§ MR. CLAUDE HAY (Shoreditch, Hoxton)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the wireless telegraphic messages sent by His Majesty's ships are continually tapped by ships in the merchant service, both British and foreign, equipped with the wireless apparatus; and whether there are wireless systems in use which, owing to tuning, cannot be tapped.
§ THE CIVIL LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. LAMBERT,) Devonshire, South MoltonThe Admiralty have not found any system of wireless telegraphy which cannot be tapped by other ships and stations possessing suitable instruments.
§ MR. CLAUDE HAYI beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the system of wireless telegraphy used by the Admiralty requires so much horsepower for long-distance messages that it is not possible to send messages any considerable distance from ship to shore; 946 whether there are other wireless systems in regular use which do not require so much horse-power as the system employed by the Admiralty; and whether the Government will appoint a Committee of experts to advise the Admiralty as to the best system of wireless telegraphy to use in the Navy.
§ MR. LAMBERTThe Answer to the first and last parts of the hon. Member's Question is in the negative. So far as is known there are no other systems which require less horse-power than the Admiralty system to ensure reliable communication.
§ MR. CLAUDE HAYAre we to understand from that reply that the Admiralty are satisfied with the existing system?
§ MR. LAMBERTNo doubt it is capable of improvement, but we think it is the best available at present.