Page:The Next Naval War - Eardley-Wilmot - 1894.djvu/29

 flicts, and in the war with Russia of 1854 had compared favourably with the system by which our small army is organised. But the Crimean war was more a question of transport, and in this particular work we are unrivalled. In fact the British Navy had triumphed in spite of, rather than owing to, the system. There had, however, been some tendency to go with the times. In face of considerable opposition on the part, not only of those who resisted every increase of the naval element at head-quarters, but even of admirals who had never troubled to consider that a condition of war was essentially different to that of peace, a special department had been organised to deal with intelligence of foreign navies, and provide means for rapidly equipping our own force. Though small it had done good work, but as our system provided that the representative of the Navy in the House of Commons often was a man unversed in war ships, though he may have successfully directed a small line of merchant ships or other commercial undertaking, the new department spent most of its time in preparing returns on every conceivable subject to enable this gentleman to reply to the continual questions with which those in the House possessing a little more knowledge were able to ply him. It became the fashion for everybody to fancy he was qualified to make elaborate comparisons between our fleet and that of other nations. This led to continual