Before the war the Admiralty made one or two experiments with the official Navy List in order to information, but ultimately additional details were given. The publication of the January issue to the general public occasioned some surprise, inasmuch as it was possible to gather quite an amount of information as to progress in construction by comparison with previous lists. In this connexion it must be remembered that, until Germany began tearing up treaties and agreements, it was the cepted law of nations that, unless the name of a ship was published in the official Navy List of the country which owned her, she could not claim to be a ship in the public service, If, not having been thus registered, she took part in any operation of war, she was liable to be considered as a pirate and her ship's company to be treated as pirates instead of prisoners of war. The Admiralty January published the list of vessels taken over' for all duties, but since then Germany has indicated that she will do as she pleases in all matters, ce far as she has the power, There is, therefore, no obligation upon the Admiralty to issue any Navy List, and—their Lordships, it is reported, propose to withhold it from the public. Much as such a step is to be regretted by all who desire to keep touch with naval matters, it is impossible to deny that the publication supplies information that no censor would pass in a correspondent's copy.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.