§ MR. BELLAIRS (Lynn Regis)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is aware that the teaching of navigation to the cadets at Osborne is controlled by civilians, and that landsmen who have never practised any sort of navigation of the sea are daily teaching the cadets this branch of a naval officer's profession; and whether the Admiralty have sanctioned this method as the one best adapted for imparting the practical knowledge.
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. EDMUND ROBERTSON, Dundee)Mathematical teaching is given by civilian masters with a view to preparing the cadets for the future instruction in navigation which they will receive from naval officers. It is not, however, the case that the teaching of navigation is undertaken or controlled by civilians, and it would appear that the hon. Member has been misled by the difficulty of drawing a hard and fast line between trigonometry and theoretical navigation.