CO885-24 — Page 124

། ། ། ། །

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

19

Reference :---

C.O. 885

24 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRABEL NOT TO BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

280

SOUTH AFRICA (HIGH COMMISSION).

Enclosure 2 in No. 92.

THE HIGH COMMISSIONER to THE COMMandant-General, SalisbuRY.

SIR,

High Commissioner's Office, Cape Town, 15th May, 1915. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 3rd May, reporting upon military affairs in Rhodesia since the outbreak of the war.

I have read your report with great interest. It is a valuable record of what has been achieved, not only in preserving order within and protecting the borders of a vast territory open to attack at various widely distant points, but at the same time in organizing forces for service in other parts of the continent.

It has given me much pleasure, in forwarding your report to the Secretary of I have State to bring to his notice the names of the officers mentioned by you. asked that their services may be specially noted.

I should like to add that I appreciate very highly the manner in which you yourself have carried out your onerous duties as Commandant-General. The situa- tion created by the calling out of forces in Rhodesia on active service is a peculiar one, and much credit is due to you for the maintenance of good relations with the officials to whom you refer in the last paragraph of your report. I feel confident that while the situation lasts the same good relations will continue.

I have, &c.,

Colonel A. H. M. Edwards, C.B., M.V.O.,

Commandant-General

of the Rhodesian Forces,

STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.

46128/S

Salisbury.

No. 93.

BUXTON, High Commissioner.

THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 23rd November, 1914.)

(Confidential.)

SIR,

Government House, Singapore, 17th October, 1914. WITH reference to your Secret telegram of the 28th September,* I have the honour to forward a connected account of all local action taken in connexion with telegram the outbreak of war since the receipt of your precautionary stage dated the 29th July, 1914.

(£

I have, &c.,

ARTHUR YOUNG,

Enclosure in No. 93.

Governor.

A MEMORANDUM setting forth an account of the action taken by the Straits Settlements Government in connexion with the outbreak of quar since the

precautionary stage" telegram, dated 29th July, 1914.

64

In compiling this memorandum, which deals with a variety of subjects connected with the war, but more or less unconnected with one another, it has been found convenient to take the telegrams received from the Secretary of State in their chronological order, and to set forth the action taken upon each telegram.

"Precautionary stage" telegram.-A cipher telegram from the Secretary of State, dated the 29th July, ordering the adoption of the "precautionary stage"

* 36830: not printed.

281

STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.

under the defence scheme, was received on the morning of the 30th July. The General Officer Commanding the Troops was informed and immediately took the The Naval Intelligence Officer was informed, and, upon his necessary measures. written application, was given authority to expropriate 5,000 tons of Welsh coal and 4,000 gallons of lubricating oil. Every officer to whom duty is assigned under the defence scheme was sent for by the Colonial Secretary and informed that the precautionary stage was now in force. and reminded of his duties both in this stage and the war stage. Each was instructed to treat the information as confi- dential, and warned to take no action that would cause unnecessary public alarm. In accordance with the provisions of the defence scheme, the President of the Municipality (as Commissioner of Supplies) and the Port Health Officer submitted their respective preconcerted plans for supplying the population with food in time of war and for maintaining European women and children on St. John's Island in case of emergency.

:

A telegram was sent to the Resident Councillor, Penang, instructing him to The Resident, Labuan, was also enforce the precautionary stage in Penang. instructed by telegram to take all possible precautions to prevent any surprise upon the cable station upon the island. There is no defence scheme for Labuan.

The appearance of some soldiers to guard the coal stores and naval establish- ments at Tanjong Pagar was practically the only sign by which the public saw that anything unusual had happened and even that excited but little comment.

An examination was made of the secret documents. memoranda, forms, etc.. in connexion with the defence scheme, and all were found to be ready and in order. Examination Service.--A cipher telegram from the Secretary of State, dated the 30th July, advocating full preparation for instituting the Examination Service, was received on the 31st. The military authorities and the Master Attendant were immediately notified. Permission was given to the Master Attendant to detail the steam yacht "Sea Mew," and to requisition two local steamers for this service. A temporary appointment of Assistant Examining Officer was created, and given to a retired naval officer. The pilots were told off to duties in the examination service and compulsory pilot service respectively.

A cipher telegram from the Secretary of State, dated the 2nd August, ordering the Examination Service to be put into force, was received on the 2nd August. Communications with the General Officer Commanding the Troops and instructions to the Master Attendant resulted in its being put into force with effect from 4 p.m. on the same day. A Gazette Extraordinary, No. 52, containing the Harbour Traffic Regulations, which had been prepared in the defence scheme, was issued at the same time.

Royal Naval Reserve. A cipher telegram from the Secretary of State, dated the 2nd August, containing instructions for calling out the Royal Naval Reserve, was received at 3 p.m. on the same day. Its receipt was acknowledged by cipher telegram. Copies of the Special Admiralty Order had been held in readiness, and were despatched forthwith to the Master Attendant, the Resident Councillor, Penang, the Resident, Malacca, and the Federated Malay States Government. The local Press of the Colony and Federated Malay States was also supplied with copies. Two Gazettes Extraordinary were published at once-the one (No. 53) containing the Proclamation under the defence scheme, and the other (No. 54) containing the special Admiralty Order above mentioned.

Censorship.—A cipher telegram from the Secretary of State, dated the 3rd August, containing instructions to enforce the censorship, with certain modifica- tions, was received on the same day. Its receipt was acknowledged by cipher telegram. Instructions were immediately telephoned to the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company's Office, and to the Government Telegraph Office, desiring the officer in charge to hold up forthwith, pending the arrival of the censors, all despatch and delivery of telegrams with the exception of telegrams upon Govern- ment service. The letters of appointment of censors were immediately signed by the Officer Administering the Government, and the censors entered upon their duties forthwith. A Gazette Extraordinary (No. 55) was issued containing the notification (prepared under the defence scheme) of the suspension of ordinary telegraphic communication.

The censorship was enforced simultaneously in Penang. There was no provi- sion for censorship in Malacca, Labuan, the Cocos-Keeling Islands, the Federated