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[This Document is the Property of Her Britannic Majesty's Government.]

SECRET.

Printed for the use of the Colonial Office. September 11, 1899.

1

No. 193 M,

HONG KONG.

C.O. Nos. 17042 and 17045.

Armament of Hong Kong Volunteer Corps.

Memorandum by the Colonial Defence Committee.

THE Colonial Office have referred to the Colonial Defence Committee a despatch dated the 31st May, 1899, from the Governor of IIong Kong, forwarding a copy of a letter from the Commandant of the Hong Kong Volunteer Corps on the rearmament of the field battery of the corps, together with a copy of a minute on the same subject by the General Officer Commanding.

The despatch and its enclosures are printed as an Appendix to this Memorandum.

2. The field battery is now armed with six 7-pr. R.M.L. guns, of 200 lb., which were issued as a gift to the Colony in 1883, and are distinct from the eight guns of the same type which form part of the movable armament of the station. The Commandant proposes that these guns should be replaced by a new armament fulfilling certain con- ditions which he specifies in detail, the most important being that the gun should be a mountain-gun, with breech-loading mechanism, and, if possible, fixed ammunition. He suggests that, in the event of the Government factories not being in a position to supply suitable guns, these should be obtained from a private firm.

3. The Colonial Defence Committee do not regard the present moment as opportune for carrying out changes of armament of the kind now under consideration. The general question of movable armaments of fortresses is in an undecided and transitional state, owing to recent developments in the designs of field guns and carriages, and the consequent uncertainty prevailing as to the effects on movable armaments of the impending alterations in the armament of the Imperial horse and field artillery. The present case is, moreover, affected by the fact that a new pattern of breech-loading mountain gun for the Imperial service with a projectile of 10 lb. is now under

consideration.

The Committee entirely agree with the General Officer Commanding in his opinion that any modern armament issued to the volunteers should be the same as that issued to the Royal Artillery. The evil effects of a multiplication of calibres and patterns have frequently come to the notice of the Committee, and these drawbacks have been intensified where purchases have been made from private firms. Experience has shown that little uniformity of design can be expected from even the most eminent of the private firms which manufacture war material. The result is that when only a very few years have elapsed it becomes increasingly difficult to purchase ammunition of the pattern required, or to obtain spare parts for replacement of worn or broken portions of the mechanism.

4. The Colonial Defence Committee do not consider the replacement of the present 7-pr. R.M.L. guns as a requirement of such urgent importance from the military point of view that, having regard to other claims of a pressing nature on the finances of the

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