Mr. Goschen also replied to the chief arguments against the
Naval Defence Bill, and made a very successful point against the assertion that we spend money on inefficient ships whose steam- power is never to be relied on when it is wanted, by describing how the Calliope,' owing to the perfect efficiency of all her engines and appointments, steamed out of the harbour of Samoa in a tornado so terrific that no other ship could make way against it, and amidst the cheers of crews who were them- selves waiting for destruction. And he added, with generous exultation, that the Captain of the Calliope' is an Irishman, and her Staff Commander is Irish also; so that in our Navy " we still retain the services and genius of our fellow-country- men in Ireland." Mr. Goschen said that even on surely com- mercial grounds the increase of the Navy was justifiable, since war, if it broke out when it was believed that England was weak, would raise the price of all imported food at least 10 per cent., and as we import a hundred millions' worth of food, that itself would mean a loss of ten millions.
Previous page
