occupying an important position in the artillery chain of command which would otherwise have fallen to a qualified Captain of the Royal Artillery.
The only satisfactory method in which the general question can be dealt with appears to the Colonial Defence Committee to be not to allow Colonial officers to be promoted to any positions likely to carry with them command until they have proved themselves to possess sufficient professional qualifications for such command. When this proof has been given, no supersession of Colonial by Imperial officers would be necessary.
The Committee suggest that the subject be further considered by the War Office.
4. Paragraph 7.-The Revised Report of the Local Joint Naval and Miitary Committee has been dealt with by the Colonial Defence Committee in their Remarks No. 144 R, dated the 29th June, 1896, and Memorandum No. 80 M, dated the 2nd November, 1896. These have been concurred in by the Joint Naval and Military Committee on Defence in their Report XXIV, dated 23rd November, 1896, and the proposals of the Local Committee as modified by the above-mentioned Remarks and Memorandum, and in so far as they affect the utilization of existing resources in war, should be embodied in the next revision of the Defence Scheme.
5. Paragraph 8.-The Committee are informed that the modern B.L. guns to replace those at the Cape of obsolete type will probably be supplied in the course of the year 1897–98.
Defence Scheme.
6. Page 8, lines 20 and 21.-The Colonial Defence Committee suggest the substitution of the words "but out of range of the guns of the defences" for the words "under cover of a great concentration of fire from a powerful squadron on some particular portion of the defences." Under existing cir- cumstances, the possibility of a powerful squadron being collected for an attack on the Cape defences need not be contemplated, and a few ships would not seriously engage the existing coast batteries properly manned and
armed.
""
7. Page 8, line 22.-The six lines of attack by landing parties should here be described as "possible" and not as "probable.' Three of them are referred to lower down in the same page as "improbable."
In view of the strength of attack, which the Colonial Defence Committee have stated (in paragraph 3 of their Remarks, dated the 10th June, 1893, on the Scheme of Defence revised to January 1893) might reasonably be anticipated and provided against at the Cape, the Committee concur that the road from the north-east by Maitland and Salt River is the most probable line of attack for a hostile landing party. The Scheme makes mention of five other less possible lines. This is right in so far that possibilities as well as probabilities should be taken into consideration in military operations. It seems a question, however, whether the possibility of a small hostile force. landing at either Hout's Bay or Muizenburg for an advance of 16 or 14 miles respectively on their objective is not too remote to justify it being taken into consideration when arranging the distribution of troops and ordering the construction of field defences. Even allowing for accidents, such as drafts en route to Madagascar being available, &c., it appears very unlikely that as many as 2,000 men could be collected by an enemy in South African waters, and still more improbable that, if landed, they would care to go more than a mile or so from their ships. Even assuming a force of 3,000 or 4,000 men and a desperate commander, the action would most probably centre round the works at either Table Bay or Simon's Bay, a feint from the sea being directed. against the other port.
Under these circumstances, the General Officer Commanding may consider it advisable to somewhat modify the detailed dispositions laid down in the Scheme against attacks from the direction of Hout's Bay.
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