that the public should realise that its safety is concerned in pressing for still further activity in our dockyards and arsenals. What the Government has recently done has been merely to provide the means of allaying immediate and well-founded panic; what the circumstances of the country require is a naval establishment that will render us independent of the outcome of European complications, as well as serve to protect our possessions scattered over the globe, whenever these may be in difficulty. A sum of between 4 and 5 millions (in addition to the annual grants made by Parliament) would likely be necessary to bring our fleet up to the required strength; and there are probably few Englishmen who would grudge the expenditure of this sum – especially if the money could be provided without causing any immediate increase of taxation.
II. As regards the strengthening and efficient arming of the works defending our naval arsenals, the British public are probably not aware that the fortifications decided on in 1860 for this purpose, at a cost of 7½ millions, are not yet in a completely efficient condition. A part of the armament has still to be supplied and mounted; and it is believed that for all the guns now in position the necessary ammunition has not yet been provided. It must be remembered that during the quarter of a century (nearly) which has elapsed since these works were designed, very great improvements have taken place in the construction and armament of ironclads. It is a great mistake to imagine that, when once our fortifications are constructed, armed, and paid for, there is an end of the matter, and that we may rest satisfied that we have done everything that is necessary regarding them. For the works to be of use, it is absolutely necessary that they should keep pace with the improvement in the means of attack. In these days of constant change and progress in the means of attack and defence, there is no standing still in fortification any more than in other matters. To meet the increased range of artillery, new works more in advance must be constructed; heavier guns, to correspond with the more powerful armaments of foreign fleets, must be mounted; larger magazines must be built, bomb-proof cover increased, and various other matters attended to. The land defences of Chatham, which, besides affording protection to the dockyard, are of very great strategical importance as regards the defence of the south of England against invasion, should also be pushed rapidly to completion. The proper arming of all our forts, and the provision of a proper supply of ammunition, is also a question for very serious consideration. The large guns used in the present day, and the powder and projectiles they require, cannot be manufactured at short notice, nor can supplies of them be obtained when required from private manufacturers. With its average establishment and rate of work, the arsenal at Woolwich cannot turn out, within the twelvemonth, more than about six guns of the most powerful type now made. It can hardly require any argument to show that, if the safety of England is dependent on the efficiency of her fleet, it is imperative that the country should provide thoroughly strong and secure shelter, where our men-of-war can be built and fitted out, lie in reserve, and return to during war, to be refitted and replenished with ammunition and
