26 FEBRUARY 1859, Page 1
The Report of the Royal Commission on the Manning of
the Navy shows how great are our deficiencies in men. It is not that England has no sailors, but that her Governments, lapped in dreams of peace, have never organized the vast resources existing in her merchant navy for the oontingency of war. The Report, for the first time, puts forth a comprehensive official scheme for creating a naval reserve of trained seamen, by educating boys for the service, and offering higher inducements to those who follow the sea to connect themselves more or less permanently with the Royal Navy. The solution of the difficulty will be found in con- tinuous _service, liberal pensions, prospects of promotion, and generally humane treatment.
