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might, it is thought, be carried out beforehand, while others, such, for instance, as the demolition of the two girder span bays at the upper end of the Gold Mohur Valley Viaduct, involve a destruction of property which should be deferred until there is reason to believe that an attack on the fortress is imminent. Large destruction of public or private property on the first alarm of war is to be deprecated.
Chapter VI.
18. Page 67, paragraph 1.—It is observed that the Scheme does not contemplate the proclamation of martial law, and that "civil law will be administered as usual until an absolute necessity arose for deviating from it." The fact that the greater part of the native population live outside the Steamer Point Position, and would presumably not be permitted to take shelter there in war, will facilitate order being kept within the main defended position. The Colonial Defence Committee are unaware of the powers held by the Resident for requisitioning labour, stores, buildings, &c., and for keeping the natives in order. They are probably ample, but it is suggested that it might interest the Government of India to see the measures proposed to be adopted in the Mediterranean fortresses and various Imperial coaling stations, and that a copy of the Secret Order in Council of the 26th October, 1896, be sent to India for the information of the Military Department.
19. Page 67, paragraph 4.-It is suggested that the arrangements for the establish- ment of camps for civilian population here referred to should be worked out in some detail, especially as regards water and provisions.
20. Page 68.-The instructions with regard to the regulation of harbour traffic, and the notice to be issued under them, given on this page, are in accordance with the Reports of the Joint Naval and Military Committee on Defence No. IX of the 7th December, 1893, and No. X of the 18th June, 1894. Since the date of these Reports the application of the principles laid down in them to the various ports at home and abroad has shown some modification in the system of examining vessels to be necessary.
It is now thought that to assume that ships will know where they are to anchor in order to avoid being treated as enemies might involve serious risks to friendly vessels, which, in spite of notices to Consuls and other precautionary measures, may not have had an opportunity of making themselves acquainted with the War Regulations of the ports they may wish to enter.
It is therefore necessary to put the responsibility of identifying every arrival from seaward, in the first instance, on the examination vessel, who should direct the stranger to bring to. Should the incoming ship, from ignorance or treachery, attempt to evade the examination vessel, the latter should signal to the batteries, and they, irrespective of the position the ship may have arrived at, would bring her to either by a signal, in the shape of a shot across her bows, or, if this was ineffectual, by firing at her. In the event of no signal being received from the examination vessel, or, in her temporary absence, any ship proceeding at speed towards the inner waters of a harbour, may be presumed to be hostile, and must be brought to by the batteries, and, as soon as she reaches the inner limit of the examination anchorage, conveniently termed the examination line, she must be treated as an enemy. The examination line should be drawn from a battery, to prevent any mistake as to the position of the approaching ship, and so that the crossing of the line may be instantly followed by the fire necessary to stop or sink her.
Applying these principles to Aden, and bearing in mind the necessity for stopping vessels before they have passed through the main artillery defence of the place, it is thought that the examination line should proceed from one of the guns of Fort Tarshyne, and should be directed on some prominent point of the opposite coast as far south as possible, and certainly south of a line bearing due west.
If the above recommendations are adopted, it will be necessary to rewrite the instructions on page 68. It seems unnecessary to reproduce the principles laid down by the Joint Naval and Military Committee on Defence in extenso, so long as those that now apply to Aden are consistently followed, and the action that they involve definitely laid down. The examination vessel and its crew should be told off, and the instructions to the examining officer, including the system of communication with the forts, batteries, and shore signalling stations, should be given, as well as the rules to be observed by vessels which have received permission to anchor in the harbour.
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