If the proportion of
foreigners in our merchant service is too high it is certainly
deplorable; and if, being already too high, that proportion is
rising, an early remedy is urgently needed. I do not propose
to speak here of that matter, which is grave enough to require
separate treatment.
My object is to present the results of an inquiry into the history
of the relations between the navy and the merchant service, from
which will appear to what extent the latter helped in bringing the
former up to a war footing, how far its assistance was affected
by the presence in it of any foreign element, and in what way
impressment ensured or expedited the rendering of the assistance.
The inquiry has necessarily been largely statistical; consequently
the results will often be given in a statistical form. This has the
great advantage of removing the conclusions arrived at from the
domain of mere opinion into that of admitted fact. The statistics
used are those which have not been, and are not likely to be,
questioned. It is desirable that this should be understood, because
official figures have not always commanded universal assent. Lord
Brougham, speaking in the House of Lords in 1849 of tables issued
by the Board of Trade, said that a lively impression prevailed
'that they could prove anything and everything'; and in connection
with them he adopted some unnamed person's remark, 'Give me half
an hour and the run of the multiplication table and I'll engage
to payoff the National Debt.
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