§
Motion made, and Question proposed,
That a sum not exceeding £1,336,700, be granted to His Majesty to defray the expense of Works, Buildings, and Repairs, at Home and Abroad, including the cost of Superintendence, Purchase of Sites, Grants in Aid, and other Charges connected therewith, which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1920, in addition to a sum of £4,331,000 to be allocated for this purpose from the sum of £120,000,000 voted on account of Navy Services generally.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYOn this important Vote, which is for over £5,500,000, I desire to raise the question of airship sheds—the great buildings of steel 1490 erected for the accommodation of the R34 type of air vessels. One of these airship sheds at Rosyth—the right hon. Gentleman is familiar with the case, because he has received protests from that part of Scotland — has been abolished, and I understand that its place will be taken by an airship station at Howden, Yorkshire. There does not seem to have been much clear thinking in this case on somebody's part. In my remarks on the Vote pointed out that the North Sea is now a British lake, and it is likely that lighter-than-air ships will not be used at all there because it was found at the end of the War that the North Sea was too unhealthy for airships on account of the development of the aeroplane. They may be required, however, for the broad spaces of the Atlantic. This station, which, with its accessories, is to cost £1,000,000, is on the wrong side of Great Britain. It ought to dominate the Atlantic. The total amount we are asked to find merely for the sheds of these airships is £4,265,000. I understand we are keeping only one airship in commission. The others have been scrapped or are going to be sold to America. The airship policy and the great cost of the sheds required are matters well worthy the attention of the Committee.
§ Mr. LONGI am not quite clear as to what the hon. and gallant Member wants from me. He knows very well, as other hon. Members know, that the whole question of the part which the airship is to play in the future is in its infancy. We have one airship. We hope soon to have a second. They are ready for experimental work. What is known by the expert advisers of the Admiralty in respect to this question is at present of a very limited character. I do not think it matters from the point of view of economy or of practical usefulness where the sheds are. The actual position does not signify anything. The hon. and gallant Member knows that distance in these matters is really of no importance. It does not signify whether the sheds are on one coast or another, so long as they are most economically provided where they will be suitable for the purpose for which they are designed. I do not know whether we are right, but my advisers think that the location at Howden is the best. We do not dogmatise on this subject at all at present. We are engaged upon an anxious examination of the whole question. It is experimental work. No doubt it is expensive, but having regard 1491 to developments, and the part this service will play in future warfare, we think our experiments are justified.
§ Mr. HOLMESAre they going to transfer the air sheds from Scotland to Yorkshire, and if distance is no object, what is the reason for transferring?
§ 12.0 M.
§ Mr. LONGAgain, without notice, I really could not answer that question for certain. I do not want to claim any immunity from questions, but to cross-examine Ministers on every single detail of immense Estimates like those for which I am responsible, and then to found on my answer the sort of charge made by the hon. and gallant Gentleman is stretching both the practice and the courtesy of Parliament.
§ Captain W. BENNI am quite sure the right hon. Gentleman will acquit me of any desire to be intentionally discourteous. I had no such desire. I rise to ask another question on a matter of great importance. I understand from his reply that the Admiralty is continuing in these sheds certain matters of aeronautical research or experiment, that they have one airship and are going to have another for the purpose of research. Is it the fact that the Admiralty has any buildings or ships for continuing any further aeronautical experiments? We understood this was being handed over to the Air Ministry in toto.
§ Mr. LONGNo, the Air Ministry is responsible for their provision and has supplied them for the Board of Admiralty.
§ Mr. HOLMESI do not want to be discourteous, but I understood the airship stations were going to be transferred from Scotland to Yorkshire, and if distance is no object I wanted the hon. Gentleman to tell us why they were going to transfer them from one place to the other. Surely a matter of that sort must come to him for his decision and he must know, moreover, why he made the transfer. It cannot be the act of a subordinate official; it must be the head of the Department.
§ Mr. LONGI never suggested that the hon. Member was discourteous. I was referring to the charge made against me by the hon. and gallant Gentleman. I said in answer to the hon. Member's question that I cannot answer it; but I will make inquiries to-morrow. The suggestion that it came before the First Lord of the 1492 Admiralty is not well conceived. My work lasts from 10.30 to 7, with a great many extra, hours of work thrown in, and if every one of these individual charges, made for good reason but not many of primary importance, were brought to the First Lord the Board of Admiralty would discharge its duty. It is only by a wise process of devolution that any Government Department can be carried on.
§ Colonel PENRY WILLIAMSIs it a fact, that there is already an airship station and shed at Howden?