§ SIR HENRY TYLER (Great Yarmouth)asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether any, and, if so, what, steps are now being taken with a view to the design and manufacture of guns of large calibre, which can be considered reliable when employed in active service and fired without fear of failure with service charges, so as to enable the Admiralty to construct ships, and the Royal Engineers to build forts, intended for use with such guns?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. W. H. SMITH) (Strand, Westminster)The Question of the hon. Gentleman appears to me to suggest that he is unaware that there is an experimental establishment at Shoeburyness, and that officers of the Army and Navy, assisted by eminent civilians, are specially charged with the duties to which he points; but I suggest to my hon. Friend that the importance of the subject renders it desirable that it should be dealt with with the gravity it deserves in a serious discussion on the Estimates, which I hope we may reach in a few days, rather than by an answer to a Question, which cannot be full or complete.