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Admiralty and War Office, could not be dealt with by existing machinery with the rapidity required by the importance of the subject at a time of political tension. On the suggestion of the Honourable R. H. Meade, then Assistant Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, the Colonial Defence Committee was formed of members representing the three Departments concerned with instructions to report directly to the Secretaries of State for War and the Colonies and the First Lord of the Admiralty.
When the war scare was over, it was found convenient to retain the Committee, of which the objects were subsequently defined as follows:-
(a.) To discuss and work out details of questions relating to Colonial defence, in which the Admiralty, War Office, Colonial Office, and Treasury are indi- vidually or collectively concerned, and which have been referred to the Committee by any one or more of the Departments above named, or by the Joint Naval and Military Committee on Defence.
(b.) To advise the Secretary of State for the Colonies in relation to local forces and defences in Colonies where no Imperial establishment is maintained,
(c.) To prevent the delays and misunderstandings which may arise from inter-
Departmental correspondence,
d.) To ensure as far as possible a uniform treatment of questions of Colonial
defence.
Constitution of Committee.
3. When the Committee was first formed it consisted of the Inspector-General of Fortifications as President, the Assistant Director of Artillery, the Naval Adviser to the Inspector-General of Fortifications, and an Assistant Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies as members. Shortly afterwards the Assistant Quartermaster-General In 1887 joined the Committee to represent the staff of the Commander-in-Chief. the Director of Military Intelligence was added to assist in deliberations affecting the military strategy of the Empire; in 1888 a representative of the Treasury joined to take part in deliberations affecting the Imperial Exchequer, and in the same year the Director of Naval Intelligence took the place of the Naval Adviser to the Inspector- General of Fortifications as representative of the Admiralty. Except for some minor alterations in the designation of the appointments held by its members, the constitution of the Committee has not changed since that date, and it is now as follows:-
Members.-
President. The Inspector-General of Fortifications.
The Permanent Under-Secretary of the Colonial Office.
A representative of the Treasury.
The Director of Military Intelligence.
The Director of Naval Intelligence.
The Assistant Adjutant-General for Mobilisation.
The Deputy Inspector-General of Ordnance.
Secretary. A military officer.
The Admiralty have reserved the right of adding another naval officer to the Committee should they consider this desirable.
A list of the officers who have served on the Committée since its first formation is given in annexed Table I.
Work of Committee.
4. The Committee has held 105 meetings, at which it has dealt with about 850 agenda, or an average of somewhat over eight per meeting. The work that has been done may be divided under the following heads :—
(i.) The consideration of general and miscellaneous subjects and the preparation
of memoranda thereon. Of such memoranda, 107 have been printed. (ii.) The editing and consideration of Colonial schemes of defence and the prepara- Some 85 schemes tion of remarks thereon for transmission to the Colonies. have been edited, and 10 have been received printed from the Colonies. Remarks relating to these schemes, and also to various other reports, numbering 163 in all, have been drawn up and printed.
(iii.) Recommendations and opinions given upon War Office or Colonial Office papers.
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(i.) A list of the printed Memoranda of the Committee is given in annexed Table II. It includes the instructions (No. 19 M.) by which the preparation in all Colonies of Schemes of Defence for utilising existing resources in war to the best advantage was first initiated, and the further recommendations (No. 46 M.) for giving greater com- pleteness to these schemes and securing their execution on a more uniform basis. Memorandum No. 16 M. has resulted in the preparation of the Returns of Naval and Military Resources now annually sent in by all Colonies, which form an invaluable record of the defence forces of the Empire, outside the United Kingdom, Egypt, and India, in a form convenient for reference. The approved garrisons of the Imperial coaling stations have been mainly based on recommendations contained in Memoranda Nos. 31 M. and 74 M. In Nos. 57 M. and 90 M. the general principles of Colonial Other defence, as accepted by Her Majesty's Government, have been laid down. printed general Memoranda of the Committee deal with cable communications; with the regulation of traffic in Colonial ports in time of war; with measures of precaution at Colonial ports as regards the landing of the troops of foreign Powers for drill, the entry of foreign ships, and the guarding of works of defence from inspection; with the necessary uniform to secure belligerent rights for local levies; with the regulation of civil population and utilisation of private property in time of war; and with the supply of small-arms to Colonies. As will be seen from Table II., a large number of Memoranda deal with the defences and defence forces of individual Colonies.
(ii.) A list of the printed Remarks of the Committee is given in annexed Table III. They deal with the Defence Schemes already referred to, with Reports by Local Joint Naval and Military Committees, prepared under instructions drawn up by the Imperial Joint Naval and Military Committee on Defence, and with various printed papers received from Colonies, mostly annual reports on local forces.
The main object of the Defence Schemes is that, the moment it is decided that war preparations are to be made, every man concerned will immediately carry out the duties to which he has been told off, and with which he has been made conversant in time of peace. No time or resources will be wasted. The present state of these schemes is shown in Table V. annexed, from which it will be seen that they have been prepared for all the more important Colonies, with the exception of Newfoundland, Canada (General Defence), and New Zealand, while in most Colonies they have been revised to date. Western Australia, Tasmania, the West Indian Colonies (where there are no Imperial troops), and Lagos are behindband in the matter of keeping their schemes up to date.
The Remarks of the Colonial Defence Committee, on the Reports of the Local Joint Naval and Military Committees, called for by the Imperial Joint Naval and Military Committee on Defence, have been, except as regards a few minor points, concurred in by that body, and sent to the Colonies concerned.
Advantage has been taken of the various printed Reports on Colonial forces received from Colonies to point out the most pressing steps that should be taken to bring these forces up to a uniform standard of excellency.
(iii.) A list of subjects other than those dealt with in the printed Memoranda and Remarks of the Committee, but concerning which they have made recommendations in Minutes on War Office and Colonial Office papers, for the consideration of those Offices, and for communication, when necessary, to the Colonies concerned, is given in Table IV.
Procedure of Committee.
5. The procedure of the Committee is governed by rules approved by the Secretaries of State for War and for the Colonies, and by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. The Defence Schemes for the four Imperial fortresses are sent to the Committee by the War Office, and those for other Colonies by the Colonial Office. Other matters are referred to them by one or other of these Offices, by the Admiralty, or by the Joint Naval and Military Committee on Defence. Occasionally reference has been made direct to the Committee by Agents-General of the self-governing Colonies. Though the Committee think it most desirable that their assistance should be given to the Agents- General whenever it may be required, they hold it more convenient that the reference to them should be made through the Colonial Office, to whom in such cases they send their replies.
Papers referred to the Committee are circulated to members with such further information obtained from the Colonial Office, War Office, and Admiralty as may be for their consideration. The members consult the Departments they represent in so far as this appears to them desirable. Advantage is taken of the presence in this
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