JACK TAR ON HIS HONOUR.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 11992, 1 June 1914, Page 7

JACK TAR ON HIS HONOUR.

NO FURTHER USE FOR THE SHIPS' POLICE. ADMIRALTY TEST THAT PROVED A SUCCESS. Ever since Mr Churchill went to the Admiralty the question of the retention or abolition of the "ships' police" has been occupying the attention of the Board, and very little surprise has been caused (says a London paper) by the announcement that the force is to be abolished, for it has long outlived its usefulness. The police have been rendered rodundant by the rapid improvement in the morale of the lower deck, which has been such a pronounced feature of naval progress during the last few years. This improvement is due almost entirely to the favourable opportunities for advancement now open to the seamen and the stoker classes. The enlistment of a better class of man has led to improved conduct ashore and afloat. A Successful Experiment. As is well-known, the battle-cruiser Queen Mary, commanded by Captain W. R. Hall, has carried no police since she joined the fleet in September last. Tho change was experimental, but it is clear from the decision now made that it has been completely successful. Letters from members of tho crew indicate not only that discipline has been fully maintained but also that the happiest relations exist between the men and their officers. It is no secret that under tho old scheme a great deal of tho so-called '' crime in the Navy was of the manufactured order, conjured up by overzealous members of the police. Now that the men have been placed on their honour they have responded with enthusiasm, and there is no doubt that the extension of the system to the whole of the Navy will be accomplished by equally gratifying results. Making "Happy Ships." An important point to remember is that tho making of '' happy ships'' and tho preservation of discipline depends quite as much upon the ofiicers as on tho men. Unfortunately there aro still to be found in the Navy officers who are as much out of place in the personnel of a modern fleet as a muzzle-load-ing gun would be in the equipment of a super-Dreadnought, and who work on the system that nothing is to bo extracted from the modern seamen or stoker except by bullying, excessive punishments, and a general attitude of tyrannical officialism. Recent events have shown, however, that the Admiralty has no sympathy with such as these. Within the last three or four months there have been striking cases of socalled "insubordination" on board two of our warships—the Zealandia, of the Third Battle Squadron, and the Newcastle, in China —and in each case an officer of the ship has been suspended .