196 REPORT — 18G9. 



Oti Naval Finance. By E. Main (0/ the Admiralti/). 



The object of this paper was to show how the cost of the Navy had increased in 

 the last twenty years. Dining' the last twenty years the naval system of this 

 cnnntr}^ had nndergone no great change, thongh considerable changes had been 

 introdnced both into the construction of men-of-war and the manning- of the Navj'. 

 These changes had greatly increased naval expenditure ; but, in addition, the Navy 

 was much larger now than it was twent}' j'ears ago. In that period a Naval 

 [Reserve had been added, a Channel squadroai maintained, the Const-guard trans- 

 ferred from the Customs to the Nav}', and the force of men kept in permanent 

 reser^'e at the different ports, to man ships immediately they were commissioned, 

 considerably increased. These additions to tlie material strength of the Navy 

 amounted alone to nearly two millions sterling ; and by cutting any of them off" a 

 great reduction could certainly be effected. 15ut these additions had been made at 

 the express demand of the country, to meet needs which existed as much now as 

 twentj^ years ago. Then several alterations, of an expensive character, had been 

 made, which had increased the cost of the Navy, since 1849, by about £1,700,000. 

 These were the increase of pay to nearly every class of officers and seamen, which 

 had been carried to such an extent that every officer cost, on an average, about £60 

 a year more than in 1849, and every seaman more than £10. Food was dearer 

 now than then, and was better in quality, and more liberally bestowed ; so that, 

 while the average cost of each man for provisions, &c. was £14 10s. in 1849, it was 

 now £18. In addition to these expensive alterations were the improvements in the 

 dockyards and in administration generally. It was difficult to see how any very 

 extensive reductions could be made in this branch of expenditure unless the Navy 

 was reduced to a much smaller size than it was twenty years ago. It is, however, 

 in this branch that the present reductions have been chiefly carried out ; but it has 

 required a public spii-it and determination of no ordinary character in the present 

 Board of Admiralty to effect here a reduction of even £100,000. Lastly, the 

 increased use of steam in the Navy and the substitution of iron for wooden men-of- 

 war have increased the cost of the Navy now as compared -with 1849 by £800,000. 

 Thus, altogether, the increased cost of the Navy in 1868 as compared with 1849, 

 which is about four millions and a half sterling, has been accounted for. 



On Assisted Emigration. By Dr. E. J. Mann, F.E.A.S., F.B.6.S. 



The object of this paper was to show that the most promising course in organizing 

 a sj'stem of assisted emigration is to provide suitable grants of land in the colonies 

 for selected and well-qualitied emigrants, and to give them advances of such means 

 as may be found indispensable to secure them a start in getting a living by the 

 cultivation of their grants, requiring them to repay such sums within a ffxed 

 period by easy annual instalments, and holding their land in security until the 

 repayments have been completed. An instance was adduced in illustration of the 

 practicability of such a system, in which thirty-five German families had been sent 

 out to a colony (the colony of Natal), and settled upon the land. These people were 

 embarked in the j'ear 1847, and were entirely without means ; and were nearly all of 

 them weavers, and destitute of the most important knowledge of agi-icultural opera- 

 tions. Yet when the author of this notice visited their settlement, which he did 

 eighteen years subsequently, he found each family in possession of a valuable little 

 estate cffrom 1.50 to :200 acres of land, which had been purchased at the rate of from 

 los. to 30.>'. an acre, and paid for, and with accumulated property in almost every in- 

 stance amounting to, and in some instances exceeding, £800. There can be no possible 

 doubt that, under a well-conceived and well-managed system, it would be found 

 that thrifty and industrious English, Scotch, and Irish farm-labourers, initiated in 

 the mysteries of the spade and plough, would be able readily to accomplish, at least, 

 as much as was done in that instance by German weavers not having the same 

 special and technical qualifications. Details were then given to show how a 

 capital of £50,000 might be made available in perpetuity to transport and start 500 

 families, comprising 2500 individuals, to and in a colony lilce Natal, and then to 

 add to them fifty other families, comprising 250 individuals, eveiy year. It was 

 shown that such a proceeding would alike benefit the community from which the 



