NAVY ESTIMATES 1906–7. (Hansard, 1 March 1906)

§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN
hoped the right hon. Gentleman would agree at this stage to report Progress. He thought the right hon. Gentleman must be well satisfied with the Votes already agreed to. In his experience he had never before known the two Votes just agreed to to pass without discussion as had now been allowed to do.
1379 He welcomed the unanimity with which the Committee had approved the Estimates prepared by the late Government, and he wished he could believe that, had they still been responsible for their conduct, they would have been accepted with the same unanimity. The Estimates were only placed in their hands that morning, and, as Members had had only the smallest possible time in which to make themselves acquainted with them, he moved to report Progress, so that further opportunity might be given for their consideration.

§ MR. EDMUND ROBERTSON
said he was far from saying that there was anything unreasonable in the request of the right hon. Gentleman. He was deeply grateful to the Committee for passing these Votes. Of course, it must be understood that these were Estimates agreed to on both sides of the House. That remark applied equally to the Vote now before them, and as they had still thirty-five minutes before the hour for adjournment he thought it might be advantageous to hear what objections there might be to any of the items in this very important Vote. If there were no real exception taken to it, they might be allowed to add this Vote to the Votes already agreed to.

§ MR. LEE
reminded the right hon. Gentleman that this Vote, which was certainly not expected to come on for discussion that day, afforded the only opportunity they would have this session 1380 of discussing the loan expenditure of £3,000,000. If the Vote were allowed to pass without due notice the whole of the works for which the loan was required would go through without any discussion at all. He did not think that was desirable. A large number of hon. Members were anxious to have an opportunity of discussing the great works comprised in this Vote, and it would be only reasonable on the part of the right hon. Gentleman to agree to postpone the consideration of the Vote.

§ MR. EDMUND ROBERTSON
said he was sorry to appear unreasonable, but he thought they might utilise the half hour which remained to them in hearing what objections, if any, could be urged against this very important Vote.

§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN
said hat naturally, they did not wish to criticise Estimates in so far as they accorded with the Estimates which they themselves prepared, but he thought that private Members ought to have some opportunity of considering them. The discussion should not be confined to Members sitting on the Front Benches. Although he and his hon. friend had had an opportunity of seeing the Estimates, that was not true of private Members. It was not unreasonable that they should ask for a little more time to be allowed for examining the Votes before they were passed. He was sure that the Chancellor of the Exchequer would recognise the reasonableness of the request he had made. The Speaker had been moved out of the Chair at a reasonable time, two Votes had been passed, and the right hon. Gentleman was now asking the House 1381 to proceed with Vote 10 until half-past 7 o'clock. The point which he wished the Chancellor of the Exchequer to consider was that no Member of the House except those in office or who had been lately in office, had had any opportunity of seeing the Estimates until that morning, and it was not reasonable to ask private Members to proceed with discussion until they had had an opportunity of examining the Votes. Moreover, Vote 10 was the only Vote on which they would have an opportunity this year of discussing the works policy and the loan expenditure which the Financial Secretary admitted would amount to three and a quarter millions. He repeated the appeal which he had already made.

§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. ASQUITH,) Fife, E.
said that if it were shown to him that there was any general disposition amongst private Members the Government would not oppose at half-past seven the Motion to report progress.

§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN
said that he was quite satisfied with the offer made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and he begged leave to withdraw his Motion.

§ MR. ARTHUR LEE
said that it had been promised early in the afternoon that the Civil Lord of the Admiralty would give the Committee some information in regard to two items in the Vote which showed a variation between the Estimates as they were originally drawn and those now before the House. The first 1382 had reference to Rosyth and the other to large alterations at Portsmouth. In the original draft of the Estimates there was a Vote of two and a half millions for the new Naval base at Rosyth, and a certain sum was put down for starting the work this year. It was also the intention to let the main contract about June. They were now informed that that intention had been given up, although it was not the intention of the Admiralty to abandon the whole project. He wanted some further explanation of the necessity of the change and of the intentions of the Government in regard to Rosyth. His second point had regard to the big alterations at Portsmouth upon which £940,000 were to be spent, the item appearing in the Estimate for the first time. He was personally generally acquainted with the idea of the scheme, but it might possibly have been modified since the late Government initiated it. He thought there could therefore be no valid objection to the right hon. Gentleman giving them the details in regard to this work. He would reserve any points of criticism upon these matters until he had heard the right hon. Gentleman's explanation.

§ MR. J. WARD (Stoke-on-Trent)
desired to know, in reference to these extensive alterations and additions to the docks accommodation, whether it was the intention of the Admiralty to advertise and to state that the contractors tendering for the work would be required to pay the trade union rate of wages in the district where the work was to be done

§ MR. EDMUND ROBERTSON
said the Government wished to give hon. Members an opportunity of giving notice of any question that they desired to be discussed. As no other hon. Member had risen, he 1383 did not see that they could usefully go on. Therefore, in order to carry out the undertaking that had been given, he begged to move that progress be reported.