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Appendix No. 4.
NEWFOUNDLAND.
Torpedo înstruction.
Age for enrolment.
Snider rifle recom- mended.
Advantages of system.
Defence of Colony generally.
first month be trained entirely in the batteries on shore, and then be embarked in the gun-boat for a fortnight for practice at sea.
Thus the training-ship would only be used for training the first year's men, and all other instruction would be carried on either in barracks or on board the tender.
It is suggested that the management of the field and mountain guns should be left entirely to the local force; also that a proportion of each year's contingent-say 10 per cent.-should go through a special course of instruction in laying down torpedoes, instead of going to sea in the tender.
The age for enrolment in the Reserves should be from 22 to 25, as this will insure the services of men best fitted to undergo the severe labour attending the working of heavy guns.
The Snider rifle is recommended for any local force, as it is not liable to get out of order; it is very accurate up to moderate distances, and being strong and simple in construction is far better suited to men who have been accustomed to the use of heavy sealing-guns.
44. Advantages of Proposed System.
By the system proposed the Colony would provide the force necessary for working guns in the field and in the batteries, also for protecting the harbour by torpedoes; and in the course of time there would be, in addition, sufficient men available to partly man any ships for the protection of the coast during war.
With such a system of local defence it will always be necessary to have a force of regular troops available for service in the field. This force could be sent out on the outbreak of war, and thus the expense and disadvantage of having a permanent garrison in Newfoundland will be avoided.
The defence of the Colony generally must depend almost entirely upon the navy. Harbour Grace might raise a small force for the defence of the town, and if a few guns were provided sufficient men would be found to man them.
In order to find employment for the instructors belonging to the training-ship during the nine months of the year when the Reserves are not called up for drill, it is suggested that they should be employed to drill a force of naval artillery volunteers, which could be raised in St. John's from a body of men who, whilst willing to assist in the defence of the Colony, would be unable, from their avoca- tions, to enrol themselves in the Reserve.
It is also suggested that a certain number of boys should be enrolled yearly in Newfoundland for Her Majesty's Naval Service, and that after undergoing a two or three years' course of training similar to that in the training-ships in England, they should be drafted to ships on the North American and West Indian Station for seven years' service in two periods of about three and a-half years each,
(It is for training boys that it has been suggested the training-ships should be rigged.)
By adopting this system the Imperial Naval Service would gain a body of hardy young seamen, and in about ten years Newfoundland would begin to possess not only a body of men who would be invaluable for manning any gun-boats which might be supplied by the Imperial Government for the defence of the Colony, but also a loyal body of citizens who, from their previous associations with the Royal Navy, would be the means of effecting a closer union between Great Britain and her most ancient Colony.
HORATIO H. MORGAN, Lieutenant,
Royal Marine Light Infantry.
(Signed)
Government House, Newfoundland, January 24, 1880.
APPENDIX (A).
LIST of Steam-Vessels belonging to the Port of St. John's, with their Tonnage and Horse-Power.
Names.
Tonnage.
Horse-
power.
Names.
Tonnage.
Horse-
power.
Lion
292
75 Hercules
90
60
Merlin
249
110
Proteus
467
110
Panther
247
64
Bear
468
110
Walrus
184
60
Enterprise
20
10
Hector
291
70
Mastiff
245
60
Commodore
290
70
Falcon
311
80
Eagle
344
70
Kite
190
50
Tiger
148
45
Curlew
293
80
Ranger
353
70
Plover
293
80
Wolf
353
80
Lady Glover
94
60
Vanguard
323
85
Dauntless
28
40
Neptune
465
110
Pioneer
19
10
Leopard
217
60 Daisy
8
50
Cabot
21
50
Total, 27 vessels, 6,303 tons.
In addition, there are the following prosecuting the seal fishery and employed in Newfoundland, but not registered there:-
Nimrod," of Liverpool "Iceland," of Montreal "Greenland," of Montreal
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Tons.
Horse-power.
227
287
70
259
201
50
75
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