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members of the R.E. staff should appear in the Scheme, which should, however, state under the heading "Action by Commanding Royal Engineer" on page 30 that these orders, as well as the plans for the various works, have been prepared and will be issued to the officers responsible for carrying them out on mobilization. If the detailed orders are omitted the description of the sixteen works on page 30 might be somewhat amplified and two Tables should be added, one giving under the headings! of the sixteen projects the tools and materials required, for carrying them out, and the other the detail of working parties and the time required, collected under the same headings from the various Tables that are now in the Scheme. The manner in which the R.E. staff will be employed in superintending the execution of the sixteen projects should also be described under "Execution of Works," page 31.

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12. Page 63 (H).It will be convenient if, under the heading "Action by District Paymaster," a summary is given of the extra expenditure. which will be' incurred by the various departments (1) during the preliminary stages of mobilization, and (2) during each subsequent week that the station remains mobilized.

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13. Page 67 (2), paragraph 1 and page 81 (A), 6th line.—It would seem 'advisable' definitely to tell off the Officer Commanding the Company of R.A. at Blakan Mati as Fire Commander No. 1 and the Officer Commanding the R.A. Company in Fort Canning as Fire Commander No. II.

14. Page 73 (4), paragraph 3.-The words "and the O.C. 2/41st Co. R.E., as Field. Engineer" should be added after "Staff Officer."

15. Page 73 (4), paragraph 8.-The arrangement by which drinking water is to be supplied both at Mount Faber and the Alexandra Position by the contractor daily does not appear a very satisfactory one, and the attention of the War Office is directed to the advisability of providing reservoirs or of furnishing the positions in question with some more reliable source of supply.

16. Page 74, 7th line from bottom.--The position of the proposed redoubt com- manding the New Harbour docks should be stated. No reference to its construction is traced under the "Action by the Commanding Royal Engineer."

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17. Page 100, 13th and 14th paragraphs.-It seems useless to specify a flag which is to be hoisted on ships to denote that they have permission to anchor in the Roads, and one to show that they are allowed to enter the New Harbour, if, as is rightly laid down, these flags are subject to be changed or altered from time to time.

18. The following names referred to in the text of the Scheme should be added to the Map of Singapore showing the defences:

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New Barracks Pier. I'

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Johnston's Pier.

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Master Attendant's Pier. Barc Hill,

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Mount Imbeah..

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Peak Island should be shown on the General Map of, Singapore and the surrounding country.

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August 13, 1898.

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(Signed)

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M, NATHAN, Secretary, :

Colonial Defence Committee.

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PRINTED AT THE FOREIGN OFFICE BY J. W. HARRISON.--16/8/98.

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

Printed for the use of the Colonial Office. August 22, 1898.

SECRET.

No. 195 R.

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CEYLON.

CEYLON.

C.O.

No. 159.

Secret,

Defence Scheme revised to December 1897.

Remarks by the Colonial Defence Committee.

THE Defence Scheme for Ceylon has not had the advantage of the same regular periodical revision that has been given to the Schemes of other Imperial defended stations, and is therefore not on a level with them either as regards the completeness of the measures laid down to meet the various forms of possible attack, or in that orderliness of arrangement by which the information recorded is immediately available to the officer requiring to make use of it, who may possibly be new to the command at the time when its Defence Scheme is to be put into force.

Covering Memorandum of Local Defence Committee.

2. Page 1, paragraph 1.--The Colonial Defence Committee see no objection to a reference to Belligam Bay being inserted in the Defence Scheme, though they do not concur that if undefended it would offer a convenient base to hostile torpedo craft, or a landing place for an attack on Colombo, as stated on page 7.

3. Page 1, paragraph 2.---The map of Eastern seas, showing foreign naval bases within striking distance of Ceylon, received with the Defence Scheme, has not been reproduced in the printed copies of the present revision. The Committee appreciate the usefulness of such a map, and are proposing that similar ones should be prepared for binding with all future revisions of Colonial Defence Schemes.

They would point out, with regard to the Remark of the Local Defence Com- mittee on the subject of Djiboutil in this paragraph, and the reference to it in the first paragraph on page 8 of the Scheme, that whatever this place may become in the future, it does not at present come under the head of possible naval bases whence an attack might be directed against Ceylon. The works for the proposed harbour are not yet commenced, and there are no appliances for handling heavy stores.

On the other hand Port Arthur should be referred to on page 8 as the nearest Russian base to Ceylon.

4. Page 1, paragraph 4.—The Colonial Defence Committee have had referred to them on the subject of communications, dealt with in this paragraph, an extract from the Annual Confidential Report, dated the 13th December, 1897, of the General Officer Commanding the Troops in Ceylon, calling attention to the isolated condition of the Imperial coaling station at Trincomali and to the necessity for further improving the means of communication between that place and Colombo.

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In their Remarks dated the 13th November, 1894, on the revision of the

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