The Navy is over-officered, particularly in the grades above the
rank of Commander. Mr. Childers has arranged a scheme under which officers who are above certain ages or who have not been afloat for ten years must retire on increased allowances. As they die off their places will not be filled up, and in a few years the entire service will be effective, and the nation will pay only for officers in employ and a moderate reserve list. No sailor, however, will ever admit that he is old, and from the peculiar character of the service, in which " interest " has always gone a long way towards securing active employment, the ten-year rule excites great indig- nation. It is held to be unfair that a man should be virtually dismissed because he has been overlooked. A great debate was raised on the subject on Thursday, but Mr. Childers stood to his colours, and the House supported him by a vote of 161 to 136, rather a small majority. Reasoning as outsiders, the age rules seem to us fair, and the ten-year rule rather too hard, unless the officer retired has had full opportunity of employment. Mr. Childers, too, presses the argument of the popularity of his scheme somewhat too far. Naval officers get so tired of waiting for pro- motion, that if he proposed to hang all the Admirals for being so much in the way, he would receive the enthusiastic support of many captains, half the commanders, and every lieutenant in the Service.
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