§ MR. LEA (St. Pancras, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether his attention has been drawn to public attacks by Admiral C. C. Penrose Fitzgerald and Captain F. W. Lowther, R.N., on Commodore Galloway and Admiral Sir John Fisher; and whether, in the interests of discipline in the Navy, he will state what action he proposes taking with regard to these two retired officers to prevent a repetition of similar conduct on their part.
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. Edmund Robertson,) DundeeThe Admiralty would deprecate any interference with the free expression by retired naval officers of their opinions on all naval and political questions; but while they regret that retired officers have occasionally shown themselves lacking in the discretion which the responsibility of their position requires, it is not considered that the power of removing an officer's name from the list, with the consequent forfeiture of retired pay, should be exercised in any but the gravest cases.