Lord Tweedmouth addressed a Liberal meeting at Chelms- ford on
Tuesday night. His speech, which was constantly interrupted by woman suffragists, was chiefly noteworthy for an important announcement in regard to the scheme, which has been so long "hung up," for providing a new naval base at Rosyth. Along the whole east coast of England and Scotland, he observed, we had not a single dock capable of accommo- dating our battleships. The Government had accordingly decided to open a new naval establishment at Rosyth, in the Firth of Forth, as the most suitable and useful place available. They intended first to construct a graving dock capable of taking our biggest ships, then a large basin and quays which would abcommadate twenty-two, or, if double banks were pro- vided, forty-four, warships alongside them. The naval base will cover an area of fifty-six acres, it will have a depth at all tides.of thirty-six feet, and access will be through a. lock eight hundred and fifty feet long.. Lord Tweedmouth_added that it was a very serious resolution for the Government to have arrived at, but he believed it was to the advantage of the country, and he did not think that when the works were completed they would involve any very increased cost on the dockyard establishments of the country.
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