The Court-Martial on Lieutenant Collard, R.N., was con- cluded at
Portsmouth on Tuesday. Lieutenant Collard, who was charged with having improperly given the order " On the knee!" and with having used abusive language, defended himself with great force and spirit, denouncing the attitude of the sensational Press, exposing the glaring discrepancies in the evidence for the prosecution, and positively denying that he had uttered any abusive words or used the order as a punishment, or had apologised or paid compensation to the stoker Acton. He refused to admit that there was anything humiliating in the order. He had given it himself for five years, and before the mutinous outbreak in barracks had never heard any complaint against it. In his evidence on oath he admitted, however, that he was the first to use the order in barracks for the purpose of checking inattention. The Court acquitted Lieutenant Collard of using abusive language, but found that by ordering one single man to go on the knee, by way of reproof, contrary to the custom of the Service, he had committed an act to the prejudice of good order and naval discipline, and adjudged him to be reprimanded. Public opinion will endorse the verdict, which amounts to no more than this, that an error in judgment was committed by an officer admittedly distinguished for his efficiency and devotion to the best interests of the Service.
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