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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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APPENDIX A.--REPORTS.
Personnel and terms of reference.
3. Before proceeding to give a brief sketch of their activities, the Committee think it will be convenient that they should refer to their personnel and terms of reference.
4. When appointed in November, 1914, the Committee consisted of the following gentlemen, namely:-
Vice Admiral Sir E. J. W. Slade, K.C.I.E., K.C.V.O. (Chairman).
Mr. G. L. Barstow, C.B., Treasury.
Mr. W. J. Evans, Admiralty.
Mr. T. H. Holt, Crown Agents for the Colonies.
Mr. H. W. Malkin, Foreign Office.
Mr. G. Roper, Board of Trade.
Mr. C. B. L. Tennyson, Colonial Office.
Mr. L. D. Wakely, India Office.
In March, 1915, Mr. C. Hipwood was appointed to represent the Board of Trade in place of Mr. Roper, and in January, 1918, Mr. H. N. Bunbury, C.B., was appointed to represent the Treasury, vice Mr. G. L. Barstow, C.B., so that the composition of the Committee at the present time is as follows:-
Admiral Sir E. J. W. Slade, K.C.I.E., K.C.V.O. (Chairman).
Mr. H. N. Bunbury, C.B., Treasury.
Mr. W. J. Evans, C.B.E., Admiralty.
Mr. C. Hipwood, C.B., Board of Trade.
Mr. T. H. Holt, O.B.E., Crown Agents for the Colonies.
Mr. H. W. Malkin, C.M.G., Foreign Office.
Mr. C. B. L. Tennyson, C.M.G., Colonial Office.
Mr. L. D. Wakely, India Office.
5. Mr. R. A. Wiseman, of the Colonial Office, was originally appointed as Secretary, but was relieved of his duties in January, 1917, upon being transferred Thereupon Mr. Tennyson undertook to act as to the Ministry of Shipping. Secretary, with Mr. G. A. Jones, of the Colonial Office, who had been associated (though unofficially) with the Committee's business from the commencement, as an Assistant Secretary. After carrying on in this manner for a time, Mr. Tennyson, owing to the pressure of other business. was compelled to delegate more and more of the secretarial work to Mr. Jones, and the full duties of the Secretary were assumed by Mr. Jones early in 1918, and have been performed by him up to the present time. An allowance of £150 per annum attached to the secretaryship and was drawn by Mr. Wiseman until the 31st January, 1917, when it lapsed. An allowance of £75 per annum was made to Mr. Jones upon his appointment as Assistant Secretary, with effect from the 7th March, 1917, and has been drawn by him from that date.
8. The Committee were appointed by Treasury minute dated the 11th November, 1914, "to report in what classes of case it is expedient that prize ships captured or detained in ports outside the United Kingdom should be moved for sale or disposal to other ports, or should be chartered for purposes of trade, and to make the necessary arrangements in such cases as are remitted to them by the Departments concerned in the administration of the territories where the prize ships are detained." By Treasury minute dated the 5th January, 1915, they were empowered "to take the necessary steps for chartering for use in British commerce such enemy ships detained in this country as may be required for the purpose.'
7. By Treasury letter dated the 19th January. 1916, the Committee were given general authority to make arrangements, with the concurrence of the various Departments of State concerned. for the requisitioning of any vessel awaiting adjudication by the Prize Court in the United Kingdom, and for the commercial employment of any ship seized by His Majesty's forces on the high seas which it might be decided to bring to this country for adjudication, and by Treasury letter dated the 10th July, 1916, the Committee were asked to consider and make recoin- mendations upon various outstanding questions relating to expenses in connexion with prize proceedings.
8. By Treasury minute dated the 4th September, 1918, the Committee were further directed to consider and make recommendations as to the extent to which prize and detained enemy vessels (including vessels dealt with in the Prize Court in this country) could be utilized for the replacement of requisitioned vessels lost through war risk, and as to the action necessary to effect transfer to the owners of lost vessels, and to advise upon the financial and other arrangements incidental thereto.
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APPENDIX A.-REPORTS.
Meetings.
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9. The Committee have so far been in existence for a period of nearly five years, and during this time they have held one hundred and sixty-three meetings
10. A brief account of the business transacted at each meeting will be found in the printed minutes in the collections of papers identified as Miscellaneous No. 312, Miscellaneous No. 323, Miscellaneous No. 332, and Miscellaneous No. 341. The Committee arranged for full reports to be taken of the evidence of certain outside parties who were invited to attend meetings, and these reports are set out in the volume identified as Miscellaneous No. 313.
11. It will be seen from the printed papers referred to in the preceding paragraph that the majority of the meetings of the Committee took place within the first two years after its appointment. The reduction in the number of the meetings from the early part of 1917 onwards was in large measure due to the fact that the greater number of the ships under the management of the Com- mittee had been taken over by the Admiralty or the Ministry of Shipping, which enabled much of the remaining business of the Committee to be carried on by a small Sub-Committee (consisting of Mr. T. H. Holt and Mr. C. B. L. Tennyson) which was appointed to deal with current questions (including questions arising on the accounts) not involving matters of principle. Apart from the advantage in reducing the number and length of the meetings, this expedient also served to enable quicker decisions to be taken in matters of urgency. The minutes of the early meetings of the Sub-Committee, as well as their periodical reports, will be found, interspersed in chronological order with the minutes of the meetings of the full Committee, in the collections of papers entitled Miscellaneous No. 332 and Miscellaneous No. 341.
Interim Reports.
12. In the course of their labours the Committee have issued ten interim reports upon special subjects, which may be briefly described as follows:-
First Report (dated 24th December, 1914).-General recommendations in regard to procedure in dealing with prize and detained enemy vessels.
Second Report (dated 12th January, 1915) Utilization in London coal trade of enemy vessels sentenced to detention by the Prize Court in this country.
Third Report (dated 21st January, 1915).-Removal of captured enemy vessels, with their cargoes, to original destinations.
Fourth Report (dated 12th May, 1915).--Transfer of prize and detained enemy vessels to the service of the Transport Department.
Fifth Report (dated 22nd May, 1915).-Disposal of enemy cargo sentenced to detention.
Sixth Report (dated 23rd August, 1916).—Payment of fees or other remunera- tion to officers of Prize Courts and other officers performing services in connexion with matters of prize.
Seventh Report (dated 30th September, 1918).-Requisition and valuation of detained enemy vessels,
Eighth Report (dated 16th October, 1918).-Utilization of condemned vessels for the replacement of requisitioned vessels lost through war risk.
Ninth Report (dated 4th November, 1918).-Utilization of detained enemy vessels for the replacement of requisitioned vessels lost through war risk.
Tenth Report (dated 14th January, 1919).-Outstanding financial questions of a general nature affecting matters of prize.
13. These reports will be found in the collections of papers identified as Miscellaneous No. 312, Miscellaneous No. 323, Miscellaneous No. 332, and Miscellaneous No. 341.
Removal of ships with their original cargoes.
14. Among the first matters referred to the Committee were the cases of four vessels (the steamships "Hamm," "Apolda," and "Birkenfels," at Cape Town, and the s.s."Schneefels," at Gibraltar) as to which urgent representations had been made that they should be navigated, with their cargoes, to the ports to which the vessels were bound when intercepted.
15. Various legal and other difficulties, some of which are referred to in the Committee's Third Interim Report, arose in these and other similar cases, and
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