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Covering Letter of Officer Commanding the Troops in South China.
8. Paragraph 5. Local Naval Arrangements.--In accordance with the recom- mendations made in paragraph 4 of Colonial Defence Committee's Memorandum No. 388 M on the revision of the fixed defences of Hong Kong, the Admiralty have directed the Naval Commander-in-Chief, China, to cause the necessary arrangements to be drawn up locally for the provision of a floating defence to supplement the fixed defences of the main western channel at night.
The Naval Commander-in-Chief has also been communicated with on the subject of the preparation of a chapter to be entitled "Local Naval Arrangements," which it is proposed should be inserted in the Defence Scheme.
9. Paragraph 9. Wireless Telegraphy Station. It is recognized that the wireless telegraphy station at Cape D'Aguilar is not favourably situated from a defence point of view, and in choosing this site the Admiralty did not fail to take into consideration. the objections to it in this respect. They were, however, unable to find a site inside the line of defence which possessed the advantages of Cape D'Aguilar as regards the requirements of both visual signalling and wireless telegraphy, and they were therefore compelled to accept Cape D'Aguilar as being the most favourable site available, in spite of its vulnerability to raids and bombardment.
10. Paragraph 12. Regulation of Traffic.-In accordance with the recommenda- tions of the Joint Naval and Military Conference of 1906, appointed to consider the Regulation of Traffic at Defended Ports in time of war, the Admiralty have now accepted the responsibility for the regulation of traffic at Hong Kong; and instructions have been sent to the Naval Commander-in-Chief with regard to the drawing up of revised traffic regulations. When approved, these regulations should be embodied in the chapter to be headed "Local Naval Arrangements.
It will be observed that Hong Kong is not among the ports which the Joint Naval and Military Conference recommended should be closed to merchant vessels at night, and it is thought that when the new system of traffic regulation is established, the difficulties experienced in admitting vessels to the harbour by night under the old arrangements should disappear.
Defence Scheme.
11. The present revision of the Defence Scheme has been carefully drawn up, and is a clearly arranged and complete record of the measures to be taken to place the fortress in a state of defence against such forms of attack as are regarded as reasonably probable in the event of war.
Since this revision was submitted the fixed defences have undergone review by General Sir John F. Owen's Committee on the Revision of Armaments at Colonial Ports in Imperial charge and by the Colonial Defence Committee in their Memorandum No. 388 M, dated the 7th March, 1907. As the result of this review considerable changes in the armament have been approved, which will involve the rewriting of a considerable portion of the Scheme in the next revision.
Preface.
12. The preface to the Defence Scheme containing the list of messages from the Secretary of State for the Colonies notifying preparations for war referred to in paragraph 2 of Colonial Defence Committee's Memorandum No. 354 M was not included in accordance with the instructions contained in that Memorandum. A copy of the preface has accordingly been inserted in the Scheme, which should be brought up to date, and amended so as to bring it into conformity with local conditions in the next revision.
Chapter I-Introductory Remarks and Strategic Conditions.
13. Page 1, paragraph 3, line 2.-For “12,000 native reservists" read "16,000 native reservists.
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