PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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2. The restriction of re-engagement of men of the "Permanent" Force, as far as possible, to those selected for higher Gunnery and Torpedo ratings.
3. A limited number of men selected to qualify for the higher Gunnery and Torpedo ratings to be sent to England to qualify at the schools, and then to remain for a short time in ships of the Battleship Fleets, before returning to the Australian Station.
4. The training of the Royal Naval Reserve to be arranged on the same general lines as the new system of training adopted for the Home Reserve, the necessary consideration being given to the case of men now enrolled and subject to the old conditions.
With regard to (1) I am to enclose copy of a despatch received by the Colonial Office from the Governor of New Zealand, suggesting that the extra payments should be made as to one-third while serving, and as to the remaining two-thirds on completion of the term of service. My Lords approve of the adoption of this alternative, if the Colonial Governments are prepared to give their consent.
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As regards the re-engagement of men of the "Permanent'
Force (2), my Lords consider that a limited number of men might be selected for qualifying in the higher Gunnery and Torpedo ratings after, say, two years, such men being retained for the full five years. Those not so selected, and who show less promise, might be encouraged to join the Reserve before the expiration of their full five years' service, it being desirable to prevent too many men from leaving the Active Service for the Reserve at the same time. It must, of course, be distinctly understood that men although permitted to re-engage, will not be eligible for a pension at the end of their period of service, nor entitled to any other privileges not associated with their first engagement.
It is important that the numbers allowed to re-engage and qualify for higher non-substantive ratings should not exceed what was contemplated when the agreement with the Colonies was settled, and also not exceed the proportion which may be required, having regard to the original intention that the "Permanent" Force should be a principal feeder of the Reserve.
This latter consideration must be a bar to any proposals which will have the effect of retaining men in the Permanent Force for more than, say, two periods of re-engagement, though in special cases it is possible that it may be desirable to retain a few for a further period.
My Lords are not certain whether in proposing that you should have discretion to embark men for training in any ship of the Squadron under your command, you had in mind the "Permanent" as well as the Reserve Force; but the convenience of the Service admits of it they have no objection to the embarkation of men of both classes who volunteer, in ships other than those specially told off under the agreement, provided further that the Colonial Governments raise no difficulties. It could not be carried out without their concurrence.
In regard to (3), my Lords approve of the proposal to send home a limited number of selected men to be trained in the schools at home in the higher ratings such as Gunnery and Torpedo Instructors. The numbers so selected should not exceed those required for service in the ships to be manned by Colonial men, as before indicated. Arrangements will be made for them to join the Gunnery and Torpedo Schools, and subsequently to obtain a short experience of the duties they will have to perform in a sea-going ship before returning to Australia. Particulars of the men selected should be reported well in advance, care being taken that the men are sent only by Government ships.
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With regard to the assimilation of the training of the Reserve to that of the Imperial Royal Naval Reserve (4), my Lords are prepared to leave the details to your discretion, subject to the condition that there is no addition to the total cost of training; but they consider that the case of men transferred to the Reserve from the Permanent force more closely resembles that of the Royal Fleet Reserve, and it may consequently be desirable to adopt a different system for them, or to arrange that the training of the Reserve after the first period of engagement should be so ordered as to be suitable for both classes.
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My Lords leave it to your discretion to make the best arrangements possible for giving effect to the four proposals specified above, having regard to the neccssity for avoiding increased expenditure. They desire, however, that you will report in detail as soon as the action to be taken has been settled with the Colonial Governments. I am to observe that the changes suggested can only apply to a limited extent to men already serving, and that the full concurrence of the Colonial Governments is necessary, particularly as regards the deferred pay, if the result to be fully satisfactory.
As regards the recommendations for discharge by purchase, my Lords are of opinion that the men should be brought under the same rules as those governing such discharges in the Navy.
The outstanding questions referred to in your submission of the 13th August, No. 393/1824, will be dealt with separately.
am, &c.,
The Commander-in-Chief
H.M. Ships and Vessels, Australia.
No. VIII.
EVAN MACGREGOR.
Placing of Orders for War Stores.
(NOTE-Papers circulated on this subject will be found on pp. 30-36 of
[Cd. 3524].) 26160.
No. 1.
The SECRETARY OF STATE to the GOVERNORS.* (Confidential.)
MY LORD, SIR,
Downing Street,
10th August 1906. In connection with the subject dealt with in the Colonial Defence Committee Memorandum No. 327 M., of 22nd November 1904, which was forwarded to you in my predecessor's Circular Despatch of 28th August 1905, I have the honour to request you to inform your Ministers that my attention has been drawn by the Army Council to a recent instance in which an important order for ammunition was placed direct by a Colonial Govern- ment with a firm in this country, and the War Office was asked to undertake the inspection.
2. The order was partly for cordite ammunition, which the War Office would have been in a position to supply at once if they had been applied to in the first instance; and was partly for ammunition filled with axite, the inspection of which the Army Council regretted they could not undertake, as that material is not adopted for Service purposes, and is still the subject of experiment.
3. The disadvantages of this procedure have been already emphasized in general terms in the above quoted Memorandum, but there arise also certain further drawbacks in matters of detail, of which your Government may perhaps be unaware:-
(i.) In the first place, this practice interferes with the system of dividing all orders (including those for the Royal Navy, and for Colonies, &c.) between the Ordnance Factories and the trade in accordance with well-established principles.
(ii) It deprives the Colonies of the advantage of sharing the benefit of the Ordnance Factories' price, which is in almost every case less than the price charged by the trade-in some cases very considerably so.
(iii.) It deprives the Colonies of the advantage of arrangements made by the Secretary of State for War under Section 27 (2) of the Patents Act; as, unless the stores to which the patents apply are supplied through the Agency of a home Government Department, terms for the use of the patents must be arranged separately by the Colonies, i.e. the Governors-General of Australia and Canada and the Governors of Newfoundland, Cape, Natal, and New Zealand.
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