45

A.—4a

This disparity in numbers will be less apparent among officers of the junior ranks in proportion to the number of officers who are selected to go through the Camberley and Quetta Staff Colleges—though the fact must be borne in mind that at both of these Colleges the accommodation is limited —but in the senior ranks it would appear that, with some exceptions, the system of interchange must, for some considerable time, give place to a system of loan. It might even be possible to shorten this time, in fact, to bridge over this period, as regards senior officers, by sending to the Over-sea Dominions selected officers from home for a limited period to help officers in General Staff methods when the local sections of the Imperial General Staff are first formed. Until, however, some progress has been made in applying the same system of General Staff organization throughout the Empire, so that it can be reasonably assured that General Staff duties will be performed on the same principles, —subject to such modifications in detail as local conditions may dictate —a regular interchange of officers of senior rank seems hardly practicable. (2.) The second point is one of considerable difficulty. If the " Comparative statement of rates of pay, Home, India, and the Colonies " {see Appendix B) be studied, the bearing of the financial aspect on the subject will be at once apparent. In India, for example, the rates of pay and allowances are largely in excess of those allotted to similar appointments at home, the reason being that in order to induce officers to serve in that country there needed to be not only pecuniary advantages, but also compensation for the higher cost of living and for climatic disadvantages. The rates of pay in the Over-sea Dominions have been framed, no doubt, in accordance with local conditions and requirements. It may be difficult to assimilate the rates of pay for General Staff appointments throughout the Empire, but at an informal conference held by the Chief of the General Staff in London on 80th April, 1907, at which, however, the only representative from the Over-sea Dominions was Sir Frederick Borden, it was agreed that, " As regards the pay of officers exchanged, it was desirable that for the same grades of appointment there should be a universal scale of pay, any difference to meet local conditions being made up by local rates and, allowances." In Major-General Hoad's memorandum it is recommended that, in Australia, there should be three grades of General Staff Officers, paid as in England. The Chief of the General Staff made the following comment on this proposal: " Similarity of grading would facilitate matters, but a universal rate of pay would not work with local conditions"; and Sir W. Nicholson drew attention to the guiding principle that " Officers sent to serve far from their homes must be adequately paid." Thus, while we must be prepared to assess the value of appointments and fix a rate based upon responsibility and local conditions, we must not neglect to appraise at their true value the additional allowances which should be apportioned to those appointments when it is desired to fill them by officers from abroad. This question of allowances applies equally to an officer going out from home to an Over-sea Dominion, and to-'an officer from an Over-sea Dominion coming to England. It cannot be expected that an officer whose qualifications lead him to hope that home appointments at 800£. per annum are open to him will willingly serve abroad at a smaller, or even equal, emolument, taking into consideration the necessary initial outlay and the unfamiliar conditions of living. There must, in fact, be some inducement to offer, or the services of officers of the right type may not be found available when needed. (3.) In regard to the third point, it is submitted for the consideration of the Conference that the issue of a temporary commission to the officers concerned will meet the case. For example, an officer of the Australian Military Forces on duty in England would receive a temporary commission in the Home Regular Forces; similarly an officer belonging to the latter would, while on duty in the Commonwealth, receive a temporary commission in the Australian Forces.