ARMY AND NAVY. 11. THE MACHINERY OF IMPERIAL DEFENCE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 84, 6 October 1909, Page 3

ARMY AND NAVY. 11. THE MACHINERY OF IMPERIAL DEFENCE.

CONSULTATIVE AND ADVISORY COMMITTEE. By Major E. ff. W. Lascellos. [The first of a series of articles on this important subject appeared in the Evening Post on the sth October, 1909.] It is recognised by all thinking men, as it is known to all soldiers and sailors, that the Army and Navy are but the complement the one of the other — that, if we regard a nation as a fighting body, its sea forces and its land forces are but its right and left arms. This is a truism of which no repetition should be necessary, Jjut the lay mind persists in regarding the different fighting services as having no connection with each other, and no common end in view. History teaches us that, while we may beat our opponent upon the sea, to humble him and bring him to terms it is almost always necessary his army also should be defeated. Napoleon's power was not finally broken until ho was crushed at Waterloo ten years after the victory off Trafalgar, though that victory alone ensured that command of the sea necessary to enable the land campaign to be brought to a successful issue. If the armed forces of a nation are to be directed in such n manner as to ensure preparation for, and success in, war to tho fullest extent, it follows that they must be directed by one common head, and that the administration of the sea forces by an Admiralty, and the land forces by a War Office, on a system of watertight compartments having no connection between them, will not result in the utmost \ value being got for money expended, and the development of the fullest degree of ' fighting power cannot be obtained. A TASK OF SOME DIFFICULTY. The world-wide distribution of the British Empire, and the complexity of the problems with which its statesmen are confronted, render the task of adequate naval and military preparation of much greater difficulty than that with which any of our possible foes have to deal. THE COMMITTEE. To Mr. Balfour is due the credit of creating, some seven years ago, the Committee of Imperial Defence — a body capable of studying and determining upon the requirements of the Empire as a whole. The committee is purely a consultative and advisory body, possessing no executive or administrative functions. Tho only permanent ' membei*s are the Prime Minister — who is President of the Committee — and the secretarial staff, consisting of a secretary and two assistant secretaries, for naval and military affairs respectively. The members who are- ordinarily summoned to the meetings of the Defence Committee are the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, tho Secretary of State for War, the Secretary of State for India, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, the Chancellor of tho Exchequer, the First Lord of the Admiralty, the First Sea Lord, the Director of Naval Intelligence, the Chief of the General Staff, the Director of Military Operations, Lord Roberts, Lord Esher, and Sir John French. Lord Kitchener has recently been appointed a member of the committee, and on the conclusion of ti\e recent epoch-making Imperial Defence Conference the delegates from the selfgoverning dominions and colonies were present as members at a sitting of tho committee. COLONIAL REPRESENTATION. The Commonwealth oJ Australia submitted to the Imperial Conference in 1907 a motion :—: — "That it is desirable that the colonies should be represented ,on the lmporial Council ( ?) of Defence. " That tho colonies be authorised to refer to that Council ( ?) for advice any local questions in regard to which expert assistance is deemed advisable." In a memorandum laid before that conference,' and which clearly detailed tho functions of the committee, it was emphasised, at the request of the British Prime Minister, that it was open to any self-governing colony to submit, through the Colonial- Office, any questions, at any time, and to obtain such* advice as the committee was able to give ; if so desired, a representative of that colony desiring advice to be present as a member during discussion of the question raised, and a resolution was unanimously agreed to by the conference as follows :—: — "That the colonies be authorised to refer to the Committee oi Imperial Defence, through the Secretary of .State, for advice any local questions ns to which expert assistance is deemed desirable. " That, wherever so desired, a representative of tho colony whioli may wish for advice should bo summoned to attend as a member of the committee durirg the discussion of the questions raised." SOME OF THE WORK DONE. Questions of importance were referred to the committee in 1903 by the Government of Canada, and in 1905 the committee prepared a scheme for the defence of Australia at tho l-equest of the Government of the Commonwealth. The committee have investigated and reported V upon almost all questions that havo arisen affecting the co-ordination of military and naval policy. Sub-com-mittees of the main committee have also reported upon aerial -navigation, the Channel Tunnel coheme, the allegations of Lord Charles Beresl'ord in reterence to the Navy, besides many other questions of equal and minor importance. The secretariat, or, as it is sometimes called, the "permanent nucleus" of tho conimittee, keeps a complete record of the proceedings. Mr. Balfour, in 1905, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman at a later date, and, more recently, Mr. Asquith, have all borne witness to tho inestimable value of a body such as the committee, and to the great assistance it has rendered. AN INDELIBLE RECORD OF SAGACITY. it cannot be denied that the formation of the committee was the first actual recognition by the British Government of the elevation of Imperial Defence as a whole to a position in truly Imperial politics, and the work of the committee stands as an indelible record of the sagacity of tho founders, and the body will doubtless become increasingly important as developments take place in' the system of Imperial Defence. "While the first express from Christchurch was running through Winchester on Wednesday morning, an accident befel tho mail-bag (reports tho Lyttelton Times), which, since the abolition of the Winchester stop, is now thrown off the train. The bag was whirled under the train, and its contents wero considerably damaged. A blacking outfit which happened to be in the bag was smashed, and all the mail matter got a liberal coating of blacking.