WAR PLANS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 676, 29 November 1909, Page 8

WAR PLANS.

NEW ■ NAVAL DEPARTMENT ORGANISED. ' The Admiralty has issuod tho following:— ) • In further uovelopment of tho policy which . has actuated the Board, of Admiralty for some; tfrae; past .of organising' a Navy War Council, it has been'decided tb' ( pla<».oty-Bn established': footing; the , ariai£eaent3"';'made';;ilr previous' 1 . years, for\the.'stjidy' of , strategy '.and Ui'o;eon- ' ddoratioiiVand J ,^,i , "pilaus. •' " A';riew : cattbd the 1 Naval 1 Molrilfc;. sation Department; has formednnder the'; .of "a ;'Flag . officer;'; and; {here' is .-ciaii- ; ■ ;:centtatM4n ,; it, of'Hhfc'biismes^'of. 1 ; 11 ' >.tho,,Naval. Intelligence''' Department-'and'' tho•< 1 Naval War College VWch related" to Var plana v and''mobilisation under'the'presidency of th» -." First Sea Lord,. \\v. I '- : :':Y i,r - I '■•' "Tho ' officers directing the Naval 'Intelligence Department and the Naval Mobilisktion Department' and the •'• Assistant Secretary'.'of ' the Admiralty will - form; tho 1 .standing Navy ' War 1 Council. The Assistant Secretary will, ■ also act as Secretary of the Council; 1 In tho ' absence: of the First Sea Lord,:the Second. Sea Lord or'other Sea Lord doing duty for the First Sea Lord'will act as. president.- " The Rear-Admiral in command 'of the Naval War .College . will -. be. associated ..with ■' tho Navy War Council, and will attend and act ' as a member of thoiCouncil when the<business ,i? such as requires- his presence. .Other, ■ re- - sponsiblo officers.,will' also: be called-in to assist ' and advise-as the. President may consider do- V sirable. Consequent' oh -these, arrangements,; y "Rear-Admiral H.-G. King Hall has been', appointed Director .of Naval Mobilisation; Cap- ' tain M. Culme Seymour, Captain, G. C. Cayley, Commander C.'P..R. Coode, 1 Commander J. H. Tire,- and Commander G; M. lieano are • appointed' to assist Rear-Admiral King Hall,: and Captain 'H. H. Campbell, Captain .A. R. Hnlbert, Captain T.' H. Hawkins,- ; R.M.L.L. and, Commander A. K. Jones: ceasb' to hold appointments in the Naval Intelligence Departjneht.". V-.. ' .- .j..-'-: : • The Director, H. G. King *_must not, bo -confused with .: his brother, Vice-Admiral G.F.. King. Hall, Sir John .Fisher's former.'. .Chief .of. Staff, on tho • .Mediterranean .Station—has had:',a -• distin- 1 guislied career. Tho son of tho,late Admiral • Sir William Kin§-Hall, lie, joined the Navy in 1875, and saw active service early in his career, gaining special promotion after* the! Egyptian - campaign of-1882. Twelve vears : later he actod as. Chief of Staff'to: Admiral Sir Frederick Bed. ; ford during, the Gambia 'expedition, being rewarded; with tho Distinguished Service Order. ; Then for a year, he was attached to tho Naval Intelligence Department at the Admiralty.; Ho showed, remarkable organising capacity (luring the South African War, when he acted as principal njival transport officer at ~,Capo !wwn.' The (Admiral was a member of- the commission' • which led to the adoption of universal training in Natal. He afterwards served as an assistant ■ director of. the Intelligence Department, and was thon'in command-of the battleship cruiser Indomitable; in/which the'.Prince; ofi -Wales. ■■ travelled to and from Canada, last year. On,the homeward joumey' this vessel, it, will' be rep - ealled, established a record, steaming from land to land at a speed, of 25.13 , knots. Admiral* King-Hall is the brother-in-law of ' tho Earl of Mansfield. He was promoted to his present rank-in. June last. ... - .

:An intore'stin^article,'.in which it is proposed : . to forma ; Municipal Engineering Corns,.'in con- v nection with the proposcd Teclmicil'KeseiTS of the Territorial Force; is contained in the first number of a : now' periodical forsuireyors and ' civil and municipal engineers, entitled '"Surveying and the Civil Engineer." It is stated that, "Of the utmost importance is it that sorao do-' partmcnt should oxist having ail 'intelligent* • ; acquaintance : with ; the topography of tho : country. Obsolete inaps—and fifteen yoars;. old-'may, as regards:maiiy districts,' bo so ro-' garded—are.not only' of little ,use, but may, in .moments of emergency, become a' sourco of danger. .The unpreparedness of ohr Intelligence Department was, ithas-been said,.iresponsible for much of tho disaster which upon th»' nation at the outset ofthe recent war, and no effort and no expense should be spared to render .any such reproach impossible so far as the 1 homeland is With tho assistance : of the municipal engin<feja>j-oarly revision.of tho Gin., or even of -tho; ?25in.; ordnance maps., would bepossible. . We,:do not - mean that a yearly edition of the maps should of necessity be published; bat wo are of, the definite opinion tliat within .the walls of . some, department ' should bo deposited yearly /a complete set of • ordnance maps, containing full information as', to roads, bridges, waterworks, gasworks, power .' stations, mains, public-buildings, and so forth which might have been eithor in*: progress op 1 complotcd, (or. have been demolished)• during': the past year. In every well-educated' municipal engineering office, a 'record of this nature is liept, and m such cases it would merely meap a few hours' work for a draughtsman to prepare a copy for headquarters." "