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aware, from the telegrams which are received here daily from London, of the improvement that had taken place in the aspect of affairs on the Continent, and was at the same time much occupied with local business, I was glad to be able to defer my reply until I had an opportunity of going more carefully and fully into the whole matter than was then possible. To one of these despatches I did, however, address an answer, but it had reference almost exclusively to the political results that might follow the carrying out of a suggestion which it contained, viz., that King George's Sound-or Albany, as the town and port are called -should cease to be used as a place of call for the European mails.
4. Having now given my careful and attentive consideration to the subject, and to the various points in connection with it which are brought under my notice in your { despatches before quoted, I have the honour to lay before you the conclusion at which I have arrived on the important questions to which they refer the defence of the Colony in the event of war.
5. It is hardly necessary to consider the possibility of the Colony being attacked for purposes of occupation, though there are places on our northern coasts which it might suit the French to occupy for penal purposes, or the Germans for the establishment of the It seems, however, to be naval station they have been so long seeking for in the East. assumed that the Colony runs great risk of being attacked, perhaps by a small squadron, or even a single ship, with a view to the destruction of public property or the levying of contributions.
6. I am anxious not to overlook any form of danger to which the Colony may be exposed, but I confess I fail to see that this is one against which any special precaution need be taken. The destruction of munitions of war, and supplies liable to be used in support of it, has always been recognized as a legitimate operation, but to destroy public property merely as such-buildings, railways, roads, &c.—where no strategical necessity exists for it, and where, as would generally be the case, it could not be effected without serious injury to private property, is not, so far as I am aware, ever attempted in these days. The practice of levying contributions on places which, not being fortified, offer no resis- tance, has, I believe, been discontinued, except in the case of supplies requisitioned for the support of an army.
7. In fact it would appear to be the custom of modern warfare to avoid any aggres- sion which inflicts injury on private property, other than ships. Such was the policy followed by us in the Russian war, and, in principle, by the Americans in their civil war, though circumstances introduced an element of bitterness into their struggle which did not conduce to its strict observance. Even in the recent war between Russia and Turkey, which is alleged to have been conducted with unusual circumstances of barbarity, I have not heard of any instance of Turkish ships having molested unfortified towns, nor have I heard that either side attempted to levy contributions on places which did not resist them, except the usual requisition of supplies before alluded to.
8. In view, however, of the possibility of such an attack being made on the port of Fremantle, it has been proposed that four guns should be placed in a work on Arthur's Head, to be manned by volunteers. Such a work would not, however, afford any defence against a landing, which can be effected without the slighest difficulty in ordinary weather on four-fifths of our coast-line, nor would it be any protection to our shipping, the ordinary anchorage for which is in Gage's Roads, between three and four miles from the shore. Moreover, if the port were provided with any armament, its existence, even if no use were made of it, would justify, and would probably invite, an attack, from which, if undefended, it would be exempt.
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9. The safety of our shipping can be easily provided for otherwise. Most of our trade goes from Fremantle, and, in the event of war, the lead and wool now shipped from the north could be brought down in small coasters to this port, which would then become the only, as it is now the principal, port of the Colony. I have said that vessels usually anchor in Gage's Roads, but if a hostile cruizer were known to be on our coasts, of which timely notice could be obtained from Rottnest Island, they could with the greatest ease be towed inside the reefs to Cockburn Sound, where, the buoys that mark the channels being removed, nothing could possibly follow them. A cruizer might venture to send in armed boats to destroy them, but she would run the risk of being caught in a trap by any of our ships of war, and I think our volunteers and pensioners might be trusted to give a good account of any armed parties that were dispatched from her with such an object.
10. In the foregoing remarks I have dealt with Fremantle, the port from which almost all the trade of the Colony is carried on, and for the reasons I have given I am of opinion that the probability of any attack being made on it in the event of war is very remote, whilst if attempted on the shipping in harbour it may be successfully resisted or
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evaded, so that the adoption of any special measures of defence for this part of the Colony is unnecessary.
11. But there is another port on the south coast which, though having very little trade, demands attention from its great importance as a coal depôt. In the second Report of the Colonial Defence Committec, inclosed in your despatch, Secret and Confidential, of the 26th April, 1878, it is stated that "the Committee have been informed that the Peninsular and Oriental Company, who now make it a coaling station, no longer use it for that purpose, since the introduction of compound engines; and that if it were not for the conditions of their contract, by which they are compelled to call for the mail service of Western Australia, they could dispense with their depôt of coals at that place. The Committee find that the town of Albany, at which the coaling station is placed, is a mere village, and that, therefore, except as a protection for the depôt of coals, it would be quite unnecessary to provide any delences for it. These defences, moreover, would be very oostly and extremely embarrassing, as they would require a regular garrison, which would have to be supplied from Imperial troops; it is added that the attention of the Committee was also called by Sir W. Jervoise to the fact that if the regular steamers, which some- times contain very valuable freights, of which gold is an important item, are required to call at King George's Sound, it will become a point at which, in time of war, an enemy's cruizers or privateers might lie in wait for them with a view to their capture. Under these circumstances, as the Committee hesitate to recommend that these works should be erected, and a large garrison maintained exclusively for their defence, they would suggest for consideration whether, in the event of war, the mail steamers, which serve the other Australian Colonies, should not cease to call at King George's Sound, and that some other arrangement should be made for the transmission of the mails to Perth, unless the Admiralty desire to keep it as a coaling station, in which case the defence should be provided for by naval means. In your last despatches a general approval is given of these recommendations, and it is stated that as the Admiralty do not recommend the retention of King George's Sound as a coaling station, measures should be arranged for the removal inland or destruction of the coal there in the event of hostilities.
12. Briefly stated, the case would appear to stand thus: King George's Sound is a convenient coaling station, but in time of war it could be made use of by an enemy's cruizers; its land defence would be a costly and embarassing work, which ought not to be undertaken; if used by the Navy its defence could be effected by ships of war, but this the Admiralty does not recommend; lastly, the mail steamers of the Peninsular and Oriental Company no longer require it for coaling purposes, and as, if they touched there on their way home with valuable freights they would be especially liable to capture, it is considered that in the event of war it should not be used as a coal depot.
13. With great deference to the high authority by which these recommendations are made, I would submit that there are other considerations which merit attention, and which, I venture to think, will be found to lead to conclusions not altogether in accord with those now put forth.
14. From circumstances which have come to my knowledge, it appears to be doubtful whether the experiment the Peninsular and Oriental Company are making, of running their steamers past Albany without coaling, can be safely or conveniently continued. It is found that towards the end of the voyage their ships become so light as to suffer considerably from the racing of the engines. Then, again, they have recently made large reductions in freight, with the view of attracting more cargo, which can only be carried by reducing the quantity of coal; and, lastly, there is a project on foot to run, on the new contract, a line of large steamers direct from Aden, which must, of necessity, coal somewhere on their way to the Eastern Colonies, but at present could only do so at the Sound.
15. But I submit that there exists a far stronger reason for the retention of this place as a coal depôt, viz., that it is essential to the requirements of the Colony. Western Australia now subsidizes a service of steamers running from Melbourne, viâ Adelaide, Albany, Fremantle, and Champion Bay, to Nicol Bay, on the extreme north- west coast, which necessitates the keeping in the Colony a large stock of coal. King George's Sound is the only place available for this purpose, and to require that it should not be so used would be to deprive the Colony of all means of communication between her ports and the outer world. It cannot be supposed that the Imperial Government would demand such a sacrifice from any Colony, least of all from one whose cxistence is a struggle, to which it would effectually put an end.
16. Judging from the recent proceedings of the Russian Government in the United States, there can be no doubt that the policy of such a Power to dispatch, immediately war was declared, a number of powerful, slightly-armed steamers, nominally men-of-war, to cruize in the principal tracks of our commerce and capture-or destroy where they had
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