Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/310

Rh 298 NAVY provided they had served a year in their respective qualities, or had been in a general engagement with the enemy. A regularly estab lished half-pay was further sanctioned by an order in council of Queen Anne in 1700, the conditions of which were, that no officer should enjoy the benefit thereof who had absented himself without permission of the lord high admiral or lords commissioners of the Admiralty, or who had been dismissed for any misdemeanour or by court-martial, or who had not behaved himself to the satis faction of the lord high admiral, or who should have leisure to go out of His Majesty s dominions, if employed in the merchant service or otherwise, or who enjoyed the benefit of any public employment. Since the above period the rate of half-pay to the several officers of the navy has undergone various modifications. It has included within its area of benefit a larger number of classes of officers. It has also increased enormously in bulk as a non-effective service charge. So great was the increase in this respect, notwithstanding the subdivision of the half-pay list into &quot;retired&quot; and &quot;reserved&quot; sections in addition to the &quot;active&quot; half-pay list, that in the interest of the officers themselves, as well as of the country, it became necessary in 1869 to make a scheme of retirement, in accordance with which officers on the half-pay list, from whatever cause, for more than a prescribed number of years, were permanently retired, and allowed to draw a retired pay, orto commute for a capital sum the value of their pay. Half-pay is not given to officers below the rank of sub-lieutenant in the military branch, or of paymaster in the civil. For further details see the Navy List. Prize- Prize-Money. This additional incentive to exertion on the part money, of officers and seamen on board ships of war dates from the earliest time. At an early date rules and regulations were made for the due apportionment of prize of war, a large portion going to the king and his admiral. In 1793 precise regulations, in the present sense of the Avord, were first issued. By them the proceeds arising from captures from the enemy were divided into eight equal parts, and were distributed by order of ranks. These have been amended from time to time, and were the subject of special orders in March 1854. The existing orders are contained in a royal proclamation dated May 1871, and direct, subject to the under-mentioned provisos, that one-thirtieth part of the value of prizes shall go to the admiral in command of the capturing vessels (if two admirals they are to divide the thirtieth, the senior taking two-thirds, the junior one- third), and of the remainder, or of the whole if no Hag share is payable, the captain is entitled to a tenth of the entire proceeds. After these deductions the remainder of the net proceeds is to be distributed in ten classes, so that each officer, man, and boy assisting in the capture of the prize shall receive shares, or a share, according to his class. Officers in the first class, including inspectors-general of hospitals afloat, inspectors of steam machinery, secretary to com- mander-in-chief, are to receive forty-five shares each ; in the second class, including senior lieutenant, staff surgeon, and certain pay masters, thirty-five shares each ; in the third class, lieutenants, surgeons, captain of marines, and some others, thirty shares each ; in the fourth class, including lieutenants of marines, sub-lieutenants, and warrant-officers, twenty shares each. To the fifth class twelve shares each are assigned ; to the sixth, ten shares each ; to the seventh, seven shares ; to the eighth, including able seamen, four shares ; to the ninth, including &quot;idlers,&quot; two shares ; and to the tenth, boys, one share. Another source of emolument is the per centage charged upon treasure, which, for security s sake, may be conveyed in ships of war on merchants account. Other Another great encouragement for young men to enter the naval rewards, service arises from the honours bestowed by the sovereign for any brilliant exploit. Exclusive of peerages and baronetcies, the honours bestowed for gallant conduct in the naval service at present (1883) are the titles of knights grand-crosses of the military order of the Bath, and knights commanders and companions of the Bath, in addition to which there are the civil order of the Bath, and, for colonial services, the order of St Michael and St George. Koyal medals have also been granted of late years for various naval services, and distributed alike to the officers, seamen, and marines; and a number of officers, seamen, and marines have received the Victoria Cross. Good-service pensions are also awarded to a certain number of flag-officers, captains, and general and field-officers of marines. These are selected according to their standing, and length and nature of services, a statement of which is given, in each case, in the annual naval estimates presented to parliament. The amount of the good-service pension ranges from 100 to 300, according to rank and service. There are also naval and Greenwich Hospital pensions established for the relief of retired officers of long service, who are old, infirm, wounded, or disabled. Some of these pensions are allotted to each class of officers. The cost of the British navy has necessarily varied with the times, with the materials used in the construction of ships, and with the number of men borne on the strength of the fleet. The highest number of men borne in the navy was in 1813 when 147,047 seamen and marines Men Voted.* Total borne on Ships Books.f Grant for Ordinary Naval Services.^ Kavy Debt at End of Year. 1C91 29.270 35,317 1,640,760 1700 7,000 7,754 638,142 1,334 ,232 1710 40,000 46,493 2,096,000 5,655,535 1720 13.500 21,188 1,321,572 1,503,687 1730 10,000 9,686 837,786 1,396,723 1740 35,000 37,181 1,938,704 1,301,525 1750 10,000 11,691 995,521 1,716,923 1760 70,000 86,626 4,926,630 5,228,695 1780 85,000 97,898 6,782,284 10,372,628 1800 110,538 123,527 11,366,579 8,705,886 1810 145,000 146,312 15,801,184 5,591,822 1820 23,000 23,985 6,340,771 1,193.455 1830 29,000 31,160 5,134,955 1,314,060 1840-41 37,456 37,665 5,742,871 1850-51 39,000 39,093 5,772,652 1860-61 84,100 79,018 12,644,570 1868-69 G6.770 66,278 10,806,690 1880-81 58,800 57,946 10,321,435 Cost and number were borne, and when the total charge was 21,212,012, and the year ended with a navy debt of 8,562,291. This was the largest charge ever made for the navy, except in 1855 (the year of war with Russia), when the charge was 21, 394,216. Below is a statement showing the number of men voted, the number actually borne, and the charge, for typical years between 1690 and 1881 : 1713 and 1738. t Including marines on shore. j After excluding ordnance and conveyance of troops. In reviewing her resources generally for manning the navy, England may, as Sir Thomas Brassey says, fairly look to the reserves, no less than to the number of men actually borne for fleet service. The coastguard on shore has been maintained for many years at an average strength of 4000 men. The naval reserves have averaged, between 1868 and 1881, 15,785 men. The same authority gave the following figures in 1882: pensioner reserve, 1560; first class royal naval reserve, 11,800 ; second class, 5600 ; third class, 150; and naval artillery volunteers, 1400. The total reserve for manning a war navy was considered by him to be not less than 40,000 men. Personnel of Modern Navies Compared. In any comparison of the personnel of modern navies, the question of the strength of the mercantile marine is more important than it is in relation to the materiel. Sir T. Brassey reminds us that, of the 140 English ships which were assembled to oppose the Spanish Armada, only 28 belonged to the royal navy, and that Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, who commanded the fleet under Lord Howard, were masters in the merchant navy; also that Howe s victory of 1st June 1794 was gained by the merchant sea men of the kingdom. It is estimated by the same authority that, if the system of naval conscription existing in France were applied to England so as to include, as it does in France, the crews of coasters, fishermen, boatmen, and the workmen in the private shipbuilding yards and the dockyards, there would be a roll of from 700,000 to 800,000 men. France. The system here was established under Louis XIV., and it comprises a term of compulsory service, by means of which Franco inscribes on her rolls some 170,000 men, of whom the great majority are fishermen. 1 The personnel of the navy below the rank of officer is recruited, (1) by the men of the maritime inscription, (2) by voluntary engagements, and (3) in the case of an insufficiency of men of the first two categories, by a contingent from the general recruiting of the country told off for the navy. 1. Every individual, having completed eighteen years of age, who has made two long voyages (au long cours) either on Govern ment or on merchant ships, or who can count eighteen months of navigation or two years of coast fishing, and who declares his intention of continuing a seafaring life, is inscribed as a sailor, and 1 See The Armed Strength of France, published (1877) under the superintendence of II. M. Stationery Office.
 * Including marines, who first appear in 1702 to 1712, and disappear betweeu