The Earl of Darnleysaid, he had submitted a motion some time ago to their lordships, in consequence of a disaster which had taken place during the late American war, and which appeared to him to have arisen in a great measure out of the inadequacy of our force. His attention to that subject was, he believed, attended with some good effects, and it was his wish to have brought the general administration of the navy more fully under the consideration of parliament in the present session, if the public mind had not been unfortunately too much occupied with another subject. He had moved for a return of all ships of the line ready for service, or ordered to be built, and of ships or frigates of two decks not carrying less than twenty-four-pouoders; and he found by the return, that the present amount was 57, and the amount of those ordered to be built 17. He had, however, to observe, that the few frigates ordered to be built were of too light a description to answer the purpose for which it might be necessary to use them in the event of a war, and that the Admiralty appeared to him not to have adopted a proper degree of efficiency and economy in their arrangements. It was his intention to have called upon the House to sanction a proposition recommending retrenchment in every branch of the public expenditure. He regretted to find that the naval estimate for the present year was greater than the last, instead of being less, as it ought to be, when once it was put in a state of efficiency. It was absolutely impossible that the country could go on with an increasing expenditure and diminishing income. He hoped, therefore, that ministers would not think it enough to lop off an unnecessary clerk in this or in that department, but that they would put their shoulders to the wheel, and try what could be done by the adoption of a general and compulsory system of retrenchment. The great department of the navy was that in which above all others profuseness might be admitted with least disadvantage; but as he could show that even in that some saving might be made without injury to the public service, it followed a fortiori that in the other departments much might be done to promote the great object of economy.
Lord Melvilleagreed with the noble lord, that as the navy increased in efficiency, the expense ought to diminish, and he hoped their lordships would find this to be the case in every succeeding year. It was not, after all, the number, but the durability of the ships, that should be considered; and the House would do well to recollect, that other powers built ships for temporary purposes, but the ships of the British navy were intended to go through a course of service which other navies never contemplated. It was certainly the duty of government to have ships ready to go to war; but their lordships had observed in the committee on foreign trade, that towards the conclusion of the late war, government was compelled to resort to the use of materials which introduced a more rapid decay among the ships than ever was known before. But care was now taken to prevent that in future. The noble lord had stated, that the ships now building were not of a proper class; but he ought to recollect, that we must build after the manner of those countries with whom it was possible that we might be engaged. Looking to America, it would appear that they only built large ships of 80 guns. As to the second class, the object of government was to repair those which were likely to be durable. The same observation applied to frigates of 40 guns. It was true that the United States built frigates as large as 60 gun ships, but the common size was 40 guns, and those of the different powers of Europe were of the same description. Great-Britain had some 60 gun frigates building; but her object was to have numbers as well as force, so as to be able to spread over as large a surface as possible to the annoyance of the enemy.
The Earl of Darnleyexpressed himself satisfied at the candid and satisfactory manner in which the noble lord had made his statement, and particularly at the prospect he had held out of decreasing expense in the general administration of the navy.