" OUR NAVY."
[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—May I point out to your correspondent, Mr. T. a Minshall (Spectator, March 14th), that the number of men employed in the Fleet is dependent upon the sum of money voted in the House of Commons for personnel ? During the next year 4,600 men are to be added to the Navy, and owing to the popularity of the Service the First Lord of the Admiralty can look forward to obtaining this number easily. The difficulty in manning the Fleet in the event of war will be caused by our persistent neglect of the mercantile marine, which is our one valuable asset, and from which we shall hope to be able to draw a large Naval Reserve. The present Chan. cellor of the Exchequer said in the House of Commons on Feb- ruary 28th, 1899, when he was President of the Board of Trade :
In the case of was the Naval Reserve will be called out, and the result of that will be that instead of British ships being partially manned by foreigners, they will be altogether manned by foreigners." The following figures will show the need for Mr. Ritchie's warning. Percentage of foreigners and lascars in the mercantile marine : 1860, 9 per cent. ; 1901, 43 per cent. Between 1891 and 1901 the number of foreigners increased by 8,700, whilst in the same period over 7,000 Britons were displaced. As regards the work that can be carried out by our Navy League as compared with that of the German League, it is obvious that they, with an income of 230,000 a year and a membership of 650,000, can do work which we, with 22,500 a year and less than a sixtieth of their members, cannot attempt. Had our League 210,000 a year, I venture to say that every shilling of it could be spent with advantage, and I have never been able to understand why, after eight years' hard work, during which time we have had a share in remedying many defects in the Fleet, the support accorded to us should be so small.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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