LATE ENGLISH NEWS BRITISH NATIONAL DEFENCES.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 282, 18 July 1888, Page 4

LATE ENGLISH NEWS BRITISH NATIONAL DEFENCES.

Tub Orient, Company* R. M.S. Iberia brings the following late London new s : — The question of national defences con tinues to occupy a good deal of attention A large and influential meeting convened by the London Chamber of Commeiee was held in the Cannon atieet Hotel on May 29 to hear an addiess from Admiral Hornby on the defence of the meicantile marine. Admiral Hornby dwelt upon the changed conditions of naval warfare owing to the introduction of steam and indicated that the principal positions to be guarded in order to protect the merchant ships in the event of wai breaking out were : — The space between Cape Cleat, Ushanfc an.l Land's? End, eoxering the entrance to the English and the Irish Channels; Cape Fmnisterre, Cape St. Vincent, Cores ; and on a line for these five stations there ought to be detailed at least 38 cruisers making l(i knots or mote at sea, out of a total of 42 such vessels which the navy estimates piomise us by 1890. There would still be many points on the globe which required to be occupied, ami any organisation for protecting all the loutes largely frequented by any ships would have to numbei its cruisers by hundreds. Besides the south-we^t channels and fom cruising grounds* in the Atlantic aheady mentioned, we should, in case of a European war. ha\e to watch at least thiee station.-, at home, viz., (1) The Channel to The Downs, (2) The D,wn»to Wick, and (3) the north channel of Ireland, and 24 stations in foreign parts. Taking the most moderate estimate, we should requite for them the following cruisers : — Channel, 16 : other home stations', 40 ; tor Atlantic stations?, 22 : remaining - J4 stations, 108 ; tottd, 186. The naval annual credit was tor 121 cruisers of all sorts ; to llie'-e should be added 12 belted cruisers, classed as j iionclads. This would iai«e the total to 133. If all theee vessel? weie speedy we should be 50 short, possessing only 42 of 16 knots. 'We had not one-tourth our minimum wants We had in 1793, excluding bombs and firefhips, 185 cruisei^ to protect 16,806 ships of a tonnage of 1, ,389,758 : in 1814 we had 489 to protect 24,411 ships, of 2,616,965 tons : now we had to piotect 36,752 ships ot 9,135,512 tons. A lcsolution was carried, which recorded the opinion tnat co-operation between Her Majesty* navy and meiclnint shipowneis appealed to oiler a good basis for an immediate organisation of such a reliable scheme of defence as- would inspire commercial confidence and cnsuie the maintenance of a food supply in the event of war between the United Kingdom and foioign VoWtilh. The Earl of Carnarvon, in moving the iesolutio!). said they must ask this question : Does departmental organisation give that which we need, that which other countries obtain, and that which is, after all, essential ''. He cast no blame upon the present or any other Government, but said fearlessly that the .system that had been in existence so long did not gne the secuiity lcquired. Endless repot ts condemning the system, opinions of experts, the advice of heacl« of the pioiession, miscarriages which from time to time shocked the public mind, and, lastly, the public instinct, were all evidence that departmental organisation did not do the work expected, and which we needed. We had not a wellordered and continuous policy. Requirements of national safety were frequently pared down to meet some supposed party exigency, and the opinions ot experts were disregaided to such an extent that the experts themselves hesitated to make recommendations which they know to be necessary, and thus responsibility was whittled away, until the country really knew not where to look for the true state ot things. Sir E. J. lieed also spoke, declaring that the Admiralty were now commissioning ships which they knew were not fit. Sir Edward Hamley, in the " Nineteenth Century," has an article defending the appointment of a committee to consider the minimum force requisite for security. This fixing of the standard , will, he urge", be highly advantageous. Colonel Hagart, writing in the same stiain, says that ib requires no official knowledge for a traveller to Portsmouth to see that not a single gun is mounted on the Hill&ea lines. ; that these guns cannot be constructed and mounted under something like two years ; and that the same is the case at Dover, Chatham and Plymouth. It needs no official knowledge to learn that the great commercial ports of Aberdeen, the Forth, the Clyde, Belfast, Dublin, Newcastle, Hull, Liverpool, Bristol and Cork are practically uncovered ; and that the Thames itself is little better protected. It requires no special revelation to be aware that the great bulk of tho defensive force consists of volunteers and militia, who have neither organisation, equipments, magazine rifles, ammunition, commissariat, transport, hospitals, nor camp kettles, He Qotncs to the conclusion that the infantry requires an addition in some form of 10,000, and that in place of j 263 tield guns 1,000 at least are needed.