Mr.thurchilrs defence of himself was in regard to certain points
exceedingly able and sometimes very witty—for example, when he declared that the principle which the Commission laid down about experts was that " you must always overrule an expert when ho is wrong." Incidentally, Mr. Churchill, while apparently resting his arm lovingly on the shoulder of his new friend, Lord Fisher, appeared to dig in his elbow rather mercilessly. Lord Fisher, he told us in effect, could at ,anyenoment have stopped the whole thing by refusing to move the Fleet ; for it was Lord Fisher who, as First Sea Lord, gave orders •to the Fleet. If lie had refused, a new Admiralty Commission would have had to be made out (i.e., Lord Fisher would have had to be dismissed), or else the project abandoned altogether. But Lord Fisher did not decline. On the contrary, ho definitely consented to undertake operations. At one time, as he told the Commission, Lord Fisher even offered to go out himself and bear the responsibility for the naval attack when it reached its eritieal phase. This disclosure fastens a large part of tits responsibility upon him. "Hang a third of the albatross round his Lordship's neck. I'll don the remainder," is a rough-and-ready summary of this part of Mr. Churchill's speech.
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