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Reference :--

C.O. 885

24 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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MINUTES.

3. Offer of London Chamber of Commerce to take over four ships detained at Alexandria.-The Chairman pointed out that the outstanding difficulty in regard to the removal of these ships was the question of obtaining the release of the cargo. He thought that the estimate submitted by Mr. Dick was fairly satisfactory, but the offer must be held over for discussion at a later meeting when a reply had been received from the Treasury to the Committee's memorandum, referred to in para- graph 2. In the meantime it was recommended that a telegram should be sent to Alexandria to find out what were the charges that had been incurred by these ships in respect of port and canal dues.

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Baren fels" and "Gutenfels which As regards the return journey of the were going east, it was thought desirable that every effort should be made to get freight, and it was suggested that a commission might be offered to the charterer on any freight secured for the return voyage in order to act as an inducement to him to obtain such cargo.

4. The Committee recommended that telegrams should be sent to the Wind- ward Islands, Jamaica, and Bermuda to find out whether crews could be obtained locally for the navigation to the United Kingdom of the prize ships held up in those Colonies, and if so what proportion of such crews would be of European descent.

5. Letters from Mr. Kersey, of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, from the Newcastle and Gateshead Incorporated Chamber of Commerce, and from the Editor of "Fair Play were also disposed of at this meeting.

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**

THE SEVENTH Meeting of the Committee was held at the Colonial Office on Monday, 7th December, 1914, at 4.30 p.m.

The following members were present:-

VICE-ADMIRAL SER E. J. W. Slade, K.C.I.E., K.C.V.O. (Chairman).

MR. W. J. EVANS, Admiralty.

MR. G. L. BARSTOW, C.B., Treasury.

MR. G. ROPER, Board of Trade.

MR. H. L. MALKIN, Foreign Office.

MR. L. D. WAKELY, India Office.

MR. C. B. TENNYSON, Colonial Office.

MR. T. H. HOLT, Crown Agents.

MR. R. A. WISEMAN (Secretary).

Subject to three small corrections, the minutes of the two previous meetings were confirmed.

Mr. Holt informed the Committee that he had had a further discussion with Mesars. Turnbull, Gibson & Company, and he had now been informed that this firm would be unable to act as shipping brokers to the Committee on the terms proposed. After some discussion it was decided that further inquiries should be inade, with a view to getting a panel of five or six firms to act as agents for the Committee. It was thought that it might possibly be practicable to pay these firms a fixed fee for each ship dealt with.

2. As regards the delay in fixing the conditions of sale for prize ships, Mr. Malkin informed the Committee that a letter had been sent to the French Ambassador, expressing the hope that the French Government would not press their proposal that French citizens should be allowed to bid at the sale of prize ships captured by His Majesty's ships.

3. Mr. Thomas Devitt, of the firm of F. Green & Company, was called before the Committee. A transcript of his evidence will be found in the volume of Minutes of Evidence (Miscellaneous No. 313).

4. A draft memorandum, written by the Chairman, with regard to the proce dure to be adopted by the Committee in dealing with prize ships, was then considered, but it was held over for further discussion at the next meeting.

5. 8.8. "Schneefels."-Two_telegrams which had been forwarded by the solicitors of the representatives of the cargo-owners were laid before the Committee. The Committee recommended that a telegram should be sent to the Governor of Gibraltar, asking that pro rata freight should not be charged by the local Government and asking also for an early reply to previous telegrams.

MINUTES.

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6. Consideration of the letter from the London Chamber of Commerce, with reference to certain ships detained at Alexandria, was held over for discussion at a later meeting.

"Quarta."-The Secretary was asked to inform the Asiatic Petroleum Company that the disposal of this ship lay in the hands of the Committee, and that further negotiations could not be continued unless the company were prepared to give the information for which the Committee had already asked.

7.

8.8.

8. Detained ships held up in the United Kingdom.-The Committee recom- mended that the question of the disposal of these ships should be raised in a letter from the Board of Trade to the Treasury.

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THE EIGHTH MEETING of the Committee was held at the Colonial Office on Thursday, the 10th December, 1914, at 3.15 p.m

The following members were present:

VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. J. W. SLADE, K.C.I.E., K.C.V.O. (Chairman). MR. W. J. EVANS, Admiralty.

MR. G. ROPER, Board of Trade. MR. H. W. MALKIN, Foreign Office.

MR. L. D. WAXELY, India Office.

MR. C. B. TENNYSON, Colonial Office. MR. T. H. HOLT, Crown Agents.

MR. R. A. WISEMAN (Secretary).

During the discussion of (1), (2), and (3) Mr. Hotblack and Sir Henry Johnson,

of the firm of Messrs. Waltons & Company, were also present.

1. Ships held up in South Africa. The provisional offer of the Federal Steam Navigation Company to navigate these ships to Australia was discussed with Mr. Hotblack. It was decided that Mr. J. Lowrey, of the Salvage Associa- tion, should be asked to give evidence in regard to the figures quoted by Mr. Hughes for the insurance of the cargo. The Committee considered that Mr. Hughes's figures were generally susceptible of considerable reduction.

Captain R. Muirhead Collins, CMG., Secretary to the High Commissioner for Australia, appeared before the Committee, and the position in South Africa was fully explained to him. A transcript of the proceedings will be found in the volume of Minutes of Evidence (Miscellaneous No. 313). It was understood that Mr. Tennyson was seeing Sir George Reid on the following day, and it was thought that a further telegram might be sent to the Government of Australia after the interview.

It was understood from a telegram from the Government of Australia, which had been forwarded through the High Commissioner, that the Commonwealth Government considered that the fees which were being charged in the Cape Town Prize Court were excessive, and it was thought desirable that some representation in regard to this should be made to the Union Government.

2. A letter from the London Chamber of Commerce, with reference to the position of British firms interested in the cargo on board the ships detained in South Africa, was also considered. It was recommended that the telegram to South Africa referred to in paragraph 1 should go, on to request the South African Government to consider whether it would be possible for them to adopt the same procedure in the Cape Town Prize Court as had been adopted in Gibraltar. The Gibraltar Prize Court no longer insisted upon the production of the actual documents relating to the cargo, except in cases where there was reason to suspect enemy ownership.

In the meantime, a reply should be sent to the London Chamber of Commerce, saying that His Majesty's Government were in communication with the Union Government with reference to the necessity for sending out all the documents relating to the cargo.

3. Steamship "Schneefels."-The position as to offering bail in respect of doubtful cargo was explained to the Committee. The Committee recommended that the negotiations with Messrs. Parker, Garrett & Company should proceed on