MR. GIBSON BOWLESI beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty, will he state names of the members of the Committee which reported, in 1902, on the increase of the Fleet in commission and reserve in home waters and the consequent congestion of accommodation: and will he lay their Report on the Table, or state its purport before the discussion on the Navy Estimates; and was the selection of the Firth of Forth for the establishment of a Naval base and depot recommended by that Committee in preference to other available sites.
§ *THE CIVIL LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. PRETYMAN, Suffolk, Wood-bridge)The Committee consisted of Sir William Wharton (hydrographer), Sir James Williamson (Director of Dockyards), Captain G. Patey, R.N. (Assistant Director of Naval Intelligence), Colonel E. Raban (Director of Works), and myself. The Report, which contains other matter than that referred to in the Question, much of which is of a confidential nature, cannot in any case be laid upon the Table of the House before the discussion on the Navy Estimates. Before the introduction of the Naval Works Bill a decision will be arrived at whether this can be done, but no pledge can be given on the subject. The answer to the second paragraph of the Question is "Yes."