The debate on the Navy Estimates on Monday is principally
valuable for these facts. Mr. Ward Hunt, when he took the Admiralty, said he found nothing but a "phantom Fleet." Yet it was that Fleet, built by the Liberals, which, according to the Government, exercised such a decisive effect in the Russo- Turkish war. Mr. Goschen showed that in five years the Liberals built 63,000 tons of ironclads, while the present Govern- ment in six years built only 50,000. " In the last six years, the Government had not turned out one single ironclad from the dockyards," contenting themselves with repairs,—a sufficient proof that they were contented with their Fleet. Mr. Goschen thought they should build faster, and Mr. Smith's counter- argument that invention was always advancing is not quite conclusive. There will be an electric rifle by-and-by, but we must have breech-loaders, nevertheless.
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