When legislators debate every gun and mounting

Dutch parliamentary debate reached the level of individual gun counts and mountings. Elected representatives argued over machine guns, main guns, double mounts, and whether two single mounts would suffice. Close scrutiny of defence spending remained legitimate, while technical design required choices among options prepared by naval experts. The objection was that elected office did not itself confer expertise in weapon arrangements. Representatives could exercise democratic oversight by comparing expert proposals without treating each design detail as a question they could settle independently.