The writer notes the curious anomalies that Sir John Fisher
was a member of the Esher Committee which took the old Admiralty system (in which the First Sea Lord was primus inter pares) as its model, and that all demands for inquiry have been harked on the ground that it would 'rifling° the principle of continuity of naval policy, although, ae a matter of fact, ever since 1904 there has been an absolute lack of real continuity in naval administration. No substantial reason for refusing inquiry has, in his opinion, been brought forward. It is supported by many officers of the highest character and experience, including Sir Frederick Richards, "whose services to the Navy are unequalled by those of any living man," and it is rendered necessary by the fact that the Board has lapsed into a "one-man show" for the last four years, with results that are most unsatisfactory and prejudicial to national and Imperial interests.
Previous page
