GIBRALTAR.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1751, 27 September 1905, Page 67

GIBRALTAR.

A GREAT IMPERIAL ASSET. * It is just "ben yeans ago, when after a frisit or some weeks to Gibraltar, I contributed an article to tire “National Review,” briefly dealing with some of the difficulties and jproblems in the administration of a Crown Colony of that size. With pleasure I returned to it this winter., and realised the profound change which had come over this lonely outpost of Great Britain in the intervening years—a change scarcely marked perhaps by the public at home, or by M.P.’s, too busy to scrutinise the details of the Navy Estimates, or they would have noticed l how largely the new works ; now approaching completion have hulked in the last few years. In her two hundred years of existence as a British possession none have been so important as the last five, except perhaps the four years of the great siege, the imperishable memory of which is ' carved as deep in our national records as that of Port Arthur will be amongst generations to come of Japanese as long as the world lasts. Wkt is this great change that has taken place? It is a great Imperial change. It is as if Great Britain had suddenly grown out a thousand miles to the south, and had stretched out an arm all that distance towards the Gape. Australasia, and the Indies, East and West. A GREAT IMPERIAL HARBOUR. It means, so far as the harbo-uv is concerned, that from being a mere port of call, where men-of-war and steamers could put in far coal, water, and minor ropairs in peace time, Gibraltar is now blossoming out into a. great Imperial harbour, the headquarters of a mighty Imperial fleet- A few years age the h»i tour was practically an unsheltered anchorage, open to the south-west, though, the new Moie, about 400 yards long, gave a small modicum of shelter to Ships under repair or taking in stores and coal. O'utside the Mole where our men-of-var ordinarily anchored, there was no> security against a torpedo, attack from, an enemy passing through the Straits at night; the water supply was insufficient; the. arsenal and dock accommodation on far too small a scale for the work required to lie done even m peace time, so that in case of a seafight in the neighbourhood ships' would have to go a thousand miles for repairs, either home or to Malta. The paramount importance of increasing the security of Gibraltar as a harbour, and of adding to it® importance as the point d’appui for a fleet, must have been long apparent to our naval authorities, especially since the development of the torpedo as a potent instrument of warfare'; and before the last Liberal Government went out in 1895 it had already been arranged to construct one large dock and a. protecting mole. The programme was largely added to on the advent of Lord Salisbury’s Government to power. It was decided to build three docks —the largest 859 feet long—to increase the security of the harbour by lengthening the mole, and to assist . the commerce of the Colony by building a commercial mole at the north-west side. Since that time when once the main lines of the defence scheme were settled, there has been very little discussion in Parliament, except with regard to the efforts made by Mr Gibson Bowles to alter the scheme, so' that part ' of the new works might be constructed on the east side of the Reek, to which I hhall allude later. HEADQUARTERS OF THE ATLANTIC FLEET.

The new organisation scheme, lately promulgated by the Admiralty, assigns to Gibraltar an increased importance as the headquarters of the Atlantic fleet. A glance at the map will show at once its value as a pivot, from which a completely equipped fleet can issue, and it will, I think, he interesting to many at Home to know what steps have been taken so to add to the strength and resources of the place as to make it worthy to fulfil the roll assigned to it in the future. In addition to the moles, the arsenal and workshops have been largely extended, chiefly on ground reclaimed from the sea, and will be completed during the current year. Coaling facilities have been increased: and enormous storehouse accommodation for the varied requirements of a large modern fleet has been provided in absolute security. THE WATER SUPPLY. The water supply of the Colony must always have been a puzzling and anx- / ions problem, owing to the great variations in the annral rainfall, which, according to the records of the last 114 years, has ranged from 77 inches in 1855-6 to 15 inches in 1809-1. Ten years ago there was one reservoir only for the storage of rain-watier, containing about 1,200,000 gallons, the rest of the water supply being dependent on a few old wells, private tanks, and the condensation of sea-water. Since that time, thanks to the energy and skill of the present Colonial Engineer, a scheme for a complete provision of water has been undertaken and partially carried out. Mr Copland realised that “to meet the varied requirements of the public supply of water in Gibraltar, it is necessary to bave sufficient reservoirs to enable the surplus water of years of heavy rainfall to be stored for use in years of light rainfall, or otherwise to

have collecting areas of sufficient extent to yield during a year of minimum rainfall sufficient water to meet the demand, and reservoirs to store it in.” Accordingly, in 1899 four bomb-proof reservoirs were built on the west side in connection with a collecting area of over ten acres, while more recently the rainfall on the east side has been utilised by covering a large area with corrugated iron sheets, the rain falling on which is conducted by a channel right through the rock into the reservoirs, from which, after a. complete treatment of filtration and aeration, it is passed on to general use. When this scheme has reached its full development, not only will all the naval and military requirements .he adequately met under the mc:<& adverse conditions of rainfall, but the water will lie- laid on to all the dwellings in the colony, instead of being hawked about as at present in kegs and barrels. The funds for this and other sanitary purposes are provided by the colony, and it would he a surprise to many English municipalities to know that a rate of Is 8d is sufficient for all demands. Out of money provided by Parliament, a very ingeniously contrived refrigerating works foi' the storage of meat will shortly be finished, in which supplies of colonial meat can be received and stored in perfect safety. WEAK ON THE SPANISH SIDE. It is no part of my task to express any opinion as to the present armament of the Rock; that must he left to military experts and to. those on whom the responsibility for the defence of the fortress nests: hut a few general reflections, based on the altered circumstances of the last few years, will not be out of place. It seems to be the general opinion that no attack on the harbour, could he successfully made, except from Spanish territory. Only a few years ago the distance from A 1 geciras across the Bay, nearly five miles, was sufficient 1 o prevent shell fire from that direction; but the constantly increasing range and power of modern artillery, as displayed notably in the Boer war and at Port Arthur, has deprived the Rook of its ancient vulnerability, and has at any rate laid the new harbour and works open to shell fire, as was ably demonstrated by Air Gibson Bowles in a most interesting pamphlet which he published in 1901. If the hostility of Spain is a necessary preliminary to any successful attack, we may, I trust, hope that that contingency may never arise. Our good relations with her, though slightly impaired in the course of the SpanishAmerican war, were warmly testified to

by the Spanish Ambassador oniy the other day, ana these relations will surely be confirmed by the visit of the King of Spain, and if we could only take mere effective measures to stop the smuggling which causes so much trouble and anxiety to the Spanish authorities, a fruitful source of their annoyance at our occupation of Gibraltar would be put an end to. But cur statesmen have to take account of possibilities even remote, as well as of probabilities, and amongst the former must be ranked a hostile alliance against us of Spain with one or more great European Powers. In such an unlikely eventuality, it must not he forgotten that the railway to Algeciras makes possible the speedy transport to the shores of the Bay of siege guns and war material from all the arsenal® of Spain’s allies. Does not this consideration make it imperatively necessary that the armament on the R,ock should be kept thoroughly up-to-date —nay, more —that, if possible, we should he able to go one better in the range and power of our artillery than any foe whom we might have to encounter, NEW BOOKS, Tn Mr Gibson Bowles’s pamphlet, to which I have before alluded, he very strongly advocated the construction of one or two of the three docks then planned for the western side of the Rock on the east side for the sake of greater security. Mr Goschen said in the House of Commons in 1896: “No subject had given the Admiralty more anxiety than that of arriving at a decision as to the site of the new docks. The question between the west and east sites had been thoroughly gone into, not only by the Admiralty, but by the highest military authorities whose advice was at command. In regard to the east site, there was one great disadvantage, and that was the great length of time that would be occupied in carrying out the work —fifteen years might elapse before the work could be finished.” Possibly if the artillery developments of latter years had been forecasted, the Admiralty might not have proposed to put all their eggs into one basket on the west side, and would have divided their works between the two • but at that time the paramount necessity was the seourity of the harbour from torpedo attack ; and there can he no question, whatever may ultimately be done on the east side, that the works securing that purpose could he earned out more promptly and more cheaply in the way chosen by the Admiralty. No one who has seen a real bad Levanter can doubt that works in course of construction on the east side, and exposed to the full force of the sea, might be carried away again and again before they were completedl; and Admiral Rawson’s Com-

mittee, of which Mr Bowles was a member, although it reported in 1903 “a harbour, deck, workshops, and coaling facilities were imperatively necessary on. the east side,” added that in tleir opinion the “Admiralty were vitely advised in the first instance in deciding on the west side for docks and harbour works.” Although not absolutely immune .from shell-fire from Spanish ground, the east- side is undoubtedly much better protected than the west, and it is to be hoped that at some future time, when a. rigid economy is less necessary than at the present moment, these suggested works may he put in hand. COMMERCE. Turning to commercial matters, speculation is rife as -o how far the new commercial mole, now on the eve of completion, is likely to affect the prosperity of the colony. Ear many years the coal trade has been declining, steamers passing through the Straits eastward preferring to coal at- Oran or Algiers. It remains to be seen whether the substitution of adequate coaling facilities alongside the quays for the old coaling hulks outside will restore the trade to its ancient dimensions. One thing may be predicted with certainty, and that is, that if the Government, retain the management in their ovn hands, instead of handing it over to a committee of the mercantile body, or at any rate associating some of its members in the management, the whole thing will he a failure, just a® the electric light was till taken over by the Sanitary Board. I myself would most strongly advocate its being handed over to the care of the same body, which has done excellent work for years past. It has the eonfderce of the commercial community; its chairman, Mr A. Mosley, C.M.G., is one of the best known cf the colony’s leading citizens, and as three-sevenths of the total cost of the mole by the colony, it is only fitting that the chief citizens, whose interests are wrapped up in its success, should be largely concert ed in its management. The interest on this sura, which has been lent on easy terms by the Home Government will he a considerable addition to the expenditure of the colony, and economies should he effected in the administration. • THE LEGAL ESTABLISHMENT. As I pointed out in a former article, a considerable saving might be made- by cutting down the legal establishment, which now costs about £3290 a year. The amount of work to be got through in the year by the Supreme Court, is ludicrously email, and it really seems a Costly anachronism to maintain the legal establishment of a hundred years ago at the present time, when Gibraltar can he reached by railway in three and a half days, as well as by frequent steamers. There are three sessions of tiro Supreme Court during the year. In 1904 ten cases were sent for trial, and there were seven conviction. In the sessions going on in this month there were two trival cases, one from the Consular Court- of Tangier. Of civil cases there are very few. As the Chief Justiceship is now vacant, a great wish is expressed in the colony that it should be abolished altogether, the post being filled by a circuit Judge, who might possibly take in Malta and Cyprus. The colony also regards it as a grievance that it ha.s to provide the whole salary of the Governor, whereas at Malta £2OOO a year of the Governor’s salary is paid out of the War Office vote. Those matters should he carefully looked into by the Secretary of the Colonies

THE CONCERN OF THE NAYY. In the days that are coming it is most probable that Gibraltar will be re* garded as the concern, rather of thsi Navy than of the Army. We shall! probably see there before long ait admiral as Governor, a further reduction in the strength of the Army force. This must be accomplished without, as does occasionally happen, any friction between the two branched of the Imperial service. The magnificent co-operation of the land and forces of Japan in the waif should be a constant reminder to those concerned in the defence of our widespread Empire of the necessity of wellconcerted unity of action; and now that* the country possesses a Defence. Committee of the Cabinet whose main object is to ensure the co-ordination of all the farces of the Empire when the necessity arises, we may trust that, should that necessity ever unhappily arise, the defence of Gibraltar, that great Imperial asset he adequately maintained. —Charles Bill in “The Monthly Review.”