FOOTNOTES:
[80] I take this from Mr. Labouchere’s account given many months afterwards. See Hansard, vol. xcviii. p. 1008.
[81] These are the exact words given by Mr. Labouchere in his speech, May 15, 1848.
[82] Vide ‘Parliamentary Papers,’ vol. lix., 1847-8, p. 33.
[83] Vice-President of the Board of Trade.
[84] This paper was the Government organ.
[85] See Hansard, vol. xcvi. p. 1313.
[86] ‘Parliamentary Paper, 1847,’ No. 28.
[87] How completely this prediction has been falsified by the substitution of steam vessels for all the old sailing line-of-battle ships!
[88] The first ship of the line built by contract was in 1755, when Messrs. Wells built the Elizabeth, of 74 guns; and, since that time, private shipbuilders have contributed greatly to the public wants. They built and repaired (chiefly in the last war) 93 sail of line-of-battle ships, and 466 frigates and smaller vessels, making a total of 559 vessels of war. In the last war Napoleon I. had as building ports, Venice, Genoa, Toulon, Rochefort, L’Orient, Cherbourg, Antwerp, and, practically also, all the ports of Holland.
[89] One of the most remarkable incidents of the manning of a ship of war is that of Sir Edward Pellew and H.M.S. Nymphe. When war was declared by the French in February, 1793, it was unexpected; and the navy was on a peace establishment of only 16,000 sailors and marines. It was necessary at once to increase this number to 60,000. Pellew, finding it impossible to get seamen for his frigate, at once put eighty Cornish miners on board his ship, and a few months later fought and won the celebrated action with the Cleopatra—most of his crew never having seen a shot fired before. (See Osler’s ‘Life of Viscount Exmouth.’)
[90] There belonged, in round numbers, to the United Kingdom and her colonies and possessions on the 1st January, 1875, 7,500,000 tons of merchant vessels: of these about 2,000,000 tons were steam vessels; and as each of these will perform the work of four sailing vessels, it may be said that we now possess in our merchant service an equivalent to 13,500,000 registered tons of sailing shipping, so that in twenty-five years we have more than trebled Admiral Martin’s highest estimate.
[91] The question of impressment is too important to be passed over without any notice. Every well-constituted mind holds the principle of impressment in abhorrence; but every reflecting statesman is aware of the immense importance of such a power, especially as it is never brought into use but when the country is in actual peril. Admiral Martin, in his evidence, furnished his experience of what impressment had practically done for us in times past, he having been in three armaments, 1787, 1790, and 1791, on all of which occasions the equipment of the fleet was like magic[92], and the effect of the prompt display of the gigantic naval strength of this country in each case saved the expenditure of thousands of lives and millions of money. If these objects be worthy of national regard, we must submit to the mortification of sanctioning even so great a trespass on the liberty of the subject. The event of 1790, Admiral Martin thought, deserves especial mention as showing distinctly what the nation gained by impressment, and the results of a great naval demonstration. A quarrel had at that time arisen, though, perhaps, from an insignificant cause, with the Court of Spain; it became, however, of the greatest importance, owing to the threatened alliance of France, then under the control of the National Assembly, with the Court of the Escurial. On the 2nd of May, the King in Council authorized the issue of warrants of impressment of seafaring men, and, in the middle of June, Admiral Barrington put to sea with a large division of the fleet. It was insisted that this could never have been accomplished except by the power of impressment; and Admiral Martin, doubtless, expressed the general opinion of his profession in stating as his sincere belief that “if we lost the power of impressment we should lose the country.” Yet, while urging the necessity of preserving the power of impressment, he also maintained that nothing should be left undone which could tend to render the practice as infrequent as possible, and that every exertion should be made to render the service itself attractive to the seamen.
[92] In 1787, we equipped a fleet to support the Stadtholder. In 1790, we had a misunderstanding with Spain about Nootka Sound; and in 1791, we raised a naval armament to check the ambition of Russia.
[93] By the law then in force every seaman, before he could be employed on board a merchant ship, was required to produce a certificate from the officer of the Registrar of Seamen, called a register-ticket, showing that he was duly qualified for his duties, either as able or ordinary seaman; but the system was found to be impracticable, and was so grossly abused that it has since been abolished.
[94] In the United States the old English measurement is still adhered to, and the poops of ships are not measured, which accounts for much of the difference observable in the measurement of British and American ships. For example, the Henry Clay, of 1207 tons American measurement, where the poop was not included, measured 1467 tons by the new English mode, on which light, dock, and other dues are charged. The ship Queen of the West, 1106 tons American, measured for light dues in Liverpool, 1270 tons English. The effect of this would be that the calculation of $70 per ton would be diminished in a corresponding ratio if taken in English tonnage, and with the poops included. The estimate of $70 per ton, that is, American measurement, applies to the cost of a ship with her spars and sails, rigging, and everything complete ready to receive a cargo, but without her sea stores.