§ MR. EDMUND ROBERTSON (Dundee)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty what is the estimated amount that will have been expended on new construction for the period of nine years ending on the 31st March next; and whether he can give any estimate of the corresponding expenditure by France, Russia, and Germany for the same period.
THE SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. PEETYMAN,) Suffolk, WoodbridgeThe figures for the nine years, 1895–1904, are as follows:—Great Britain, £69,981,078; France, £32,499,491; Russia, £28,667,102; Germany, £22,153,247. The figures given for this country represent actual expenditure on new construction, except for the year ending the 31st instant, but those for France, Russia, and Germany, are taken from the Estimates of the respective countries, information as to actual expenditure not being available. The figures for Great Britain also include the cost of gun-mountings, which are not included in the New Construction Estimates of foreign countries, and which in the case of this country have amounted during the last nine years to nearly £5,000,000.