11 AUGUST 1894, Page 3

The naval mancenvres were concluded this week. The , aham-fighting, though

doubtless useful to the sailors, has not been intelligible to the public ; but the mobilisation of the feet has brought out most strongly the terribly undermanned -condition of the Navy. On this point all the correspondents are agreed. Although nothing like the number of ships have been commissioned which would be required in the case of a 'real war, it was impossible to find proper crews for them. 'The Naval Reserve was, according to the Daily Chronicle, -drawn upon as it was never drawn upon before, and yet ships were mobilised with about two-thirds of their proper complements, and in some cases scarcely a half of their proper complement of officers, "acting sub-lieutenants—that is to say, midshipmen—toeing put to keep watch, and generally do the duties that ought to fall upon lieutenants." The .Daily 'Chronicle makes what appears to us the sensible demand for a short-service system. It proposes that lads entered at from fourteen to fifteen should pass through the Navy, and after from ten to twelve years' service shonld go into the mercantile marine, with a small sum per annum as a retainer. Sailors engaged on these terms would be ready to be called back under the white ensign at short notice.