§ MR. STANIERI beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty, with reference to the Report of the Treasury 1469 Committee upon the subject of national insurance of merchant shipping, and to its conclusion that the latter must depend for protection exclusively on the Navy, and in view of the fact that we have only sixty-seven unarmoured cruisers, most, if not all, of which would be required for service with our battle Fleets, will he say how do the Government propose to maintain the security of our trade routes in time of war, and how many cruisers do they expect to have at liberty for that purpose.
§ MR. McKENNAThe hon. Member will, I am sure, understand that it is not in the public interests that information should be given which would disclose the probable strategical disposition of our ships in war time.