ลล
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
Printed for the use of the Colonial Office, &c.
Miscellaneous.
No. 284.
Confidential.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
ད་
། ། ། ་
27
Reference -
C.O. 885
22 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
MEMORANDUM
BY
Mr. W. St. D. JENKINS, of the Admiralty,
RELATIVE TO THE
RESERVATION OF OIL FUEL FOR HIS MAJESTY'S NAVY.
[This Memorandum was prepared at the request of the See Minutes of Inter - Departmental Committee.
Meeting of 2nd December, 1912.*]
Owing to the desirability of being closely in touch with
the Colonial Office in discussing questions in which the interests both of the Admiralty and of the various colonies concerned (principally Trinidad and Barbados) were so closely allied, and in order to simplify inter-departmental negotiations, it was decided, early in 1904, to appoint a Joint Committee at the Colonial Office under the presidency of Mr. Bertram Cox, upon which the late Sir Gordon Miller and Professor Vivian Lewes were deputed to represent the Admiralty. This supplementary committee dealt primarily with questions affecting the oil fields of Trinidad and Barbados, but its functions were amplified by the addition of a member to represent the India Office (Mr. T. W. Holderness) in order that it might deal with the subject in its various aspects in all parts of His Majesty's Indian and Colonial possessions.
The Committee in their report† laid it down that in the event of the use of fuel oil in His Majesty's Navy becoming general it would be very necessary that it should be possible Bources within the to obtain adequate supplies from Empire and it was important that where such supplies exist the right should if possible be reserved of securing priority of supply to meet Government requirements at reasonable prices; it was resolved that steps should be taken both in Barbados and Trinidad to give the Imperial Government by legislation a priority of the supply. In order to attain this result it was thought necessary to ensure that the oil produced should be refined on the spot so that a supply of oil of the proper character might be available, and that the supply should be adequate and not liable to be curtailed by any action of the proprietors of oil rights. It was thought that a right of pre-emption would be of little value unless steps were taken to guard against the output being artificially restricted. It was recognised also that the competition of the great syndicates in the United States of America and elsewhere might retard any purely commercial development of the oil industry in the West Indian Colonies unless the support of the Imperial
• Printed in West Indian No. 189.
↑ See page 5 of this print.
(27813-3.) WL81813-0 242. 3. 113. D&S.