26th June, In December, 1902, Lord Selborne, who was then Firat Lord of the Admiralty, issued a memorandum in which he down the principle of common early entry and training for naval officers Under this proposal, he stated, every officer would, in the broad sons, be an engineer. Since the memorandum has been issued the officers of the engineering department have taken the same titles as their comrades of executive rank, being known as Engineer-Lieutenant, Engineer-Commander etc., ax the case may be, There has, however, been some uncertainty as to whether, under the new scheme, an officer who qualified himself as Lieutenant (E) would by so doing irrevocably separate himself from the other branches of the service, or whether, as in the case of Gunnery, Torpedo, and Navigation officers, he would be eligible for promotion to the command of a ship. The Admiralty regular of 1905 for the entry and examination of officers provided that candidates for commissions as Executive, Engineer, or Marine officers, should pass 'n common examination and undergo for a p: riod of four years a common training, and whilst ib was specifically stated in a circular letter of an earlier date that Lieutenants (BE) would be eligible for promotion us Commanders, Captains, and Rear-'Admirals (E) it was nob definitely explained what position these ranks would carry, In the case of Executive officers specialization is drop-after the rank of Commander. ts retention in the engineer branch made it seem as though no engineer officer could ever obtain command of a ship.
On the 12th ult, the Report of the committees appointed to investigate the new scheme under the presidency of Admiral Douglas was issued in the form of a Blue Book, and about the same time Dr. Owing, the present Director of Naval Education, delivered a lecture at the Royal Naval College, Portemouth, on the new system of naval education, He asserted that the scerne does not mean that the officers are interchangeable, i.e. that they may be called upon to serve one commission as deck-lieutenant, the next in the engine room, and #0 on. industrial problems of Japan, and the war caused a great defi iciency facturing industry and protection No officer will specialise in more
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.