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Appendix No. 4.

HELIGOLAND,

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46

HELIGOLAND.

No. 3.

Colonial Office to Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad.

(Confidential.) Sir,

Downing Street, June 9, 1882. I AM directed by the Earl of Kimberley to transmit to you, to be laid before the Royal Commis- sion on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad, a copy of a confidential letter from the Governor of Heligoland, forwarding a Report by Major O'Brien, R.E., on the defences of that island.

I am to request that, if these papers are printed, the Royal Commissioners will be so good as to furnish this Department with twelve copies.

I am, &c. (Signed)

ROBERT G. W. HERBERT.

Inclosure 1 in No. 3.

Governor O'Brien to Colonial Office.

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(Confidential.)

Government House, Heligoland,

1882.

My dear Mr. Herbert,

AS the accompanying Report was the result of a conversation with you, in which I pointed out that I found from the confidential letters of this Office that it was the intention of Her Majesty's Government to send an Engineer officer to report on the defences of Heligoland, and suggested that it would be a saving to Government or this Colony were I to get my brother, whose position of Professor of Fortifications at Sandhurst seemed to fit him specially for the job, to undertake it, I send it to you thus privately, Major O'Brien having had great pleasure in acceding to my request.

2. I fully concur in the views expressed in the Report as to the utility of this island to England in the event of our being at war with any Power in possession of the Rivers Elbe, Eider, Weser, or Jade, with its dockyard, and can easily understand the importance attached to this Colony by Germany.

3. As I told you, I was informed months ago that the inspired German press would agitate, as it has since done, for the cession of Heligoland, and I also learnt that, being without a deep-sea harbour, plans, &c., were ready, in the hopes of getting this to convert it into a second Gibraltar, with docks, &c.

4. Since my return here, I have learnt that a German naval engineer employed at the docks at Wilhelmshaven, who has married M. Gatke's daughter, carried on a series of boring experiments some time ago at Sandy Island, giving out that he was digging for petroleum!! (query, foundations) while Gatke told me it was for his own amusement, the result being that the foreman who carried on this work, together with the building of the Prussian tidal and meteorological station kept up by them here, received a telescope from the Minister of Marine in Germany for services rendered. There is one point which my brother has not touched on, but which strikes me as most important. Hitherto the only naval Power we had to provide against has been France, hence all our dockyards and defensive harbours are on the south and south-east coasts. Germany has now a powerful navy; if, therefore, it was supported by a deep-sea fortress and dockyard within 200 miles of our defenceless coast, with no port nearer than Sheerness to which a ship could repair to refit, the matter would be most serious, and the cession of Heligoland might necessitate very considerable defences on our north-east shores.

5. If it is not contemplated to cede the island, then I should not be surprised if the next move will be, in case of new taxation for instance, or by some other means, to spread dissatisfaction to our rule, so as to get up either an émeute or a protest, which, with the popular cry of "affinity of race," "similarity of language," and "identity of religion," might have weight; the two first arguments apply stronger to England than to Germany, as it is most curious how much the Frisian resembles English; but of course this would be ignored.

6. I am no alarmist, but seeing what has been done, I think we should not lose sight of what might probably follow. The Heligolanders are not badly disposed towards us, but at the same time we have done little to attach them to our rule, hence we cannot expect them to make sacrifices for us. Moreover, they feel bitterly (as I am now reporting in my despatch on the finance) our want of help in 1878 and the reduction of the vote; they have no trade with England, the money spent is German and by Germans, while they owe largely to Germany, which can, therefore, bring pressure to bear. Unfor- tunately nothing has been done, in our schools for instance, where German is the means of tuition, to attract them towards England, while Germany opens all its careers to them. The present amalga- mation of Hamburg and Bremen with the Zollverein, and their therefore ceasing to be free ports, would be a good opportunity, should it be possible, to induce some English houses to start a branch here; the extent to which "tick" is carried on and would be expected, would, however, be a great drawback to persons without capital entertaining such a project.

7. Should a row take place, I have only five men to depend on; hence I should gladly see the English element strengthened, which might be done by promoting the three present Heligoland light- house keepers, and replacing them by army and navy reserve men, and by sending over a few Coast

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