§ MR. DILLONI beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether the information in reference to the condition of the Mediterranean Fleet published by Mr. Arnold White was obtained by him by use of the letter which he obtained from the Secretary to the Admiralty, and why that information was withheld from the House of Commons.
§ * MR. ARNOLD-FORSTERI am not aware of what action Mr. Arnold White may have taken, but I am confident that no naval officer gave information to Mr. White which he would not otherwise have given, in consequence of the letter referred to. I have no reason 84 to believe that any attempt was ever made to use the letter for the purpose of obtaining such information. No information with respect to the ships in the Mediterranean has been withheld from the House of Commons.
§ MR. DILLONBut Mr. Arnold White's own language is that if the members of the Navy League have obtained any information it is due primarily to the action of the Admiralty itself.
§ * MR. ARNOLD-FORSTERHe refers in his letter to an answer which I gave to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton. Neither question nor answer had anything whatever to do with the point raised by the hon. Member.
§ MR. DILLONI am quoting the language of Mr. Arnold White's own letter.
§ * MR. ARNOLD-FORSTERThere is no such statement in the letter.