§ *MR. REES (Montgomery Boroughs)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether, of the British programme for 1904 of two battleships and three armoured cruisers, only one battleship and one cruiser have so far been launched; whether new warships built by Germany are not accounted as additions to the fleet if they merely replace superannuated ships; and whether new ships in Great Britain are, even when they replace superannuated ship, accounted as additions to the fleet, so that an increase masked in the former is marked in the latter case.
§ The SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. EDMUND ROBERTSON, Dundee)As regards the first part of the hon. Member's Question, both the battleships and two out of the three cruisers of the 1904-5 programme have already been launched. With regard to the latter part of the Question, it is true that in Germany new warships are in certain cases officially described as substitutes; but it is not considered either that this term tends to mask, or that the term "addition" tends to mark, the increased strength of the German and British Navies due to new construction.