QUESTION. (Hansard, 30 March 1860)

§ THE EARL OF CAMPERDOWN

asked, What steps Her Majesty's Government have taken in order to secure for this Country the Benefit of Mr. Whitworth's Inventions in rifled Fire Arms and Projectiles? The noble Earl said that in putting his Question he should ask the indulgence which was usually extended to a new Member of their Lordships' House, whilst he endeavoured to state the reasons which had induced him to bring forward this matter. He had sat for many years in the other House of Parliament, and during that time his practice had been never to bring forward any private grievance; and he might mention that he had placed this notice upon the paper without any communication whatever with Mr. Whitworth. He brought the matter forward as a question of national importance. He was not one of those who were at all alarmed at any number of his countrymen meeting an equal number of any other nation in arms; but he thought it was the duty of the Government to take the very earliest opportunity of securing for the country every new invention in fire arms and projectiles. The Secretary for War had asked for £15,000,000 for the Army Estimates, and had said that the increase was partly to be accounted for by the providing of new arms and projectiles which had been recently introduced, and which a number of foreign countries were rapidly adopting. He would not wish to say one word in disparagement of the weapon of Sir William Armstrong, 1612 for he believed his guns were very superior to any guns which had been before invented, and he believed that Sir William deserved well of his country. There was, however, one point which required explanation; for it appeared to him that Sir W. Armstrong occupied an anomalous position. Sir William Armstrong, he believed, had been appointed Superintendent of the Royal Gun Factory; and he believed that he was also a contractor under Government. He had no doubt that this fact was susceptible of explanation; but at first sight it would appear to be somewhat anomalous that the same person should be a contractor and also Superintendent at the Royal Gun Factory. He should wish to have this explained; and to hear that in appointing Sir William Superintendent of the Gun Factory, the Government had no intention of placing in the hands of his firm a monopoly in supplying artillery. He believed that recently a very greatly improved gun had been invented by Mr. Whitworth; and every person who knew Mr. Whitworth knew that he was one of those individuals who were fortunately not rare in this country: Mr. Whitworth commenced business as a working man in the employ of Messrs. Maudslay and Co., and had worked himself up from the position of a mechanic to the highest pitch of professional reputation. He was looked up to by scientific men not only in this country but in every quarter of the world. When a new invention was required, Mr. Whitworth was almost universally consulted. When the great scientific question as to the correction of the standard measure of this country was brought forward, Mr. Whitworth was consulted; and when a new machine was wanted to turn out some of the work which he saw around him in that chamber, the architect of the Houses of Parliament applied to Mr. Whitworth. Mr. Whitworth had not only invented a gun, but he had submitted it to experiments which had shown it to be most successful. Everybody said that it was the best gun which they had ever seen. Now, what was it that induced Mr. Whitworth to turn his attention to projectiles? It was this, that in 1854, during the Crimean war, the Government applied to him and requested him to devote his great talents to improving our weapons. In 1854 he turned his attention to the manufacture of a rifle, in which he proved so successful that he produced a weapon surpassing any of which we had any former experience.

1613 Two Committees had been appointed by the War Office to investigate the merits of the rifle; but, though it was proved to be superior to all others, it was not adopted into the service. He hoped he should not be told that financial considerations were against its adoption, for he thought no Government should allow financial considerations to stand in the way when the efficient equipment of our soldiers was in question. But Mr. Whitworth had declared that the price at which his rifle was furnished afforded no criterion of what the cost would be in a completely organized establishment; and he had offered, if the Government would allow him, to improve the machinery at the Enfield factory. Since then Mr. Whitworth had turned his attention to the manufacture of rifled cannon, by which a ball was to be carried to the distance of five-and-a-half miles. He heard from a gentleman who had fired it, and who had never fired a gun in his life before, that with two shots he hit a mark, which was six feet high and one-and-a-half foot broad, at the distance of two-and-a-half miles. He had the authority of Sir John Burgoyne for stating that he had never in all his life seen such an admirable weapon. Mr. Fairbairn, the eminent mechanist, of Manchester, declared himself unable to re-frain from writing a letter to The Times congratulating Mr. Whitworth and the country on the great success that had attended his gun. The whole mechanical population of Lancashire witnessed its success at Southport, and there were not Englishmen only then present, but parties representing the French, the Russian, and almost every other European Government. In self-defence Mr. Whitworth had been compelled to erect a manufactory at Manchester; and as his experiments were carried on without aid from the Government he had opened a shop for the supply of his weapons to all who chose to ask for them. Under these circumstances he felt bound to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they had taken to secure to this country the benefit of Mr. Whitworth's inventions in rifled arms and projectiles?

EARL DE GREY AND RIPON

said, it would scarcely be necessary to tell the noble Earl or to assure their Lordships that the great results of the trial of the gun which had been invented by Mr. Whitworth, as exhibited by the experiments at Southport, had engaged the attention of his right hon. Friend the Secretary at War and of Her Majesty's Government:—for 1614 those experiments had attracted attention in every part of the country, and the Report of their results had received the best consideration at the hands of the Ministry. He begged further to state that the object of the Government in regard to this matter being simply to obtain for the country the weapon which was most efficient for warfare, his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War had determined that a formal trial of this gun should take place, under the supervision of the officers of the Government appointed to superintend experiments of this nature, and who were wholly unconnected with any particular manufacturer or inventor — namely, the members of the Ordnance Select Committee, presided over by an officer of great experience, Colonel St. George, who himself was present at Southport at the first display of the rifled cannon invented and recently exhibited by Mr. Whitworth. Nothing could be more important than that this country, distinguished as it was for its triumphs of mechanical genius, should be provided with the best weapon of defence that could be invented; and he (Earl de Grey) could assure the noble Earl that no adherence to preconceived opinion would deter Her Majesty's Government from selecting that weapon which, after investigation, should turn out to be the best. He was sure, however, that the House would not desire Her Majesty's Government to decide without a full and careful examination. They were anxious, therefore, to propose this trial; Mr. Whitworth had declared himself ready to submit his gun to the examination, and was anxious for an opportunity of again displaying the merits of his inventions. There could be no question, as the results at Southport showed, that the gun would prove itself a most valuable engine of warfare under any circumstances under which it might be tried. There was one point, however, in his noble Friend's speech which he (Earl de Grey) had heard with less pleasure than the rest. His noble Friend appeared to draw an unnecessary comparison between Mr. Whit-worth's invention and that of Sir William Armstrong. Both the inventors were men of great ability and of remarkable energy —and whilst he quite agreed in the eulogy which had been passed upon Mr. Whitworth, he must take exception to that part of his noble Friend's speech which seemed to convey something of a reflection upon Sir William Armstrong's present position. There was no intention on the part of Her 1615 Majesty's Government to give to Sir William Armstrong, the company which he represented, or to any other person, a monopoly of Government manufacture. In stating that Sir William Armstrong was a contractor with the Government, the case was not put quite fairly. The noble Earl must remember that the late Government entered into certain arrangements with Sir William Armstrong relative to the works at Elswick, which were of a very peculiar character. Sir William Armstrong gave up to the Government his invention and all the improvements which he had subsequently made in it. In return he was appointed to the office of Engineer of Rifled Ordnance, with a salary of £2,000 a year. That was the position of affairs on the accession to office of Mr. Sidney Herbert; and as rifled cannon were those most wanted, of the pattern which had been patented by Sir William Armstrong, he put an end to the manufacture of smooth-bore guns, and established Sir William Armstrong— who, under the arrangement made by General Peel, was at the time an officer of the Government—as Superintendent of the gun factories. But in taking this step the Government had no intention of creating a monopoly, and if Mr. Whitworth or any other person could prove that another description of weapon was better adapted to the general purposes of the service it would, of course, he the duty of the Government to adopt it. With reference to the Whitworth rifle, it must be remembered that at the time the comparison was instituted it was by much the more costly weapon. Cost, was of course, an element of considerable importance in reference to rifles, which were to be furnished to all British troops. No doubt, Mr. Whitworth was now able to produce a much cheaper arm; but at the time the experiments were made his "rifle was much more expensive than the Enfield. A Committee had been appointed, which would commence its sittings almost immediately, to inquire into and report upon the best form of rifle, and the Government had every disposition to examine into the matter in the fullest and fairest spirit. He felt confident Mr. Whitworth would never be afraid of a fair trial, and that he would show every disposition to meet the views of the Government.