It is with very genuine satisfaction that we record the
Prime Minister's announcement in regard to a naval inquiry made in the House of Commons on Thursday. A statement as to the readiness for war of the fleets in home waters during the last two years had, he stated, been submitted to him by Admiral Lord Charles Beresford. The points raised are to be inquired into by a Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence, over which the Prime Minister will himself preside. The inquiry may seem at first sight somewhat limited in scope, but we are by no means disposed to quarrel with it on that account. If it is fearless and thorough, as we are bound to assume it will be, one of two things must happen. Either it must show that the fleets in home waters are in a sound condition, and that no changes are needed—in which case it will be safe to assume that what is true of the home fleets is true of the Navy as a whole—or else it will show defects in the organisation and disposition of those fleets, in which case it will be necessary to make a further inquiry into our naval organisation. The inquiry is a case of testing by sample, but the sample is so large and important that the risk of judgment being vitiated by a favourable accident is precluded. It is stated that the other members of the Sub-Committee are to be Sir Edward Grey, Mr. Haldane, and Lord Crewe, obviously the right selection. We can hardly doubt, however, that Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson, who has just been appointed to the Committee of Imperial Defence, will assist the investigations. Sir Arthur Wilson has the confidence of the Navy, for he is one of the greatest of living Fleet Commanders. He is also, and that is no small point to the good, a silent Admiral.
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