§ Lord CHARLES BERESFORDasked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he was aware that it was difficult to find out exactly what the cost of adding a ship to the Navy was, owing to the present form in which the Navy Estimates were made out; whether the total estimated cost of H.M.S. "Temeraire," including guns, was £1,743,955; whether he would designate how much her outfit of ammunition and permanent stores, including reserve of guns and reserve of ammunition, costs; whether he could add a column or columns in the Navy Estimates showing what the whole cost of adding a ship to the Fleet was as far as material was concerned; whether it would be possible to schedule the various ratings in the complements actually allowed to every ship in the service, placing the commissioned ships on one list and nucleus crew ships on another list, instead of as now, Ships on Active Service, 70,345, etc.; and whether it would be possible, instead of placing Disposable Supernumertries, 19,955, as now, that their numbers could be shown in columns, stating their ratings and where they were stationed?
The NOBLE LORDhad also given notice of the following question: To ask the First Lord of the Admiralty what was the proportion of service ashore and afloat of the Royal Marine forces; what time 1034 was considered necessary for proper training of Marines in their military duties and what the average service ashore and afloat of the Marines would be under present conditions; whether it was intended to send all the Marines afloat in case of war, including the newly joined recruits; if not, how many was it intended to retain at headquarters; and how many it was intended to keep as a margin of reserve for filling up casualties after war began?
§ Mr. McKENNAI must ask the Noble Lord to defer these questions until next week, as I have not been able to receive the detailed reports from the Departments in time for me to give him a reply to-day.