§ Mr. BELLAIRSI desire to ask the Prime Minister whether the House is to accept the official assurance that the country will have an efficient fleet of 20 "Dreadnoughts" and "Invincibles" in April, 1912, on the assumption that the second batch of "Dreadnoughts" are ordered this year, together with 40 pre-"Dreadnought" battleships, making 60 in all, or whether it is to accept the official statement that as the Vote for personnel 19 of 128,000 men only allows of the manning of about 50 battleships' instead of 60, as new vessels are built others must be scapped?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe Prime Minister's statement was to the effect that in 1912 the country will have 40 pre-"Dreadnought" battleships less than 20 years old, and 16 or 20 "Dreadnoughts." In the latter part of the question the hon. Gentleman has omitted the qualification in the official statement to which he refers, contained in the words "on the present scale of our Navy." In reply to a question it is impossible to enter into calculations based upon the hypothetical scale of our Navy in a future year.
§ Mr. BELLAIRSIs it not the case that any increase of the personnel cannot now come till next year, and that it takes many years to train up men for the higher ratings?
§ Mr. McKENNAThis question has already been raised in the debate and answered. There is no difficulty in obtaining additional trained men, merely by retaining them after the lapse of their first period of 12 years.