Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-12-17
Some Queer Information Regard
inC the Mysterious Depart
mcnt of Great Britain,
DOUBTFUL ABOUT ITS DUTIES.
Land End Of Maritime Affairs Is De-
cldedly Very Much at
Sea.
soecIni correspondence.


something the matter with our
army" said England after the
- Boer war was nicely started
ohpt our navy--thats all night" Then
after the army had finally muddled
through the BOer war certain REFORM
ers rose up and said; THE navy Is
as much enmeshed IN red tape as the
army jg or ever was, and II a first class
mower should hapnon to collide Win
mat nnvy we British folk would not
como out OF that collision half so well
os has been generally supposed. "
Then what stir there was IN White
hall. where, from the dlngy but dignl-
fed old admiralty building, the navy
mas been managed over since the days
before there wa3 any United Statesl
Even the stolld fat sea horses over the
orchvay seemed to take on an express
son OF heavy contempt for reformers
and critics generally. Adm!ras and
rear admirals and vice Acknowledgement
" retred-wrote letters to the Times
saying patriotic things about Eng
lands bulwarks," and all that and
inviting any two powers on earth 10
sail up and see what they could DO
with the finest navy on earth.
The result Of II all was, however a
rather careful examination Of the Brit
sh navys claims TO be quite all
right" with an ultimate conclusion
that whereas that portion of the navy
which happened to be anoat was In
deed a navy to be proud Of yet the
admiralty--that portion which ran the
show from musty Offices In whitehall
was In sore need OF having its bar
racles scraped off. Luckily for John
Bull that scraplng process began before
Admiral Rodjestvensky and his Baltic
feet won their memorable and glon-
Gus victory over handful OF British
fishermen at Doggerbank.
Under the pressure Of public opin-
ion and The influence of such men as
Admiral Sir John Fisher and Lord
Charles Beresford, commander Of the
Channel squadron, the admiralty has
walked up and Is doing harder and bet
ter work than II ever did before But
us organization continues the same as
that which In the past frequently has
allowed the British navy to lapse into
a deplorlble condition OF ineiiiclency.
Its constitution affords no guarantee
that It win not do the same thing again
when public vigilance is relaxed or It's
personnel Is changed.
The admiralty Is controlled by a
board. Boards" says Sidney Smith,
"are only meant TO act as screen
As a screen 10 conceal from the public
what goes on within the admiralty, for
which British taxpayers are now pay
Ing nearly N.5O0OOO annually In salaries
10 heads Of departments, minor officials
and clerks, II Is a most effective de-
vice, Il is based on negation Of direct
responsibility, the very principle which
IA found essential to the successful
management Of any business enterprise.
At It's nead Is a cabinet minister with
the official title OF first lord OF the adj
mfalty In the old fighting days this
minister was frequently a naval officer
but for many years a politician has
been selected for the post He may not
have given one hours serious study
10 the navy before he accepts office.
And under the English system Of po-
liucal prefement he is almost IN
lariably man absolutely devoid OF
business training, one who has never
undergone the salutary experience Of
having to make his own living, He
receives a SALARY of S22,5O0 year, near
" three times what an American cabi-
net minister gets, and an official resi-
dence TO live In. II he does not happen
70 be a peer peerage Is generally
bestowed upon him when he re-
tires from office. He Is the
spokesman Of the board Though he
has none Of the expert knowledge OF
some OF those who are associated with
Nm yet, with the exception OF one
other civilian likewise technically ig-
norant he is the only member OF the
board who Is not officially muzzled and
forbidden TO write and talk about the
navy.
The present holder OF the office is
Lord Selborne, who had the good for
tane q years ago to marry daughter
OF the Marquis of Salisbury and thus
attached himself to the house OF
cecil, whose members the marquis
always did his best to provide with
snug political blllets. However, Lord
ts,eIborne Is reputed 10 be a conscien-
uous, fairly capable and energetic
man, Like the rest OF the admiralty
ooluclals, he has for some time had
move on" He has been known 90
spend a bank holiday I'm the otherwise
Empty admiralty building, working
oV schemes for the betterment Of the
navy, while Prime Minister Balfour
ana other members Of the cabinet be-
,ook themselves TO golf and other pas
umes remote from the cares OF em-
plre.
The other members of the board
comprise four naval officers OF high
rank known respectively as the senior
second, third and junior naval lords;
. civil lord and a parliamentary and
financial secretary. For some un-
Known reason the third naval lord,
who Is known also as the controller
gets the biggest salary, $500 a year
pa addition TO his professional pay,
The senior naval lord, IN addition 90
We pay that attaches to his rank. gets
1880 year and a house. The Sec
ono and junior naval lords get
$4,000 annually each, besides what
,hey draw from the navy. The civil
iord Is paid $1,000 a year and the par
.amentary and financial secretary
nOOOO' These two are generally poi-
uSlans with no knowledge OF naval |
sslalrs, A permanent secretary, Sir |
Ivan Macgregor, gets another $40 900 |
year but he Is not a member OF the |
a. Ministers may come and 20.
WI ne holds on to his lob and keeps