62 MY MEMOIRS

be developed. The most varied views were expressed in the usual fashion, and without throwing any real light on the subject. Being a junior captain, I kept Out of the discussion. Finally, the Emperor said, " Here I have been listening to you arguing for hours that we must put an end to all this mess, and yet not one of you has made a really positive suggestion." The Chief of the Naval Cabinet, von Senden-Bibran, who had read one of my memoranda, nudged me encouragingly; I took the hint, for it was painful for me to hear the Emperor make this drastic criticism in front of the old general. So I described how I conceived the development of the navy, and as I had been continually jotting down my ideas on the subject, I was able to give a pretty complete picture without any difficulty.

The next day the Emperor got up early and walked for some hours with the Chief of the Cabinet, talking excitedly all the time, and drawing up a kind of " imposition" to be done by all naval officers who had taken part in the conversation.