AM INVASION.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 574, 31 July 1909, Page 5

AM INVASION.

LIMITS OF POSSIBILITY. SEA SUPREMACY. DOMINIONS AND DEFENCE COMMITTEE; IMPORTANT SPEECH. (By TclegrapU.—Press, Assoolatlon.-OoDyrleht.) (Rec. July 30, 10.40 p.m.) London, July 30. In. the House of Commons in Committce-of-Slipply on tho Navy and Army Estimates, tlio Prime Minister, Mr. Asquith, made an important speech describing the working of the Imperial Defence Committee. ; Committee of Imperial Defence. He said that when Mr. Balfour formed this Committee seven years . ago, considerable doubt and some apprehension were expressed as to whether it could bo adapted to the country's ordinary administrative machinery, and particularly > to. the maintenance, of separate responsibility in the War Office and the Admiralty. For himself ho desired to say at onoe that, having during the past four years worked in intimate and continuous relations With tho Imperial Defence Committee, he regarded, it as a valuable': and. indispensable part of. the administrative organisation. It was an advisory, not an executive, committee. Thus, while the Cabinet must always be responsible for tho national polioy,' and the War Office and tho Admiralty must always be for the execution of tho polioy so determined upon, the Imperial Defence Committee did not- intervene either >in olio or the other of these Departments.'! Dominion Won ,on, tho Committee. ThOj Committee's functions arose owing to the necessity felt in all great countries, in none so pressingly as Britain, for co-ordina-tion of the work of the Army and tho NaVy; and it was *bhe business of the Imperial Defenco Committee to study the besjj provision ,to be made from timo to time for t.he military and naval requirements of . the Empire as a whole.

Hence, the Committee must bo. ; j flexible, and the Government must be ■ empowered to,add.,to It ad. hoc, Ho hoped that before the representatives' of the Dominions left the country that ' an opportunity would occur of inviting some of them to participate In a moeting ( ' A| of the Defence Committee, and. to con- ' I sider some of the problems affecting I . them equally with us. : The Committee j v/ould thus include representative men from all parts of tho Empiro. -7-,, Strategical Probloms. - A portion of -the Committee's work "was confidential, but 110 might, say it. included exhaustive inquiries in ,tho. first l instance by stib-committeos on s;uch subjects as the military needs of. the Empire ivitlV respect to recent changes: in army organisation; also jas affected by the defence of India,, tho'strategical aspoctsVof the proposed,' forth" and Clyde Canal, aerial navigation, and our policy regarding' the Ciiaiiuel tuniiel..' ,

Tho Government also had tlio.Colonial Do- ' fence Committee, which for . a. long time past had been watching. tho colonial aspects of Imperial dofenco; ■ Similarly, .the' Government in 1909 had 'established a Joint Naval and - Military- Committee' of Defeiico from Homo forts.. - , ; '. ' -.. ' • . 7 Admiral Earesford and' Lord Roberts.' , - The inquiry into Admiral Lord . , Charles Beresford'-s allegation' respecting 'the- distribution of the fleet in Homo'.waters-had been most impartial and thorough, but. the, Committee had not finally adjourned and their report was therefore a matter in. that -senbo still sub judioe. But another investigation of a. more comprehensive, character Was a fresh inquiry at the instance'' of Field-Marshal .Lord Roberts into the possibility of . an invasion of Britain. Mr. Asquith continued! ; l 'A special sub-committee,, of which I was chairman, sat for nearly a : year, ' and' the whole subject was minutely .studied. Tho conclusions unanimously reached, -'after conceding the: most favourable; possible' conditions for a hypothetical invasion, wore: . "Absolutely' Impracticable." "Firstly, that as long as our naval supremacy is adequately, assured, an invasion on a large scale such as is contemplated by Lord Roberts —namely, the transport to these; shores of 120,000 to. 150,01i0 men—is absolutely iriipracticable; but, on the other hand, if we perman» ently lost the command of the sea, whatever might be the strength or organisation of your tnllitary forces hero at Home, even though you had an army like Germany's,-It would not only be impossible for Britain to: escape .invasion, but subjection by the enemy would aiso bo inevitable. ; "Our second proposition was that, besides a Homo Araiy sufficient: to' repel small sporadic raids, we must have an army adequate to ocrmpel any sane opponent contemplating an invasion to oome with so substantial a force as to make it impossible for it to avoid oiir Fleet and to land. .. 7 > /. "Nobody would updertake'the task with less than 70,000 men: I do not believe that 70,000 men would ever' get through. ■':■ That was our conclusion after the most careful investigation ever made." 7 THE DEFENCE CONFERENCE. '■■■'/■ - .' ' . :■ ARMY MATTERS. London, July 29. The Imperial Defence Conference is sitting at tho War: Office; The proceedings are expected, to bo briefer than was anticipated. Mr. Haldane's viows as to- a General Staff and organisation generally harmonise' witb the aims of Australian policy, and no long discussions are expected bit army matters. Naval probloms will occupy more attention. ;■ EXPERTS AT WORK, , (Rec. July 30, 9.35 p.m.) London, July 30. In yesterday's discussioil at the Defence Conference the Secretary for War,. Mr. Haldane, participated. ' The business was chiefly confined to memoranda relating ' to tho Empire's military, defehco tuid its future organisation. •. ... -'• Committees of experts were appointed to study details. It is probable that similar procedure will be adopted in connection witii naval, defence when tho Conference reassembles 011 Tuesday. THE'COMMITTEE DESCRIBED. The .Committee of Imperial Dcfcncc is the advisory body upon whose recommendations tho military, as Well as the naval, policy of tlio country is theoretically aiul practically based in its broad lines. The purpose of this Committee is to consider all questions of Imperial dofenc.e from the point of viow of tlio Navy, the military forces, Indiii, and tha colonics 1 to obtain ooUftto Wacia&tiM toon too vftdoua do>

partments of the .State; to prepare any documents required by the Priino Minister; to furnish such advice as may be required; and to keep adi-miato records for tlio use of the Cabinet of the day and its successors. Tho Committee i 6 purely advisory, n'nd has no executive functions 'whatever. /

! The miiehinery provided for the work is the Secretariat or "permanent nucleus" of the Committee. . The Secretary is appointed for iivo years. Captain (now Sear-Admiral) Sir Charles L. Ottley (retired list), K.C.M.G., M.V.0., principal British naval representative at The Hague Conference, succeeded Colonel Sir George Clarke as Secretary of tho Committee in October, 1907. He kns as his colleagues two Assistant Secretaries, . nominated respectively by tlio Admiralty and the War Office, and .appointed for three years. The original proposal was upon a more cxtensivo scale. The great advantage ascribed to the arrangement is that it enables a,vote to be taken in the House each year after a discussion of matters relating to Imperial defence as a whole. This was never possible In tho dis- • cussion of Army and Navy votes separately. r The Prime Minister is Chairman, of the Oommittea of Imperial Defcnce, and the members | are the heads of the naval, military, and jjoli--1 tical services of tho State, and when questions arise affecting particular colonies, departments, or measures special authorities may be called in. Tho present Secretary of State for War and his predecessor havo both taken counsel with the Committee before presenting their . Army 1 schemes. I APRIL TOO LATE. LORD BERESFORD ON EXTRA SHIPS. ! London, July 29. Admiral Lord Charles Berosford, in a letter to the newspapers, declares that the 1 Government, in postponing tho construction i of four extra battleships till April, lost the , last ■ opportunity which their procrastination left them for securing tho Empire's safety, without risking a crisis, which might well evoke a panic in the future. . ■ ■■. PROPOSED TERRITORIAL RESERVE. | TO COMPRISE 100,000 MEN. ■ London, July 29. ■ Mr. Haldane's scheme for creating a Territorial Roserve force' from time-expired sol--1 diors ,and others creates a reserve consisting of, three : classes—first, old Territorials j secondly, a technical corps, consisting' 'of medical men, engineers, motorists, aviators, and .veterinary -surgeons; -thirdly, veterans, consisting of officers and men who hayo served in any military forces. Tho county organisations are to bo. asked to -register the_ names. It is anticipated that . the \ reservists will.' number ; altogether a hundred; thousand, making tho total strength of the Territorial Army four, hundred thousand. ■ AUSTRALIA AND GENERAL STAFF. , OFFICIAL REPORT. I. Mclboyrno, July ,30. Tho proposals of Major-General Hoad (Inspootor-Genofal. of the Federal Forces) for. the establishment' of an" Australian section of. the Imperial General Staff, sots, out that such 4; Staff has a'two-fold; purpose—to secure. Australian military organisation for tho seedfity of tlio Commonwealth, and to secure ' efficient' co-operatioii with the Imperial forces • for the better carrying' out of. training,' as well as in organisation. ;An Imperial General Staff of, specially selected' trained officers is projxi'sed;. It is suggested- that 'tlio. chief of thb ; Commonwealth.,'section should., be . the first "military ; •member of, ti Military Board and chief adviser .to the Minister. ' - It is propdscd. to' substitute..for...tho in-' spection of a command the attendance of tno. chief or a ..headquarters officer 'of 1 tlio gonbral staff at annual caiiips, and 'general manoeuvres; Any special inspections are to be .carried out, by tho . respective .members of . the board. ■ .- .Tile Imperial General ' Staff should bo divided into headquarters and ■ district sections, with qontrol and direction, of tho wJiole of the. sections vested in the Australian chief, who, together, with one 6f the headquarters: officers* should be 'appointed to -the Council of; Defence of Australia. .'. .'. - The organisation of tho Commonwealth seotioii shouldbe modelled,".)'with'^adaptation 5 to local .conditions, upon that of, tho central section ;in Lohdoni ' . ' ; ' THE EMPIRE AND THE VELDT. NOTABLE UTTERANCE BY GENERAL SMUTS. London, July 29. In his speech at the Empire Club banquet,. General Smuts, Colonial Seoretary of the Transvaal, said,:—. . "Tho Defence Conference is one of peace, at which it is intended to consult regarding measures of defence which will conduce to tlio world's peace. Tho South African colonies. which have known war, will have none of i it, They entef ! the conference with feelings of amity towards tho rest of tlio world, but should occasion arise., tho 'experienoe gained and -the endurance shown; m' the struggle In South Africa would bo utilised for the defence of tlio Empire." IS THE ARMY "A SHAM"? An emphatio tribute to Mn- Haldane'B work at the' War Offioe, a denial of Lord RobortsV statement that "our Army is a sham/',and yet a - demand that the Territorial- Force. be doubled—meaning 600,000 of an establishment—are the points of a notable, article by' the military, correspondent of "The Times," | He.contends that Lord Roberts, the' Duke of Bedford, and'others who condemned the Army in the House of Lords arc discrediting tho campaign for national service; "If,"'ho,says, "tho promotion of national service requires of us, as an ; act of homage, to declare what wo know, to be jiamely, that.our Army is a sham—then, no matter what names.:and reputations are in question, we cannot subscribe to such ..declaration. ■ Foreign Service Force. > "Our .Regular Field Army requires, 222,0i)0,' and wo possessed on January 1 last no fewer than 255,000 r men' available to supply these numbers out of a total/ of 830,000 men liable to servo oversea. There is a deficiency of officers, but it must not be .'exaggerated. "Wo could very, well tell an ally in Europe that wo would place at his disposal the whole of our Regular Forces, at Home, amounting to 255,000 effectives,.exclusive of'officers, provided that the command at sea were not in dispute, .and we could add that we could bring up the Seventh Division from the Mediterranean garrisons and South Africa and somo four divisions from. India if the need arose. , 800,000 Territorials Wanted. "Within a couple of years there is every reason to hope that tho Territorial Forco will respond to the anticipations of Mr. Haldane. Wc have taken 170,772 recruits for our land forces, during' the. tiveh'e months ohded March 31' last. 'No one can "say that this is not a notable success, 'and, if-it has falsified. every . prophecy 'of evil, so iuuch tho worso for the prophets and so much the better-for tho rest of lis'.'' : . ' ; - "No! our Army is not a sham. Both First and Second Line are better, than they have over: beon before, and tlio better, prepared to carry out their mission in war. Our bedrock numbers for the Territorial Force are: Gartisons 100,000 Local mobile -.defence ' -100,000:. . ■ Central Forco , 300,000. • W Total ■' 500,000 ."This is a minimum' figxu-e of effectives, and not of establishments. In order to obtain it' wo undoubtedly require an establishment- of 600,000, or, in other words, we must double the establishments of. the Territorial Force, and moro than double tho present strength."