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Press, Volume LV, Issue 16437, 3 February 1919, Page 6

We can recall few fatalities which r'i 13 , Communit y so painful a shock as did the tragic death at Riccaiton, on Saturday, of Mr C. M. Hill chief instructor at the Aviation School at, feockbum. That ho should meet ceath at a timo when he was engaged m giving an exhibition of flymg before a largo and deeply-interested gathering of racegoers added to the sorrow caused by Hie catastrophe. Mr V i? f o '". somo yoars carried out his valuable duties without accident to himself or to any of the 180 pupils - who had passed through the school, and had 1 established a well-deserved reputation for carefulness and skill. He „ on tho affection and admiration- of all his pupils, and the warm esteem of all others with whom he came in contact. His death is a very real loss, not only to the school, but to the Dominion and profound sympathy with his young ruT m ., hor sad beroavement will he felt by all.

Tho nows regarding a mutiny i n a destroyer in a Homo port must apparent y be taken as a statement of fact, disagreeable though it is But wo shall require hotter evidence' than the assertion of one of the mutineers before we believe that "half tho British vy is on strike, and tho remainder soon will be." Statements have been pubhshod indicating a certain amount of unrest in tho Navy, owing to the desire of a number of tho men to bo demobilised and allowed to return home, but there has boen no suggestion from any source of tho danger of anything faintly resembling a general strike over the question of tvrjj watches or three. .Tho Xavy prides itself on neither boasting nor "grousing" in public, and also on tho maintainance of the strict discipline for which it is noted, and a general strike by tho "handy man" is so unthinkable that if it actually occurred the cntiro nation would indeed think that tho bottom had dropped out of tiie whole edifice of the Empire.

Tliis is not to say that Navy men havo not somo grievances, apart from tho question of release from war * sorvice. Somo two months ago an appeal, which had been drawn up by the executive council of ' the Lowor Deck Associations, was issued by the petty officers and men of the Navy. The tone of the document, according to Mr Archibald Hurd, the "Daily Tolograph's" naval contributor, was generally admirable. "It does no outrage in these changing times to the high traditions of probably the best-disciplined scrviec in tho world." It affirmed at the outset that "since the outbreak of hostilities the men of the lower deck of the Royal Navy have boon granted ono increase of pay, which rangod from 2d to 3d per day, and was granted in 1917."

. 'T-» " T his statement, it is admitted, is literally correct, but it takes no account of tho increases in tho allowance grant-

Ed for efficiency, nor of the fact that since the war began the Admiralty has added a separation allowance to the os per week which every married man has had to make to his wife, as in the case of the Army. Apart from any other remittance which a wife may receive from her husband, she gets lis per week, or 17s Gd if unable to "work, whilo a woman with four children receives 36s 6d per week, with, it appears, an additional allowance for each child. It is further pointed out that a seaman or stoker of average ability and good conduct can earn, with special allowances, more than the soldier, while a naval rating with a first-class record can retiro before he is 40 with a pension of £1 r. week.

These separation allowances, however, -were apparently only granted for tho duration of the -war, and there is naturally a desire that they shall bo continued, especially as, despite thecessation of active warfare, the cost of living has not materially diminished from its war standard. Mr Hurd concedes that even when all allowances aro taken into consideration the pay of the \avv has not kept pace with the great increase in the cost of everything. He urges very strongly that there is a good ease for onquirv by a body representing the Admiralty, the Treasury, and tho Fleet. As he says, tho whole community "is under an obligation to the Fleet, and an enquiry into the subject of pay by a strong body, followed Uv rapid action, would constitute a memorial-—though it may be hoped not the only memorial —to the unparalleled obligation which every man, woman, and child owes to the officers and men who has saved us from invasion and starvation, and all the horrors of war ■which have swept over Belgium. Northern France, and some parts of Italy."

But pay was not tho only question touched on in tho Lower 3>eek Associations' appeal, which also dealt with pensions, promotion, the granting of long-service and good-service medals, and education. It was specially urged that greater facilities should be afforded men of tho lower deck to obtain education, and thai, in view of tho better opportunitios for promotion that now exist, all ratings should be enabled "to attend school at reasonable times, in order that thoy may fit themsolves to fill positions in the higher ranks of the service." It is possiblo that tho question of having three, instead of two watches may have some connexion with this matter. The Admiralty, it may be added, have already increased tho number of naval schoolmasters, and it is to be hoped that they will bo able to grant the men's request, which exprossos a very laudable ambition.