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would suffice. The Committee also made recommendations with regard to various accessories to this defence. They have nothing to add to these recommendations beyond pointing out that if their proposals with regard to armament are accepted, companies of Garrison Artillery numbering eighty and sixty gunners respectively, with officers and staff, will be required at the two places, and that these companies might be provided without, increasing the total expenditure to be incurred on the military forces of the Colony by a corresponding reduction in the numbers of the Cape Garrison Artillery pro- posed for the Peninsula. This reduction is dealt with in paragraph 23 of these Remarks.
5. Page 7, paragraph 25.-The Commissioners point out the strategic importance which East London might, in certain circumstances, derive from its railway connection with the collieries of the Eastern Provinces, and they suggest for consideration, whether, to a certain degree, the principle at present existing between the Imperial and Colonial Government as to sharing the expenses in connection with the defences of Cape Town, should not be extended to East London.
The Colonial Defence Committee when they originally dealt with the question of defending East London in their Memorandum, No. 56 M, expressly stated that they did not propose this defence for reasons of Imperial strategy. They have care- fully reconsidered the matter with the views of the Cape Defence Commission before them, and they can perfectly well imagine conditions under which the resources of East London might assist the Imperial Naval Forces in time of war. They do not, however, consider that there is sufficient probability of such conditions obtaining to justify a departure from the broad principle which, for purposes of defence, divides seaports into the categories of Imperial Coaling Stations and Commercial Harbours, and confines Imperial expenditure to the former. Somewhat similar arguments to those brought forward in favour of the Imperial Government contributing to the defence of East London might be advanced in favour of Durban, and with greater cogency with regard to Sydney and Louisville in Cape Breton Island. In these cases, as well as in others where the strategic advantages of defences were more remote, the Colonial Defence Committee have not recommended expen- diture of Imperial funds, and they find themselves unable to recommend that East London should be differently treated.
They would point out that the recommendations contained in their Memoranda, Nos. 68 M, and 75 M, do not involve, either at Port Elizabeth or East London, an expenditure on armaments which the Colony cannot readily meet.
6. Page 7, paragraph 26.-The Committee concur in the opinion, of the Com- mission that the minor ports and harbours on the sea-board of the Colony are not of sufficient commercial or strategic importance to warrant expenditure being incurred on their defence.
7. Pages 7 to 9, paragraphs 27 to 37-The Colonial Defence Committee agree Means of raising with the conclusion arrived at by the Defence Commission after a careful considera- Defence Force. tion of the various alternatives, that the best solution of the difficulties which the raising of an efficient defence force presents in the Cape Colony, is the establish- ment of the partially paid system which on the whole has yielded satisfactory results in the Australian Colonies.
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S. Pages 9 and 10, paragraphs 38 to 42.-The Committee strongly indorse the opinion of the Commission, that the entire white male population of the Colony between the ages of 18 and 60 should be looked upon as liable to render military service in the defence force of the country. The Burgher Act appears to make this at present the law of the Cape Colony. It is also now the law of South Australia as well as of Queensland and Canada, the cases quoted by the Commission, and a similar law is, it is understood, about to be introduced into New South Wales and Victoria. It also exists in some of the West India Islands. The Colonial Defence Committee hope that the principle of universal liability to service will eventually be recognized throughout the Colonial Empire.
The Committee further concur in the proposals of the Commission, to divide the men liable to serve as above between an active defence force and a reserve defence force; to recruit the active defence force in the first instance by voluntary enlistment of men in each district up to the number required for that district; and, should any district be unable to supply its quota of volunteers, to put the ballot in force amongst its white male inhabitants.
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