Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 3).djvu/207

 4thly. As a further temptation to the shipowner to be reconciled to the change, his men would no longer be liable to impressment.

None, however, of these points could, in the opinion of Admiral Martin, be conceded without loss to the public service.

If the abrogation of the Navigation Laws left the shipowner at liberty to build his ships in foreign countries, and he availed himself of that licence, it would inevitably diminish the shipwright class in this kingdom; yet on this class, the admiral argued, the safety of England had greatly depended during the late and former wars, and this he thought would be even more the case in any future wars in which the country may be plunged.

"During the war which ended in 1815, we had," remarked the admiral, "800 pennants flying, and even so many as 900 ships were in commission for a considerable time. Great exertions were necessary on the part of the shipwrights to keep up the repairs of such a fleet, and to build new ships to supply the decay and the casualties constantly going on. But numerous as our fleet was then, it was likely to be on a much larger scale hereafter; for, in addition to our usual fleets, there must, of necessity, be an immense number of steamers in a great measure as an addition, though not as a substitute for sailing ships."

The number of shipwrights in the King's yards throughout the war, he estimated, might be taken at an average of 3714 and 875 apprentices, making a total of 4589 working shipwrights, besides 550 in