We welcome a general moving-up of the younger men on
principle. This is a war of young men. Even the Generals and Admirals are comparatively young. In naval warfare the con- ditions have entirely changed during the war, and it is the younger men who know most about the warfare of light cruisers, and the youngest men of all who know most about submarine work. Every one with half an eye can see that the issue is between the sub- marine forces and the forces that seek to destroy them. The capital ships are for the greater part of the time capital locked up. No doubt they are a heavy and magnific ent insurance against what may happen. But the fact remains that sea warfare, as at present conducted, goes on day by day without them. Tho young men in our light craft and submarines are full of ideas and resourcefulness, and they are versing themselves in a science of war which was quite unknown to their superiors when they, in their time, were working their way up to the top. The tendency for men trained in an old school is always to apply the old terms to new conditions. Though it is impossible that very young men should be placed in high positions, the right thing to do is to place in positions of authority above them officers who are young enough to sympathize with them, and to be almost unconventional in their readiness to absorb new ideas. That is what is in effect being done—a general move•up in one rank affects all ranks below—and we are extremely glad to know it.
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