Page 97
Page 97
Page 97
(Confidential.) Sir,
112
No. 219.
War Office to Colonial Office.
War Office, July 4, 1878.
I AM directed by the Secretary of State for War to acknowledge the receipt of the copies of the printed correspondence relating to the defence of the Colonies, which accom- panied your letter of the 25th ultimo.*
I have, &c.
(Signed)
EUSTACE E. CECIL.
No. 220.
Colonial Office to Admiralty.
(Secret and Confidential.) Sir,
Downing Street, July 5, 1878.
I AM directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to acknowledge the receipt. of your letter of the 27th June,† stating that the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty are not prepared to accede to the suggestion that they should undertake the charge and management of the torpedoes destined for certain Colonies.
2. In these circumstances, and with special reference to paragraph 3 of the letter from this Department of the 31st May, I am to request that the Lords Commissioners will favour Sir Michael Hicks Beach with their views as to the manner in which these torpedoes can be kept in a secure and efficient manner, as well as worked, should occasion arise.
I am, &c. (Signed)
R. H. MEADE.
No. 221.
Colonial Office to Treasury.
(Secret and Confidential.) Sir,
Downing Street, July 5, 1878. WITH reference to your letter of the 25th ultimo,§ I am directed by Sir Michael Hicks Beach to transmit to you the accompanying copy of a letter which, on the receipt of your letter of the 22nd May (Confidential),|| was addressed by bis directions to the Colonial Defence Committee on the subject of the apportionment between the various Colonial Governments and the Imperial Government of the cost of carrying out the recommen- dations of the Committee.
The Committee have already made a Preliminary Report, which, Sir Michael Hicks trusts, will enable him, on receipt of a communication from Sir Lintorn Simmons, who is now employed at Berlin, to deal with the question of cost so far as it relates to the Cape of Good Hope.
On Sir Lintorn Simmons' return to England the Committee will conclude their labours, but in the meantime the Secretary of State is decidedly of opinion that, even if the immediate call for these measures should pass away, the opportunity should nevertheless not be lost of placing in a suitable posture of defence those Colonies which have recently been the subject of correspondence between this Office and the Treasury.
I am to add that he does not anticipate any insuperable difficulty in holding the Crown Colonies to any fair apportionment of expenditure which he may decide upon, nor does he anticipate any opposition as regards Esquimalt and Victoria.
With regard, however, to Barbados, it may be desirable not to despatch any arma- ment until the Colony has agreed to bear its share of the expenditure; and the Secretary of State for War has been requested to afford Sir Michael Hicks Beach ample notice of the period at which it is intended to ship the armament for that Colony.
I am, &c.
(Signed)
R. H. MEADE.
* No. 198.
↑ No. 212.
No. 138.
§ No. 197.
# No. 125.
Page 97
Page 97