2
III. A considerable amount of correspondence has taken place with regard to the necessity for the presence of one of His Majesty's ships in the West Indies. After prolonged discussion an arrangement was arrived at in February 1906 under which the Admiralty undertook to keep a ship of war in West Indian waters which might, however, with the consent of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, go to Bermuda during the hurricane season (viz., about July to October). There is inconvenience and even danger in this arrangement, inasmuch as Bermuda is far distant from the West Indies, especially from Trinidad and British Guiana, in both of which Colonies riots have recently occurred and may recur. The Admiralty have undertaken that the vessel will be sent immediately from Bermuda to any point in the West Indies where she is required, on the request of the Secretary of State, but the position during any period in which the vessel is absent from West Indian waters is unsatisfactory, from the fact that even four days' delay in arriving at the scene of action may have created a situation with which one warship and its crew can no longer cope
·
In September 1906 the Admiralty proposed that, in the interests of the health of the crew of the vessel, permission should be given for the ship to cruise for a month during the hurricane season off Halifax. It was pointed out that this cruise would greatly diminish the already inadequate provision for naval help in cases of riot, since for that month the vessel would be to all intents and purposes unavailable, and the Admiralty were asked, if the vessel were removed, to substitute another vessel at Bermuda whose services could be utilized in the West Indies if need arose.
The danger of the situation was brought out by the occurrence of a strike in British Guiana just at the end of September. Fortunately it was premature, and came to an end without a riot occurring, but, had a riot broken out, help from Bermuda might easily have been too late to prevent serious results.
There is a further possibility of danger when it becomes known in the West Indies that no ship of war is in West Indian waters. At present a degree of security is obtained from the fact that it is not, as far as the Colonial Office is aware, realized in the West Indies how far away naval assistance may be during the hurricane season,