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2. The various papers and documents connected with the question of the defence of the Table Bay Peninsula, together with the instructions from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, were laid before the Commission.
3. The President explained to the Commission that the Colonial Government was not represented as had first been in contemplation, otherwise than by his own presence as Governor, as the Ministry had pointed out to him that the Colonial Government had no officers of its own whose opinion would be of value on such a subject as the one about to be considered, and that Ministers would desire only to express an opinion when the financial question, ie, the apportionment of the expense between the Imperial and Colonial Exchequers had to be settled, and the questions relating to the strength and composition of the garrison were to be determined.
4. The President noticed with regret the absence of the Commodore of the Station, Commodore Richards, C.B., whose duties had obliged him to leave for the West Coast. Commodore Richards had, however, been good enough to embody his views on the naval requirements of the Table Bay Peninsula in an able Memorandum upon the papers forwarded by the Secretary of State, which had proved of much assistance to the Commission.
5. Colonel Hassard laid before the Commission an approximate estimate of the works and buildings required, pointing out that an item of 50,000l. was included for the extension of the Cape Town and Wynberg Railway to Kalk Bay, and that this item had been supplied him by the Colonial Government, who were apparently anxious to push on this work on their own account after the opening of the next Session of the Colonial Parliament.
6. It was decided that the military members should prepare a final Report, and the proceedings terminated.
On Saturday, the 14th February, 1880, the Commission again sat, when the Report of the military members was laid before it, and after being read and approved, the meeting terminated.
(Signed) H. HALLAM PARR, Major, Military Secretary, Government House, Cape Town, February 16, 1880.
Secretary.
Appendix No. 4.
CAPE OF GOOD
HOPE.
Sir,
(A.)
<<
Boadicea," in Simon's Bay, December
1879.
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's letter of the 17th ultimo, with inclosures, relative to the defence of the Cape of Good Hope Peninsula.
I have already informed your Excellency verbally that, having arranged to leave the Cape for the West Coast of Africa in the middle of the present month, I cannot now, without much inconvenience to the Service, alter my plans, especially as the future movements of the vessels of the squadron under my command have been ordered in accordance with the programme I have proposed to follow.
I have therefore given the important question of the defences of the Cape my most careful study, and the opinion I have formed is contained in the Memorandum which I have the honour to inclose for your Excellency's consideration.
The course of events in South Africa for the past two years has prevented the Commodore from paying his usual visit to the West African Settlements, and it is most inexpedient now, peace being established, that any further delay should occur in the performance of this necessary duty, but I should not hesitate to postpone my departure until after the Committee had met if I thought that any practical benefit could accrue from my remaining to take part in its deliberations. The main question involved has, however, already been practically decided more than once, and it would appear that the prin- cipal point the Committee about to be formed will have to discuss is the apportionment of the cost of the proposed armament between the Imperial and Colonial Governments.
On that subject I have but to say that, were I a member of the Committee, I should state it as my opinion that the maintenance of the integrity of the Cape of Good Hope is pre-eminently an Imperial question, and that, in the event of a serious European war, it would possess an importance to England as great, if not greater than any it ever possessed in past times.
Although the approaches to the Suez Canal would, in time of war, be in the hands of Great Britain so long as she maintained her supremacy in the Mediterranean, it cannot be doubted that all the ingenuity at the command of the nations with which she might be at war would be directed to the purpose of rendering it useless, or at best precarious, as a highway, and that that portion of the stream of commerce and communication with the East now diverted by it would resume its original channel.
Whether, therefore, the Cape be regarded as a half-way haven for our commerce and transport with the East, or as a coaling-station and base of operations for our fleets, its importance to the Empire cannot, in my opinion, be overrated, and on these grounds I consider that the Imperial Government should be at the entire cost of the necessary defences of the naval port at Simon's Bay, of the gun-boat for Table Bay, and of the torpedo service, naval as well as military, the Colony providing, either wholly or in part, for the permanent works necessary for the defence of its principal commercial seaport and metropolis.
His Excellency the Right Hon.
Sir Bartle Frere, Bart., G.C.B., G.C.S.I.,
&c.
&c.
I have, &c. (Signed)
FREDK. W. RICHARDS, Commodore.
&c.
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