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Now, therefore, We do hereby declare that the rules and Ordinances heretofore in force for the government of our said order shall be abrogated, cancelled, and annulled, and We are graciously pleased to make, ordain, and establish the following rules and Ordinances in substitution for the same, which shall henceforth be inviolably observed and kept:— Firstly: It is ordained that this order shall henceforth be styled and designated the "Distinguished Service Order." Secondly : It is ordained that the order shall consist of the Sovereign, and of such members or companions as We, our heirs or successors, shall appoint. Thirdly : It is ordained that We, our heirs and successors, Kings and Queens, regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperors and Empresses of India, are and for ever shall be Sovereigns of this Order. Fourthly: It is ordained that no person shall be eligible for this distinction who doth not actually hold, at the time of his nomination, a commission in our Navy, in our land Forces or Marines, in our Air Force, or in our Indian or Colonial Naval or Military Forces, or a commission in one of the Departments of our Navy, Army, or Air Force, the holder of which is entitled to honorary or relative Navy, Army, or Air Force rank; nor shall any person be nominated unless his services shall have been marked by the especial mention of his name, by the Admiral or Senior Naval Officer Commanding a Squadron or detached Naval Force, or by the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the Field, in despatches for meritorious or distinguished service in the field, or before the enemy. Fifthly : It is ordained that foreign officers who have been associated in Naval, military, or aerial operations with our Forces shall be eligible to be honorary members of this order. Sixthly : It is ordained that when We, our heirs and successors, shall be pleased to appoint any person to be a member of this order, such appointment shall be made by Warrant under our Sign-manual, and countersigned by one of our Principal Secretaries of State. Seventhly: It is ordained that any one who, after having performed services for which this order is awarded, subsequently performs an approved act of gallantry which, if he had not received the order, would have entitled him to it shall be awarded a bar to be attached to the riband by which the badge is suspended, and for every additional such act an additional bar may be added. Eighthly : It is ordained that an. officer shall be appointed to this order —that is to say, a Secretary and Registrar. Ninthly : It is ordained that the Secretary and Registrar of this order shall be appointed by Us, our heirs and successors, and shall have the custody of the archives of the order. He shall attend to the service of the order, and shall execute such directions as he may receive from our Principal Secretary of State for War. Tenthly: It is ordained that this order shall rank next to and immediately after our Order of the British Empire, and that the companions thereof shall in all places and assemblies whatsoever have place and precedency next to and immediately after the Commanders of our said Order of the British Empire, and shall rank among themselves according to the date of their respective nominations. Eleventhly : It is ordained that the badge of the order shall consist of a gold cross, enamelled white, edged gold, having on one side thereof in the centre, within a wreath a laurel enamelled green, the Imperial Crown in gold upon a red-enamelled ground, and on the reverse, within a similar wreath and on a similar red ground, the Royal cypher, and shall, be suspended from the left breast by a red riband, edged blue, of one inch in width. Twelfthly : It is ordained that the names of those whom We may be pleased to admit to membership of this order shall be published in the Jjondon Gazette, and a registry thereof kept in the office of our Secretary of State for War. Thirteenthly : In order such additional provision as shall effectively preserve pure this honourable distinction, it is ordained that if any person admitted to membership of this order shall be convicted of treason, cowardice, felony, or of any infamous crime, or if he be accused of any such offence and doth not after a reasonable time surrender himself to be tried for the same, his name shall be erased, by an Order under the Royal Sign-manual, from the register of members of the said order. And il is hereby declared that We, our heirs and successors, shall be the sole judge of the conduct which may require the erasure from the register of the name of the offending person, and that it shall at all times be competent for Us, our heirs and successors, to restore the name if such restoration should bo justified by the circumstances of the case. Lastly : We reserve to ourselves, our heirs and successors, full power of annulling, altering, abrogating, augmenting, interpreting, or dispensing with these regulations or any part thereof by a notification under the Sign-manual of the Sovereign of the order. Given at our Court at St. James's, this first day of April, in the eighth year of our reign, and in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and eighteen. By His Majesty's command. Milner.

No. 40. New Zealand, No. 154. My Lord, — Downing Street, 26th August, 1918. With reference to my despatch, No. 105, of the 10th June and previous correspondence, I have the honour to request Your Excellency to inform your Ministers that it has been ascertained from the Army Council that, if candidates recommended and accepted for nomination to Woolwich or Sandhurst should so desire, there would be no objection to their attending an Army