It will be seen from the above table that the progress of the German Navy in two years was rapid enough to justify us in anticipating the entire accomplishment of the programme which was sketched out by Prussia, before the Danish war, for completion by the year 1878. The entire fleet contemplated in this programme is as follows :— 16 Ironclads. 20 Corvettes. 8 Advice Boats. 3 Transports. 22 Gunboats. 7 Training Ships. The training ships and gunboats are already completed, and one half of the ironclads and corvettes, five of the eight advice boats, and one of the transport ships are either built or building at one or other of the Imperial dockyards. The experiments which have recently been conducted at Shoeburyness, with a view to ascertain the comparative power of the Krupp cannon, with which the German ships are entirely armed, and the Armstrong and other monster guns of our own fleet, have proved highly satisfactory to us; not only are our guns of superior penetrating power to those of similar calibre from the Krupp manufactory, as these trials have proved, but there are none of the latter equal in size or weight of projectile to the largest in use in our Navy. The system of conscription, which is found to work with such eminent success in Russia and France, and to which Germany owes her enormous Army, is put in force to provide the personnel of the German fleet. The whole sea-faring population of North Germany, numbering some 80,000 men, are exempt from the law which requires military service from every citizen, but they are enrolled for service in the Navy. In 1870 the total number of officers, seamen, and marinetroops actively employed amounted to 6,290, but there were in reserve the remainder of the 80,000 men, 48,000 of whom were serving in German merchant vessels, and about 6,000 were in foreign employment. We do not propose to enter fully into the details of the war navies of the smaller European Powers, but the subjoined table may be found useful for purposes of comparison. The column in which the annual cost is stated represents approximately the charges incurred yearly by each nation for its naval force, but it is to be observed that in the French expenditure accounts the cost of "marine and colonies" is shown in one sum, both being administered by the same Minister, and in the case of Norway the expense of the postal service is included in the same item as the Navy. A COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING THE RELATIVE NAVAL FORCES OF THE EUROPEAN POWERS AND THE UNITED STATES. It will be observed that we have omitted two nations, Greece and Portugal, which possess a navy, from the above table. The reason is, that both these navies are insignificant, and the information we possess upon the subject is very meagre. "The Statesman's Year Book for 1871" gives the following respecting the Greek Navy:-"The Navy consisted, at the commencement of 1868, of a frigate of 50 guns, two corvettes of 26 and 22 guns; one paddle steamer of 110 horse-power with 6 guns; five screw steamers of 36 horse-power each, with altogether 10 guns; and twenty-three smaller vessels and gunboats. The Navy is manned by conscription from the inhabitants of the sea-coast, but volunteering is greatly encouraged by the Government." The expenditure of the Minister of Marine is about £40,000 sterling. The Portuguese Navy comprises twenty-two small steam vessels a.-The number of officers, seamen, and marines voted for the year 1869-70, the actual number serving being about 950 fewer. These figures do not include dockyard workmen, civilians, &c. b.-Includes marine and colonial troops, dockyard artisans, &c. c.-Number of seamen not known; 679 officers of all grades. d. Does not include the armaments of the ships still on the stocks. e.-Does not include twelve unarmoured vessels which are either laid up in ordinary, or employed on harbour service. f-Number of seamen not known; naval officers, 711; marine troops, 2,171, including officers. g.-Includes expense of navy and post. carrying 154 guns; twenty-five sailing ships; thirty-seven officers, and 3,493 seamen and marines. Neither Greece nor Portugal possesses a single ironclad. There are two navies of which we have not spoken, either of which would at present prove most probably superior to that of Germany, but neither gives such promise of rapid and still increasing development. We cannot, however, omit to notice the Austrian Navy, including as it does the only ironclad frigates which have ever been in action, and not only been in action, but have come out of it victorious. In the war with Italy, it will be remembered, there was a naval engagement off Lissa, in the Adriatic, in which three of the most powerful ironclads which Italy possessed-the Affondatore, a cupola ship of 5,700 tons, the Ré d'Italia and the Palestro, broadside frigates were lost. The total Navy of Austria consists of sixty-seven vessels of all classes, carrying 512 guns. Of these ships, two are described as ironclad line-of-battle ships, nine as ironclad frigates, thirtysix unarmoured steamers, and ten sailing ships, besides twelve steamers and sailing ships which are either laid up in ordinary or kept for harbour and training service. The Austrian Navy is manned by conscription in time of peace with 4,299 seamen and 875 marines, including officers; the war footing numbering 8,743 sailors and 1,410 marine troops. Of the Royal Navy of the Netherlands it is only necessary to say that, although the number of ironclads and other vessels is considerable, the ships are not of any great size, the fifteen ironclads comprising six steamers of 400 horse-power, seven of 140 horse-power, and one of 120 and one of 40 horse-power. The whole Navy carries only 631 guns. It is manned by voluntary recruits, although conscription may be resorted to in case of emergency. The number of naval officers amounts to 711, and the marine troops, including officers, to 2,171. We have no return of the number of blue-jackets. We have succeeded, we submit, in showing that the Navy of Great Britain is not that shadowy phantom which the alarmists, who are always crying out "Wolf, wolf," would have us suppose it to be. We are constantly being threatened by panic-stricken and tremulous writers with all the horrors of a successful invasion; our fleet, as the first line of defence, is either ignored or spoken of as if it only existed upon paper, and would assuredly be found wanting in the first emergency; but we think we have been able to prove, and we trust to convince our readers, that we have not only a real, active, powerful fleet, but the largest and the most powerful fleet in the world-a fleet in numbers equal to the combined navies of Russia, the United States, and Germany; and in armament, as regards number of guns, as well as penetrating power, if not weight of metal, considerably superior. There is a defect, however, in our defences, which prevents us from enjoying the entire immunity from danger which such a fleet as this should afford us; and it is this: We have but one arsenal, and that one is insufficiently protected. The only factory which Government possesses for the manufacture of guns, gun carriages, and all appurtenances for the proper equipment of either our naval or field artillery is at Woolwich, and Woolwich is practically defenceless, except as far as the intricacies of the navigation of the Thames might secure it from attack. Surely this ought not to be. Our fleet is, no doubt, ample for the defence of the coast, including the Thames and Woolwich; but if anything should suddenly decoy away the squadron or guard ships which might be placed at the Nore, there would be nothing to prevent two or three light-draught, heavily armed gunboats from steaming up to Woolwich and entirely destroying the arsenal and Government factories. The danger to which Woolwich is thus exposed is not the only objection to our having but this one arsenal. Large, efficient, and capable as Woolwich undoubtedly is, it remains a fact that, with all her resources, she has at times been unable to respond rapidly enough to the demands made upon her; and it is beyond all question, in these days of rapid movements, and short but decisive campaigns, that if a war broke out Woolwich would have very little time to look about her. A day's delay might be fatal to an army, and even lose a campaign; and to be kept waiting for ammunition, as some of our ships were last year before setting out on the autumn cruise, would be to render our strongest arm worse than useless. What we want, to remedy this evil, are two or three large Government factories and arsenals in the centre of the countrythe nearer they are to the great iron districts, the better on the score of economy. There is one other point in which our naval force is defective, and to which we have already alluded incidentally: the necessity for a much larger number of gunboats of the Staunch class; for it is upon these that the greatest reliance must be placed for the defence of our commercial ports. The Admiralty appears to be recognising the value of these little vessels, and we may hope in a short time to be furnished with a fleet of them sufficient for all the requirements of Liverpool, Bristol, Hull, and, above all, London; but, when an economical fit attacks the British public, it is impossible to be too constant in reiterating the measures which the safety of the country demands. THE BOOK OF OATIATI.* PREFACE. HE ruins of London Bridge completed Oatiati's brilliant series of discoveries. He was the most famous of modern historians. Long after King Manheter's private College of Antiquaries had classed Macaulay and the prophecy which that English writer had revived, as mythological, Oatiati adhered to his belief in the prediction that a famous New Zealand chief should stand upon the arches of London Bridge and survey the ruins of the classic capital of ancient England. It in no wise daunted him when the exact terms of the prophecy were quoted. He only replied that the fall of England had been more remote than the prophet judged it would be; or that the rise of the New Zealander had not commenced at so early a period. If the arches no longer existed, he would some day discover their foundations. Continuing always in this belief, Fortune rewarded the philosopher's perseverance. The foundations of this ancient viaduct were accidentally exposed during the erection of an aerial columnstation for the Eastern Balloon Railway. Oatiati thereupon brought out the Twenty-fifth Edition of his great classical Encyclopædia of the antiquities, manners and customs, and illustrious men and women of the Victorian age, together with an account of all the proper names mentioned in the ancient authors of the United Kingdoms of the English. The following extracts contain a few of the most important and interesting passages of this remarkable work : I.-WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE. This was one of the most prominent men whose genius marks the closing days of the classic Empire of England. He is credited by some historians with the questionable honour of founding the English Republic. The son of a Liverpool prince of trade, Gladstone was first educated at the School of Eton, where he gave early promise of future fame as a politician and author. He edited a work known as the * The New Zealander's Lemprière. |