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Service of officers of the Royal Navy in the Australian Naval Force to count in all respects for promotion, pay, retirement, &c., as service in the Royal Navy.
Under these arrangements the Commonwealth Government would have "the exclusive control during peace time and while on the Australian Station of their fleet unit as regards movements and general administration." It would only be placed under the command of a Senior Officer of the Royal Navy independent of that Government when they saw fit, and even then such Senior Officer would have instruc- tions not to interfere in matters of internal economy more than absolutely necessary.
Under the provisional arrangement made at the Imperial Defence Conference 1909 many questions of seniority must arise between officers commanding vessels of the Royal Navy and those of the Australian Fleet Unit. In order to determine these questions the names of such officers should be shown in the Navy List, their seniority being determined by the date of their commissions in either the Royal Navy or Australian service, whichever is the earlier.
2.--(b.) Control of Movements of Ships in Time of War.
It was provided in the arrangement above referred to that, "when placed by the Commonwealth Government at the disposal of the Admiralty in war time, the vessels should be under the control of the Naval Commander-in-Chief."
Accordingly, in time of war the Commonwealth Government would be free to place their vessels at the disposal of the Imperial Government or not, as they decide. If the vessels are so placed, they would become an integral part of the Imperial Fleet under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, and remain under his authority wherever they may be, within or without the "Australian Station," and be liable to be sent anywhere during the continuance of the war.
In peace time the orders of the Minister of Defence would be sufficient for placing the Commonwealth ships under the command of an officer of the Royal Navy, but the transfer in time of war requires something more formal if only to emphasise the seriousness of the step.
It is desirable, therefore, that the Australian Fleet unit should only come in the fullest sense under the command of a Commander-in-Chief other than its own after the making of a formal order of the Governor-General in Council placing the fleet unit, in the words of the Colonial Naval Defence, “at the disposal of His Majesty for general service" for the period of the war.
II. DISCIPLINE.
In turning to the naval discipline part of the subject, it is essential to bear in mind that, as already mentioned, it has been accepted that the officers and men should be under naval discipline, and that the Australian Fleet Unit should form part of the Eastern Fleet of the Empire.
The due carrying out of this provisional agreement involves two important points: first, that the disciplinary code in force in what may be considered for the present purpose two parts of one great fleet should be the same; second, that as a fleet exists primarily for fighting purposes, there should be as little change as possible when the time of trial comes.
There are many difficulties-constitutional, legal, and other-in devising a code of discipline for a fleet which is for practical purposes sometimes to be one whole and at others two or more separate parts, one of which is built, equipped, and manned by a sovereign Power, and the other under the authority of a Legislature which, however extensive its powers, has not the full attributes of sovereignty.
Among these difficulties is the extent to which a Dominion has power to legislate for persons outside its territorial waters; assuming that it has such power, there is the probability, amounting almost to a certainty, that statutes enacted by two or more Legislatures would not be identical. There the question of what would be the true international position in peace and in war of ships of war equipped, and with officers commissioned, by authority of a non-sovereign Legislature; there is the difficulty which must arise of providing in all circumstances for tribunals to punish infractions of the disciplinary code; and lastly, there is the importance of securing to
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