A.—4a

34

duties in districts be performed by Staff Officers as at present, who should be termed " attached to the General Staff" until qualified, or until gradually replaced by qualified General Staff Officers as they become available. 6. That, the proposal for the formation of sections of the Imperial General Staff in the several Dominions having been accepted, it will devolve on those sections to work out the details of the preliminary and higher education of officers of the Local Forces, in communication, so far as may be necessary, with the central body. In this connection the proposals set forth in Appendix Cto the paper prepared by the Chief of the General Staff, regarding the further training of officers after leaving the Staff College, should be borne in mind. 7. That the Local Headquarters of the Imperial General Staff should study, in consultation with the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, the various strategical problems affecting their respective Dominions which may present themselves. 8. That when the services of any qualified General Staff Officers of the Home Regular Army are required by any of the Dominions, either on loan or interchange, or when the services of any qualified General Staff Officers of the Local Forces can be utilised for employment in General Staff appointments in the Home Regular Army on interchange, the procedure proposed in Appendix D to the paper prepared by the Chief of the General Staff should be followed. In regard to finance — (a) In the case of Loan, the country employing the officer to defray all travelling-expenses (including passage to and fro), pay, and allowances : (b.) In the case of Interchange, passage to and fro should be defrayed by the country to which the officer belongs, all other pay and allowances (travelling or otherwise) being defrayed by the country employing the officer; (c.) Efforts should be made to assimilate the rates of pay attaching to equivalent grades of General Staff appointments. In cases (a) and (b), if any special addition to the rates of pay attaching to the several grades of General Staff appointments is thought requisite to meet local conditions, it should be made by local rates and allowances payable by the country to which the officer belongs. 9. That the views advanced in Part 111. of the paper prepared by the Chief of the General Staff on the subject of the interchange of General Staff Officers should be adopted, but it is recognised that, for some time to come, interchange to the extent ultimately contemplated must be limited, as regards each Dominion, by the number of properly qualified officers available. 10. That the system of intercommunication between the various sections of the Imperial General Staff proposed in Part 111. of the paper prepared by the Chief of the General Staff should be adopted, and that the organization and duties of a Local Headquarters of the Imperial General Staff should follow, as closely as local conditions admit, those in force at Imperial Army Headquarters, as indicated in Appendix E, Table V., of the same paper. 11. As a means of providing a military education for persons who desire to become officers of the Local Forces, either those on a permanent or those on a militia basis, the establishment of local military colleges on the general lines of the Royal Military College, Kingston, Canada, which also provides a general and technical education useful in civil life, presents many advantages. Such colleges might also, as in the case of Kingston, provide for the higher military education of officers already in the forces. The establishment of Officers' Training Corps, or other organizations having for their object the provision of additional officers required in the event of war, deserves serious attention. 12. In the opinion of the Sub-Conference the recommendations submitted above, while enabling the Dominions to take their, share in the defence of the Empire, will also conduce to their territorial security and to the fighting efficiency of their forces for Home Defence. W. G. NICHOLSON, The War Office, C.G.S., lOth August, 1909. Chairman.