117

A.-2

25. The direction of Army manoeuvres or staff rides of an important character, for which funds are specially provided by the War Office, will, if the Chief of the Imperial General Staff is not present, devolve upon the Inspector-General, unless the manoeuvre or staff ride is being conducted outside the limits of the Mediterranean command by a General Officer Commanding-in-Chief senior to the Inspector-General in military rank. 26. In addition to the duties enumerated above, the inspection of oversea coast defences garrisoned by regular troops and of the local forces in the Crown colonies and protectorates will be included in the functions of the Inspector-General, subject in the case of these local forces to the concurrence of the Colonial Office. 27. In the event of the Government of a self-governing dominion or colony desiring that its forces should be inspected, the Army Council, in concert with the Colonial Office, will make the necessary arrangements for their inspection by the Inspector-General of the Oversea Forces, the method of conducting such inspections having lately been discussed with and approved by the Governments of the dominions. 28. The Inspector-General of the Oversea Forces will submit an annual report to the Army Council by the 1st November in each year. 29. Official communications in writing between the Army Council and the Inspector-General will be signed by, or addressed to, the Secretary of the War Office, and will not emanate from, or be addressed to, individual members of that Council, with whom, however, and especially with the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, the Inspector-General should keep in close touch. 30. The Inspector-General of the Oversea Forces will be a member of the Selection Board, attending the meetings of the Board when present in England. The War Office, 17th July, 1911.

No. 106. New Zealand, No. 344. My Lord, — Downing Street, 5th October, 1911. With reference to my telegram of the 3rd instant, I have the honour to transmit to you, for the information of your Ministers, the accompanying copies of the London Gazette containing a Proclamation by His Majesty the King, dated the 3rd instant, of neutrality in the war between Italy and Turkey, and a letter of the same date from the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs communicating the rules to be observed in connection therewith. I have, &c, L. HARCOURT. Governor the Right Hon. Lord Islington, K.C.M.G., D.S.O., &c.

Enclosure. By the King.—A Proclamation.—George, R.I. Whereas We are happily at Peace with nil Sovereigns, Powers and States : And whereas a state of war unhappily exists between His Majesty the King of Italy and His Imperial Majesty the Sultan of Turkey, and between their respective subjects and others inhabiting within their countries, territories, or dominions : And whereas We are on terms of friendship and amicable intercourse with each of these Powers, and with their several subjects and others inhabiting within their countries, territories, or dominions : And whereas great numbers of our loyal subjects reside and carry on commerce, and possess property and establishments, and enjoy various rights and privileges within the dominions of each of the aforesaid Powers, protected by the faith of treaties between Us and each of the aforesaid Powers : And whereas We, being desirous of preserving to our subjects the blessings of peace, which they now happily enjoy; are firmly purposed and determined to maintain a strict and impartial neutrality in the state of war unhappily existing between the aforesaid Powers : We, therefore, have thought fit, by and with the advice of our Privy Council, to issue this our Royal Proclamation : And We do hereby strictly charge and command all our loving subjects to govern themselves accordingly, and to observe a strict neutrality in and during the aforesaid war, and to abstain from violating or contravening either the laws and statutes of the realm in this behalf, or the law of nations in relation thereto, as the}? will answer to the contrary at their peril: And whereas in and by a certain statute made and passed in a session of Parliament holden in the 33rd and 34th year of the reign of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria, intituled " An Act to regulate the conduct of Her Majesty's Subjects during the Existence of Hostilities between .Foreign States with which Her Majesty is at Peace," it is, among other things, declared and enacted as follows :■ — " This Act shall extend to all the dominions of Her Majesty, including the adjacent territorial waters.