Page:The Annual Register 1899.djvu/56

 48] ENGLISH HI8T0EY. [maboh

fore only after three nights' debate that Mr. Goschen was able to get the votes for men and wages passed.

In making his statement (March 9) Mr. Goschen at the outset drew attention to the singular circumstances in which the estimates were presented, with a conference on inter- national disarmament before us and a war scare not far behind. The extra amount spent in the dockyards during the months of October and November, at the time when the headlines in the Press were largest, was only 13,600Z. Practically, therefore, there was no abnormal activity, because we were ready and prepared. In the Chancelleries of Europe there was a deeply ingrained idea that England intended war, and was prepared to seize the first favourable opportunity. The idea was absurd ; such an opportunist war would be contrary to the whole tradi- tions of British statesmanship. Eeviewing the ordinary work of the present financial year, he mentioned that the shipbuilding done had been more satisfactory than in the previous year, but the deliveries of armour and machinery by contractors were still short. In the dockyards, however, new construction had proceeded vigorously ; in fact, the dates for laying down new battleships had been anticipated. After giving some details of the progress and chief features of the new battleships and cruisers, he stated that, while the short earnings on armour and deliveries by contractors had been more than 800,000Z., on the other hand they had spent some 350,000J. more on new con- struction and repairs in the dockyards, while more than the balance had been absorbed by a large excess in the cost and consumption of coal, besides the strengthening of our stores of materials. With regard to personnel, the number of men and boys voted would be secured without difficulty. They were to have 106,000 men on April 1 ; they had 105,000 on February 1. During the year, too, 1,800 Eeserve men would have been embarked in her Majesty's ships for practice at sea — this experiment having proved completely ^successful. The sum- mary of the results of the financial year he regarded as eminently satisfactory, although the total cost, he admitted, was enormous. But if they had enrolled the men, built the ships, secured the guns and their ammunition, strengthened our naval position in all parts of the globe, and had more ships in commission than in any previous year, the taxpayers and the country at large had reaped their reward. Before passing to the programme for 1899-1900, he referred to two subsidiary matters of interest — first, that progress was being made with the works at Wei-hai-wei, and in making a good anchorage there by dredging, adding that the place would be of great im- portance to us in the China seas ; and, secondly, that the expen- diture under the Naval Works Act during the year had been about 1,300,000Z., while for the coming year it was expected to be a little over 1,500,000J. In the coming financial year, then, it was proposed to increase the number of men and boys by 4,250,