Page:The Next Naval War - Eardley-Wilmot - 1894.djvu/80

 view which a man unembarrassed with any such knowledge was likely to take upon the larger questions submitted to him.

Great progress has been made in the organisation of our fleet for war, and if we don't muster periodically a hundred ships for a royal inspection, we can at least despatch a fifth of the number at any time within a few hours, actually ready for service. To ensure this, each port is ordered to mobilise the reserve at different and uncertain periods of the year. Instant dismissal of the responsible official follows any breakdown or delay. A commission on manning the Navy ascertained that the present system of reserves, though well adapted for the time it was instituted, is quite unsuited for the present conditions. Thirty years ago, little was required to enable a seafaring man to perform all the duties on board a man-of-war. Now he must be well trained, and this is effected by entering men in the Navy for a shortened term of service, and passing them on to the mercantile marine, with an immense gain to both services.

Finally the lesson, though bitter, has been a useful one, for we now should not shrink from any scrutiny into our organisation for war. We have paid the penalty for unreadiness, and one of the comforts we have, in reflecting over the great sea fight, independent of the many gallant actions it produced, is that the Empire is more firmly knit together than ever. We not only feel secure at