Clarke has been appointed as head of the new Secretariat
which is to supply the Committee of Defence with information on all matters that come within its purview. Sir George Clarke is so full of knowledge, both on naval and military affairs, and has made so wide a study of the problems of Imperial defence, that his appointment can be amply justified. We hope in the future, however, that the appointment will be given, not to a soldier or a sailor, but to a civilian who has made the subject his special study. The Premier and the Committee want accumulated facts in order to help them to decide between con- flicting views, and these facts they will as a rule get better from a civilian of judgment than from a soldier or a sailor. The business of the head of the Secretariat will be, as it were, to prepare a reasoned brief for the Committee ; but as we know, an able solicitor will often prepare a much better brief on a technical subject than will the expert. A civilian, again, will hold the balance more fairly between the Army and Navy, and prevent a purely military or purely naval view prevailing. We cannot count upon finding a supply of men like Sir George Clarke, who, though a soldier, has a wide and sympathetic knowledge of naval problems.
