Tae appointment of Mr. Wi ston ('burobill as First Lord of the Admiralty appears to be regarded at He be yn, and satisfaction. This is the more remarkable because those who frequently find themselves at variance with Mr. Churchill politically, might have pointed to certain incidents in his brief career as Home Secretary a8 indications of some want of ability in dealing with a difficult situation. The responsibilities of the two posts need hardly be said, missis character. But the wel ficance of Mr. ('burobi reception is the evidence it affords that the well-being of the Navy is in the past, regarded as a party question. sing the view that Mr. Churchill should be given a fair chance and all legitimate encouragement, the Presa, it may be said, is acting as the spokesman of a service whose ideals are daty and silence. Efficiency, first and last, is what the nation requires of the And in so far as Mr. ('barcbill's efforts are directed towards efficiency he: will find and desire no keener supporters than the men of the fleet, At present, of course, no details are available as to the polic; of the new First Lord. But dications are not wanting that it! will be a practical policy, and that changes are contemplated in a direction in which they have for some time past been generally deemed advisable. This, indeed, was demonstrated in the recent debate on the subject of official changes in the Board of Admiralty. "Having regard to the great changes necessary at the beginning of the year," said Mr. Churchill decided. that it was better that the changes (in the personnel of Board) should occur now, 80 as to give the new men a free hand to decide issues which otherwise would have been stereotyped and over which they would have had little effective control."
The change of chief importance in the personnel of the Board is, of course, the retirement of Admi Sir Arthur Wilson from the position of First Sea Lord, and the appointment in his stead of Admiral Sir William May. That change will come at a convenient time for the reorganization of control of the fleet by the creation of a Naval
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.