§ MR. MITCHELL - THOMSONI beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether the "Montagu" should now be deducted from the number of British battleships laid down for the period 1895–9, which has been stated by the Admiralty to be nineteen.
§ MR. EDMUND ROBERTSONThe figures in question give the number of ships laid down during the period 1895–1899, and I am unable to see that the loss of the "Montagu" alters the fact that she was one of the ships laid down in that period.