The speech of Lord Charles Beresford, who followed Mr. Goschen,
though he said some exceedingly true things, was not, on the whole, very effective or very judicious. He was possibly right in saying that in the case of war the country would demand a large fleet in the Channel, though that danger, from the public ignorance of naval strategy, has, we think, been exaggerated; but it was both unfair and unwise to speak of " a panic about invasion which the soldiers would keep going." The soldiers, eager to get to work, would, no doubt, agitate for the organisa- tion of a force capable of resisting invasion ; but if they suc- ceeded in this the effect would be good, for it would help to free the Channel Fleet. Lord Charles Beresford's plea for a fleet of specially designed and equipped steam colliers is one well worth considering, as was also his demand that all obso- lete ships should be at once written off the lists of available vessels. Sir William Harcourt confined himself to criticising the financial features of the scheme, but the House did not seem much impressed by his declaration that the system adopted by the Government had, in his experience, never been adopted except in time of actual war,—i.e., the system of more than doubling in July an estimate they thought adequate in the spring. What was going to happen next year when the supplementary estimates were produced, "and you have parted with your surplus and your taxation"? If he were the Chancellor of the Exchequer he would be extremely uncomfortable.
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