Summary of the Reports of the Royal Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad.
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THE three Reports of the Royal Commission on the Defence of British Posses- sions and Commerce Abroad were presented in September 1881, March 1882, and July 1882 respectively. The first Report deals mainly with matters relating to shipping and trade, and contains_recommendations for the defence of the Cape of Good Hope; the second Report refers to the duties and strength of the navy, and to the defences of the Australian Colonies; the third Report contains recommendations for the defences of the remaining coaling-stations and commercial harbours. Minutes of Evidence, and Appendices containing information collected from various sources are annexed to these three Reports.
TRADE AND SHIPPING.
Of the first part of the inquiry, relating to trade and shipping, it will perhaps be sufficient to stage the main results. The value of British ships and of the freight First Report, they carry annually is not less than 900,000,000, of which it is estimated that paragraphs 50-58. 144,000,000l. is afloat at any one time; but British interests in sea-borne commerce
are really larger, for much of what appears to be foreign trade is either British property or security for British advances. interests would be exposed to risk to the extent of two-thirds of the sea-borne trade In a war with a Maritime Power British of the world. It is moreover to be noted that nearly half the food consumed in the United Kingdom, as well as the bulk of the raw material upon which some of the principal industries of the country depend, are imported from abroad; and the stocks of these articles in the country at any one time are not large.
"If war were apprehended between Great Britain and a maritime nation capable
of meeting her at sea with well-organized fleets, or of putting afloat a few efficient First Report, cruizers to prey upon her commerce, the alarm in the mercantile world would be paragraphs 67-79. extreme. Underwriters' capital is very timid, panic would easily ensue, and the effects of this would be even more serious than the actual amonnt of loss." There can be no doubt that upon the outbreak of a serious war many British ships would be captured; and unless British naval supremacy could be at once asserted, and the depredations of hostile cruizers stopped, an extensive transfer of shipping to neutral flags might be expected to take place. An appreciable rise in the rates of insurance would be sufficient to bring about this result, and in the opinion of many conversant with the subject, shipping once transferred would not easily revert to the British flag. Another of the dangers to be apprehended is the destruction of submarine cables, which would almost certainly be cut, partly for military reasons, and partly with the object of injuring British commerce. all British property, and the loss that would be caused by the interruption of The cables are almost telegraphic communication would be much more severely felt here than anywhere else. There is no difficulty in finding and cutting the cables, with the exception, perhaps, of those which cross the Atlantic, and it is impossible to protect them. The only way of meeting a endeavouring to lay new cables without the knowledge of the enemy. The Com- wholesale destruction of cables would be by mission "are of opinion that the Government should be kept well informed of the amount of cable at any time in stock, and that they might well consider whether, by some arrangement with the Telegraph Companies, they could, without incurring
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