Lord Selborne, in a clear and sensible speech, thanked his
two predecessors at the Admiralty for their kindly criticisms, and readily admitted that the Opposition approached Naval questions in no party spirit. Once France was the only other great naval Power, but recently there had been much naval activity abroad, Russia, Japan, and Germany all entering the lists. To meet this we must be. free from any bondage of form, and though personally he thought a. three-Power standard needless, if not impossible, we must be ready to increase our standard with the increase of rival Powers. In any case, the two-Power standard applied only to battleships and never to oruisers,—a doctrine to which Lord Spencer assented. After a long and interesting summary of the duties of our fleets and the significance of recent changes, be declared that revolution was a word unknown at the Admiralty. There was nothing in his own policy of which the gerins were not contained • in those of Lord George Hamilton,' Lord Spencer, and Lord Goschen. " The whole has been one long process of evolution We have had one continuous development and change from the days of Nelson to the present day, and as long as that remains true the Board of Admiralty will deserve the confidence of the country." It is a doctrine which might well be taken to heart by every Department of the Government, for it is the axiom of sound administration.
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