SECRET.
No. 173 R.
VICTORIA.
Agent-General's No. 5410.
C.O. No. 20425.
Report of the Council of Defence, 1897.
Remarks by the Colonial Defence Committee.
THE Colonial Defence Committee have had before them a copy of this Report, sent to them by the Agent-General on the 21st October, 1897.
2. The Council confines itself to the adoption of the Reports of the Naval and Military Commandants and to drawing special attention to various points brought forward in these Reports. The Colonial Defence Committee are unaware of the effect of the adoption of the Commandants' Reports by the Council of Defence, nor, indeed, have they information of the powers and functions of this body, except as very generally defined in Clause 9 of the Defences and Discipline Act of 1890.
As far as they know, it is without parallel in other parts of the Empire. They observe that it is presided over by the Minister of Defence, and that it is, therefore, on a different footing to the Local Defence Committees which have been formed at all Imperial and most Colonial stations, mainly for the purpose of assisting General Officers Com- manding in the preparation of Schemes of Defence and of securing the co-operation of the naval authorities and civilian departments in carrying them out. At the same time, the constant recurrence of recommendations in Reports adopted by the Council seems to show that, in spite of its Ministerial presidency, it is not a body with power to give effect to the recommendations it approves. This approval, in the case of the present Report, practically extends to all the recommendations of the Com- mandants, some of which involve considerable expense, without discriminating as to the urgency of the various services, and so can be of little assistance to the Minister in deciding on those which should be entered in the estimates presented to Parliament. The only effect which the Committee can trace to the Council of Defence is that the Commandants are more or less relieved from the responsibility of their own recom- mendations, an arrangement which has no obvious advantage.
3. With reference to the Report of the Naval Commandant, the Committee strongly indorse the recommendation that the latest pattern of torpedoes should be provided in place of those reported as obsolete. The torpedo-boats form an essential part of the naval defence of Port Phillip, and it is of importance that the efficiency of their action should not be interfered with by inferiority in the quality of their weapons.
4. The improvements reported with reference to the "Cerberus" are satisfactory, and, generally, the Permanent Naval Force appears to be in a state of efficiency, and the vessels to be in good condition. The Committee attribute this state of affairs to the constant supervision of a succession of Imperial officers of experience and up-to- date in naval matters, and they learn with very great regret from a despatch of Lord Brassey, dated the 29th July, 1897, which has been referred to them by the Colonial Office, that the Government of Victoria have decided to discontinue the employment
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