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11. Chapter III, p. 25.-As stated above in the preamble to these remarks, the various orders and detailed arrangements which have been prepared should be embodied in the Scheme on revision. It is presumed that the points to which attention has been drawn in paragraphs 9 to 19 of Memorandum No. 46 of the Colonial Defence Committee have been attended to, but at present the Scheme does not give any information with respect to them.
12. Chapter IV, p. 31. Similarly the instructions to Officers Com- manding should be embodied in the Scheme on revision. This remark also applies to Orders to Corps on p. 35.
13. With regard to the Appendices :-
Table 6, p. 51, is a useful form for summarizing the transport arrange- ments, but full details should be given in the portion of the Scheme relating to the action of the Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General (B), including the disembarkation of troops and stores at St. Lucia.
Table 8, p. 53.-It seems probable that many of the articles proposed to be obtained from England, such as lime-juice, Indian corn, and salt fish, could be obtained locally or from neighbouring ports. The 125,000 lbs. preserved meat and 8,500 lbs. preserved vegetables appear to be unnecessary, as the Table states that sufficient fresh meat and vegetables are always available.
14. A few discrepancies have been noted; these are as follows:-
Housing of Full Garrison, p. 17.-The arrangements in this paragraph do not agree with (E), p. 26, where it is stated that a large amount of additional work is required.
Paragraph 15, p. 20, throws a doubt on the possibility of procuring water transport, but according to Table 7, p. 52, this transport is available.
15. Civil Administration. This chapter should be amplified as promised, so as to contain a notice of police arrangements, fire brigade organization, and the other points indicated at pp. 39, 40.
The argument at p. 39 in favour of the General Officer Commanding being appointed Governor on the mobilization of the defences seems scarcely adequate to justify such a novel departure. In war the General Officer Com- manding would, of course, in co-operation with the civil authority, carry out every measure deemed necessary for defence, trusting to being cleared after- wards of all liability due to their action. The position of every General Officer Commanding in a Crown Colony is identical, and is exactly defined in Queen's Regulations and Colonial Office Regulations, nor is it easy to see why difficulties should arise at St. Lucia which are not anticipated, say, for instance, at Mauritius, merely because the supreme local civil authority happens to be styled Administrator instead of Governor. Moreover, it is understood that this suggestion has already been considered and negatived by Her Majesty's Government.
16. The Colonial Defence Committee concur in the proposal of the General Officer Commanding, in his covering letter, that the two 40-pr. R.B.L. guns forming a portion of the movable armament at Barbados should be transferred to St. Lucia. In a separate paper addressed to the Secretary of State for War they have recommended this transfer, and have also dealt with the strength of the existing garrison at St. Lucia. The Scheme brings out forcibly the disadvantage of having over two-thirds of the approved garrison quartered, as at present, at Barbados.
May 30, 1894.
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(Signed)
W. PEACOCKE, Secretary,
Colonial Defence Committee.
PRINTED AT THE FOREIGN OFFICE BY T. HARRISON.— — 1/11/94.
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