7
38
among them is deplorably high.
9.
On the other hand at the proposed site the new
cantonments will be in completely rural surroundings with
immediate access to beaches which would be reserved for them.
Men leaving barracks would no longer be subject at once to
the solicitations of prostitutes or the lure of drink-bars
and gambling houses, as is the case at present.
locality will be cool in summer, healthy throughout the year
and has a delightful outlook on the sea. Unquestionably in
such surroundings the health, discipline and efficiency of the
troops will improve very greatly.
The chosen
10. I am not competent to discuss the proposal on its
technical side, though even to a layman it is clear that the
professional advantages that will accrue are very considerable.
For instance, there being no room in Murray Barracks for a whole battalion, one company has to be accommodated in Mount
Austin Barracks distant more than three miles by road from
headquarters. This separation necessarily hampers battalion training and introduces an element of disunion into battalion
life. But I am assured by the General Officer Commanding that
from the military point of view the defence of the Colony will be greatly facilitated by the removal of the battalion from a thronged urban area, poorly served as it is from the traffic point of view, to quarters outside the town. Major-General Grasett has, I understand, written to the War Office stating the military advantages which this scheme would bring in its train. If any doubt on the point exists I hope that further
information will be sought therefrom.
11. I trust that my proposals will now have your approval in principle. So far as my advisers and I can see there is no other practicable solution of the insistent problem of developing the central part of the town of Victoria according
The scheme under submission to you to its modern needs.
should not merely achieve that end, it should do so at little
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.