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8. The Colonial Defence Committee make the following observations on the Governor's covering despatch of the 11th March, 1897, printed in the Appendix :—
Paragraph 5. It would be the duty of the Local Defence Committee, if appointed, to take great care that all information given in the Defence Scheme is accurate. A mistake in matters of this kind may have disastrous consequences.
Paragraph 6. The enrolment of local levies is a matter entirely for the considera- tion and decision of the Governor and his advisers. From Sir W. Maxwell's statement it would appear that such a step would be inadvisable, and, if after con- sideration he still holds to that view, it would be convenient to record the fact in the Defence Scheme.
Paragraph 7. It would be possible to construct a field entrenchment which would afford considerable protection against a few shots from a hostile cruiser. A prolonged bombardment is improbable, as the cruiser could not afford to expend much ammunition so far from her base. The entrenchment should, however, be prepared in peace time, and its exact position concealed by a hedge, vegetation, &c.
It appears very desirable that the Governor should express an opinion with regard to the Inspector-General's proposal to send into the interior a large proportion of the population of Accra.
9. With regard to paragraph 4 of the Governor's despatch, dated the 30th December, 1896, covering the Defence Report revised to December, 1896, and printed with that Report, there appears to the Colonial Defence Committee to be no question as to the Gold Coast Volunteers being recognized as a combatant force. They fulfil the four conditions laid down in Article 9 discussed at the Brussels Conference of 1874, referred to under the heading of "General Observations" in the Appendix to the Colonial Defence Committee's Memorandum No. 71 M., dated the 20th July, 1896.
M. NATHAN, Secretary,
(Signed)
September 9, 1897.
Colonial Defence Committee.
Sir,
APPENDIX.
Despatch of Governor covering Defence Report revised to February, 1897.
Government House, Accra, March 11, 1897.
I HAVE the honour, in continuation of my Secret despatch of the 3rd ultimo, to return the copy of the Defence Scheme of this Colony (1896), which was enclosed in your Secret despatch of the 2nd January last. This Report has now been re-written by the Inspector-General of Constabulary, and I have the honour to transmit two copies of it.
2. You have called for an expression of my opinion upon it, and I propose, therefore, to offer a brief criticism of some of the statements in the Report, and a few remarks upon the value of the Scheme of Defence sketched out.
3. In explanation of the statement that "it is under contemplation to increase the force to 1,171 of all ranks," it may be stated that in the Estimates for 1895 the authorized number of privates was 800. This was increased to 1,000 in Lord Ripon's despatch No. 62 of the 27th February, 1895.
4. The distribution of the force shown in this Report is the result of mobilization for the Ashanti Expedition, not the ordinary distribution in time of peace, whereas the distribution of armament appears to be the ordinary distribution in peace time.
5. The statement in regard to Snider rifles is not to be relied upon altogether. There was no ammunition for Snider rifles in 1895, and I borrowed 10,000 rounds from Lagos, in order to arm native levies during the Ashanti Expedition.
6. It is impossible to estimate how many Mahommedans belonging to Accra and the vicinity could be enrolled and armed in case of war, but probably the number would not be considerable. The protection needed by the natives of the place would be protection from each other, for any undisciplined native put in a position of authority with armed men under him during a period of tumult and excitement would almost certainly use his powers for his own enrichment, and would levy blackmail, upon traders and others known to have money and property.
7. I have carefully studied the Scheme for the defence of Accra, and, though I do not consider myself competent to suggest a better Scheme, it seems to be open to much criticism. It may be doubted for instance whether the proposed earthworks would be tenable in the face of fire from ships of war, and it would be only under cover of such fire that a landing in force would be attempted by an enemy.
8. There is much valuable information under the head "Telegraph Cables and Telephones,” but the suggestions made do not seem to have been carefully worked out. I may instance the remark "the shore ends might be protected by a battery of guns," also the following: "a line could be laid from
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