On Tuesday night the question of the "repression of the
engineers," their inadequate pay, and the withholding of executive rank, having been brought up by Messrs. Platt Higgins and Allan and Sir Fortescue Flannery, Mr. Arnold- Pointer made a further statement. He met the charges of under-manning by stating that it was absolutely impossible to frame the engine-room complement in the Navy on the perpetual full-speed basis adopted in the mercantile marine, pointed to the chances of promotion now increased from one in forty-five to one in thirty-two, and contended that the alleged discrepancies in pay had not .been fairly stated. The attempt to assimilate the two branches of the Service in every respect in the United States Navy had been pronounced a failure by the Chief Engineer himself. Finally, Mr. Arnold-Forster made the significant remark, as regards Colonial con- tributions, that it would be a great mistake to allow the forth- coming Colonial Conference to assemble without ascertaining the views of the Colonial representatives on this subject.
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