The establishments for military educational purposes comprise the Council of Military Education, Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, Royal Military and Staff College at Sandhurst, Royal Military Asylum and Normal School at Chelsea, Royal Hibernian Military School at Dublin, Department for Instruction of Artillery Officers, Military Medical School, and a varying number of Garrison Schools and Libraries. In the army estimates for 1898-99, the sum provided for military education is 182,3007. (including the appropriation in aid). The two principal educational establishments for officers are the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, and the Royal Military and Staff Colleges at Sandhurst. In the army estimates of 1898-99 the cost of the Woolwich Academy was set down at 36,2007., and of the Sandhurst College at 44,8007.

II. NAVY.

The British Navy is a permanent establishment, governed by statutes and orders fixed with much precision by the Legislature. Its administration was formerly in the hands of a Lord High Admiral, but by the Act 2 Will and Mary, c. 2, this office was vested in a Commission. With the exception of various periods in which the office has been revived-in the person of the Earl of Pembroke in the reign of William III., of Prince George of Denmark (1702-8), and of the Duke of Clarence (May, 1827-August, 1828)—it has continued to be held in commission by the Board of Admiralty. The Board now consists of the First Lord of the Admiralty, who is always a member of the Cabinet, and five other commissioners,

The First Lord is responsible for the general direction and supervision of all naval business, and deals with promotions, appointments, nominations to cadetships, and other matters. The First Naval Lord advises upon questions of maritime defence, strategy, and naval policy, and is charged with business relating to ships in commission, the distribution and organisation of the Fleet, the supervision of the Intelligence and Hydrographic Departments, ships' complements, discipline, courts martial, signals, collisions, gunnery, torpedoes, &c. The Second Naval Lord is responsible for the manning and officering of the Fleet, and for mobilization, naval education and training, the Royal Naval Reserve, and many other matters concerning the personnel. The special work of the Third Naval Lord and Controller of the Navy is chiefly in relation to matérial. He has charge of the dockyards, the steam reserves, shipbuilding and repairs, machinery, the purchase, disposal and loan of ships, questions relating to inventions and discoveries, naval ordnance and stores, and the dockyard personnel. The Junior Naval Lord is concerned with the transport, medical and victualling services, and with hospitals, the coaling of the fleet, questions of pay, allowances, prize money, uniform, pensions, and other like matters. The Civil Lord is responsible for the Works Department, and for buildings and establishments, questions concerning Greenwich Hospital, dockyard schools, and other business. The Admiralty Board is assisted by a Parliamentary and Financial Secretary, who has charge of all matters of account and of questions involving reference to the Treasury financially; and by a Permanent Secretary, who is responsible for the discipline of the Admiralty departments, and appointments in the office, and has charge of correspondence and maritime papers. The administration of the Navy is thus conducted under the direction and supervision of the Board through a number of independent departments.

For the details of Naval expenditure see under Finance. The number of officers, seamen and marines provided for in the estimates for 1898-99, and also for the previous year, was as follows;

The increase of 6,340 sanctioned includes 200 officers, 2,400 seamen, 284 engine-room artificers, 1,700 stokers, 1,000 marines, 456 miscellaneous ratings, and 300 boys under training.

The

The Naval Defence Act of 1889 provided for the construction of 70 vessels at a cost originally estimated at £21,500,000. fleet resulting comprises 10 first-class battleships (the Royal Sovereign, Empress of India, Ramillies, Repulse, Resolution, Revenge, Royal Oak, Hood, Centurion, and Barfleur), 9 first-class cruisers, 29 second-class cruisers, 4 third-class cruisers, and 18 torpedo-gunboats. All of these have been completed, and are in

commission or in the reserve.

After these come the battleships of the Spencer programme, the Majestic, Magnificent, Victorious, and Prince George, of 14,900 tons, with their later sisters, the Mars, Jupiter, Illustrious, Hannibal, and Cæsar, of which the last three were delayed by the engineering dispute. The Renown is of a smaller type (12,350 tons), and six other vessels of somewhat greate displacement, 12,900 tons, are the Canopus, Ocean, Goliath, Albion, Glory, and Vengeance. There was delay, through the engineering dispute, in the advancement of the later ships of the Canopus class, and their successors of the Formidable class, provided for in the estimates of 1897-98, were not laid down so soon as was expected. They are the Formidable at Portsmouth (launched November 17th, 1898), the Irresistible at Chatham, launched December 1898, and the Implacable at Devonport, and are improved Majestics of 14,700 tons. The estimates of 1898-99 provide for the laying down of three other battleships of the Formidable class-the London, Bulwark, and Venerable-and the supplemental programme of July 1898 includes four other battleships of modified type (14,000 tons) now ordered.

An account of the ships of the new programme follows the tabular matter. In regard to cruisers, the Powerful and Terrible (14,200 tons) have proved very successful, and the former is in commission in China. Four first-class cruisers of the Diadem class (11,000 tons) were laid down in 1895, and four others, the Spartiate, Argonaut, Amphitrite, and Ariadne are well advanced. Four armoured cruisers of a new class (programme of 1897-98), the Cressy, Hogue, Aboukir, and Sutlej (12,000 tons) were delayed, but are in hand. Four others are in the programme of 1898-99, two (the Euryalus and Bacchante) being of the Cressy class and two of a superior type. The supplemental programme of July 1898 includes four other like cruisers. Of second-class cruisers, the Arrogant class includes four (one completed and the others well advanced), and the modified Talbot class three cruisers, which have been delayed. In all ninety-six destroyers were to have been completed, or ordered in 1897-98, but there has been some delay. The supplementary programme includes twelve others.

The following table shows the effective fighting strength of the British Navy, ships in course of construction or planned being given in separate columns. No uniform classification of the vessels of various navies exists, but the table given is based upon a useful system adopted in the Naval Annual. It should be observed that seven first-class battleships (the 'Admirals') will soon drop into the second class. In the third class are included the old battleships which have latterly been counted unsatisfactorily as first-class armoured cruisers. Ineffective vessels we excluded from the table.

During the year 1898-99, the vessels under construction or

completing are: 12 battleships, 16 first-class cruisers, 6 secondclass cruisers, 10 third-class cruisers, 6 sloops, 4 twin-screw gunboats, 41 torpedo-boat destroyers, and a royal yacht.

as

There are 11 vessels which are subsidized by the Admiralty 'Reserved Merchant Cruisers,' in addition to many others which are held at disposition, and marked for preferential employment, without subvention. The subsidized vessels are the Campania and Lucania (Cunard Company), Himalaya, Australia, Victoria, and Arcadia (P. & O. Company), Majestic and Teutonic (White Star Line), and Empress of India, Empress of China, and Empress of Japan (Canadian Pacific Railway Company).

In January, 1899, there were 164 ships in commission, exclusive of gunboats, small craft, the coastguard and portguard ships, and a number of vessels engaged in the training service and as harbour and depôt ships. The various stations of the squadrons are the Mediterranean, Channel, North America and West Indies, South-East Coast of America, Pacific, Cape and West Coast of Africa, East Indies, China, and Australia.

The vessels were thus distributed in January 1899 :--

The following tabulated list of battleships, coast and port defence vessels, and principal cruisers of the British Navy, built, building and projected, requires a few words of explanation. The order of ships is chronological. In the first list, the ships of which the names are in italics are coast defence or floating battery ships. The numbers following the names of the others indicate the classes to which they have been assigned in the foregoing table. The letters in the first column signify the character of the ships:—b. broadside; c.b. central battery; t. turret; bar. barbette. In the particulars of guns, "Q.F." means quick-firing. Machine-guns are not given. The cruisers tabulated are of the first-class, and the more important and recent vessels of the second class.

4

4,830 11.6

2

7,000 13:4

2

6,000 12.1

6,000 15.5 7,500 15.5