CO129-381 - Governor Sir Lugard - 1911 [11-12] — Page 333

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knowledge, telephoned to the Adjutant of the British

regiment to warn him that troops might be wanted. That

officer of course at once communicated with the Head-

quarter Staff, and I heard from the General that he had

in consequence warned troops to be in readiness.

8.

I later pointed out the extreme irregu-

larity of this intimation by the Deputy Superintendent

of Police to a junior military officer that the military

authorities might be required to aid the Civil power in

a riot, the more so that the Deputy Superintendent was

at the very time in communication with myself on the

telephone, and I had enquired on this point and been

assured that no present necessity existed. ur Wodehouse

replied by referring to a Folice Regulation dealing with

urgent cases of fire, in which event the "Field Officer

of the day" could be asked for assistance. Ur Wodehouse

stated that he presumed that calling out the troops

"in case of riot or similar disturbance" did not differ

from asking the assistance of the picquet to assist in

} extinguishing a fire, an officer who reads his regulations

so carelessly in so important a matter is, in my judgement,

one upon whom it is unsafe to place reliance in an

emergency.

9.

The manner in which the subsequent phases

of this affair were dealt with, in connection with an

attack made by the mob on a Chinese newspaper office,

and the arming of the Indian as well as the European

police with revolvers without reference to me did not

commend itself to me, but for these matters Captain Lyons

was responsible. After asking for explanations from both

officera I found it necessary to inform them that I did

not consider their replies satisfactory, and later when

the