7 OCTOBER 1916, Page 2

It is no wonder that Lord Sydenham protests against this

pre- posterous negation of the whole of our naval policy since the founda- tions of our sea power were laid. Did not her seamen tell Queen Elizabeth that if our Navy stood on the defensive and did not seek out the fleet of the enemy and beat it, it was " farewell to security " ? That Mr. Churchill could have come to put forth such a view, not in a hasty speech, but as a considered contribution to the policy of national defence during the Great War, simply takes one's breath away ! Is be ignorant of Nelson's whole teaching as to the basis of action at sea, or does he, in the arrogance of his colossal self-complacency, think that what Nelson said and did matters very little compared to the views of a " late First Lord "