11 JANUARY 1919, Page 2

The Admiralty announced on Tuesday that it was " convinced

of the necessity for considerable changes" in the pay and conditions of service for the officers and men of the Royal Navy. The publio has long been convinced, and will await with interest the Admiralty's proposals for remedying a most unsatisfactory state of things. The Navy has saved the Empire and the Allies from disaster and made the victory on land possible. The least that we can do in return is to give the officers and men a living wage. The rates of pay, fixed In Nelson's time and but slightly improved during the war, are absurdly inadequate nowadays, in view of the great rise in prices and wages ashore. The Admir- alty has wisely arranged that the Committee of Inquiry will be reinforced at each home port by an Advisory Committee chosen by the different classes of naval ratings. The question demands thorough investigation, and, let us add, a prompt settlement as soon as the facts are made clear.