipbuilding pro- 1564 gramme is the number of tons to be built in a given year, and it cannot be said that any one year or another will provide a fleet of a certain size as is indicated in the hon. Gentleman's Question. For three years past the amount of tonnage built has been increasing steadily, and the Admiralty would not hesitate to increase it still further, if it appeared to them necessary, in order to maintain the supremacy of Great Britain at sea. As to the relative strength of our own and foreign Fleets, I put forward the view of the Government last week in a speech of an hour, and the hon. Member criticized it, if I recollect right, at about the same length. There are so many considerations, which must all be taken into account, that I could not undertake to repeat what I then said within the limits of an Answer.