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Mr. Reid.] A man going out to the Colonies is obliged to fall in to the military system there, and be under the Colonial Commandant.
Captain Nathan.] Yes.
Mr. Seddon.] Where the objection would come in in payment would be this. He would be serving in the Colonies on English pay; there would be a natural soreness, of course, that an Englishman should only be getting the English pay, while the Colonials would be getting 5s. a day in England.
Captain Nathan.] That was a difficulty which was foreseen by the Colonial Defence Committee, and in regard to Canada, they considered that the most simple and satisfactory way would be for the lending authority to continue to pay wholly for its own corps. Thus the British unit in Canada would, receive pay and allowances from the Imperial Government on the same scale as corps now stationed at Halifax. In the same way it would be easier for the Colonial corps in England to keep up their distinctive pay and allowances if the Dominion bore the charge. That seems to be the best arrangement, but I do not know that we can discuss all the difficulties now, because there are a great many.
As to the next question, that of federal defence in Australia, it was decided at the meeting of Premiers at Hobart that federation is essential to any complete scheme of Imperial defence. That was the first resolution.
Sir E. N. C. Braddon.] Of the Sydney Conference ?
Captain Nathan.] Of the Sydney Conference. The Colonial Defence Committee quite understand that. They think, however, a great deal might be done without waiting for federation, and that anything that is done will be of advantage. There have been two conferences of Commandants in Australia, and they both made proposals, in fact similar proposals, for a federal force. The Colonial Defence Committee consider that this force might be prepared now; that is to say, that troops might be told off to form a force which would only assemble in the event of war. The better course, which will be possible when federation has been accomplished, will be to place all federal troops permanently under one military head; but some advantage will be gained by merely telling off the federal troops now.
The Colonial Defence Committee have made definite suggestions as to how this might be done in their Remarks on the various Local Schemes of Defence.
The Earl of Selborne.] That is really a question of organisation. Captain Nathan.] It is a question of not putting aside the proposals of the Commandants, but working to them as much as possible.
Sir George Turner.] What is it they desire us to do more than we have done ?
Captain Nathan.] To keep certain corps for a federal force. The commandants proposed that in this federal force there should be one battery of horse artillery, which was to be furnished by Victoria. That battery then existed, but has since been done away with.
Mr. Reid.] The federal units were to be provided without at all dislocating the existing system of defence; it would not involve an increased expendi ture at all,
Captain Nathan.] No.
Mr. Reid.] It would simply involve a unit within a unit, a federal unit within the local unit.
Captain Nathan.] That is it.
Sir George Turner.] But are we not providing now, by the various Acts we are trying to pass, that the whole of our force could be utilised in any portion of Australasia when required ?
Captain Nathan.] Yes.
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Sir George Turner.] That is what we are attempting to provide, if I recollect aright.
Sir John Forrest.] It is an Act which does not apply to all the Colonies Sir George Turner.] New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, I know, have practically agreed upon a new Defence Bill to enable the forces to be sworn in, that they can be called upon and required to serve in any por. tion of Australia.
Sir John Forrest.] Under the Federal Council Act we could do that.
Sir George Turner.] We are not all in the Federal Council.
Sir John Forrest.] You are in.
Sir George Turner.] We are in, of course.
Mr. Reid.] The advantage of this scheme would be that everything could be worked out to the smallest detail. There is a good deal to be worked out. Everything would be worked out so that if danger came, as it might come at any moment, the unit would be complete in all its parts, and could be moved away with its train. It is a very serious matter to send men away. Possibly there is a lot to be thought out in the way of equipment and supplies. The advantage of the scheme, it has always struck me, was that we would have that corps, with all its equipment, ready to be moved away at a moment's notice. The mere getting an Act of Parliament to enable us to send men when the danger suddenly came is not enough, we might have the men but not all the things necessary to make them a fighting force.
Sir George Turner.] Are these to be permanent men? Captain Nathan.] No, they are to be parts of the present forces. Mr. Reid.] No, they are part of the local force.
Mr. Kingston.] It would be very inconvenient and troublesome to provide
But there is an
for a federal force before you had a federal authority to control it.
The Earl of Selborne.] That is one of the difficulties. existing force in each Colony.
Mr. Reid.] Yes.
The Earl of Selborne.] How is that force to be used in time of war when Australia is threatened? A certain portion of it is assigned to local stations in each Colony for the local defence. Beyond that each Colony has a certain number which you want to form into a federal force, to be moved on the out. break of war to the threatened Colony.
Mr. Reid.] Yes, should occasion arise.
Mr. Kingston.] Leaving the other portions in their local stations. Mr. Reid.] Exactly.
Sir George Turner.] That other portion would be scattered all over the Colony; it would not be centred in any one spot. There would be a certain portion at Ballarat, a certain portion at Bendigo, miles apart.
The Earl of Selborne.] Quite so. The chief point is, that each of these available units should know beforehand what it is going to be used for, and on the outbreak of war it should proceed to the point of concentration where they would meet, and then they could be moved off to the threatened Colony
Mr. Reid.] The numbers of men in the chief capitals of the Colonies are sufficient to form a federal unit in a military area,
Sir George Turner.] Yes, but they are always changing; with us they are ever changing; they are not permanent men,
Mr. Reid.] This was agreed to at two conferences of Commandants. Their
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