The Book of the Month. 



357 



awe, sometipies with malice not untinged with con- 

 tempt. It had its origin many years ago in the 

 mind of Ixjrd Salisbury, when, in a well-remem- 

 bered phrasf, he suggested to his fellow-countrymen 

 that they should study large maps before discussing 

 questions of Ini[>erial strategy. Much later in life 

 he crystallisfd this notion and drew together repre- 

 sentatives of thi- .Admiralty and the War Office in a 

 small fommiii.i-. under the presidency of the late 

 Dnke of D.-MiMshire, for the purpo.se of studying 

 large ma])s and .strategical questions. There were 

 no regular n^vtings, and no records were kept of 

 its deliberations or decisions. Its exi.stence was 

 .shadott-y, but it ixjntained the germs of the present 

 • ommittee of Imperial Defence. 



ITS DEVELOPMENT. 



'■ After the War Office Reconstitution Committee 

 had finally rf|x)rted to Mr. Balfour, that Minister 

 immediately g.iw effect to one of its most vital re- 

 commendations, and a permanent secretariat was 

 instituted for the Committee of Imperial Defence. 

 1 1 was the first step in the evolution of that body. 

 -Mr. Balfour's object was to establish a permanent 

 advisory committee on defence questions, and, by 

 giving it a .sM,retariat, to ensure that its delibera- 

 tions and decisions should be carefully preserved, 

 and a continuity of jjr.ictice maintained. The theory 

 enunciated by .Mr. Balfour — and his theory coin- 

 cifled with liis jirnctice — was that the ("onimittcc 

 shonld i>nl\ nwt when summoned liv the Prime 

 Minist.T, ivho was its only [)ermanent niemlx^r. He 

 summoned the Committee when he chose, and he 

 summoned to it whomsoever be pleased. This theorv 

 is still in \ogue, and has l)een endor.sed on several 

 occasions by th<- jtresent Prime Minister. In point 

 of fact, Mr. Hal four him.self destroyed his own con 

 ception of the Committee when he appointed to 

 serve upon it two permanent members who were 

 habitually summoned to atlen<I its meetings. 



THE INSTITUTION OF SUB-COMMITTEES. 



• The late Prime Minister initiated a plan of ap- 

 IKfiniiiig .subcommittees to inquire into and refxirt 

 upon strategii- .md t«'clinical questions, with aiithoritv 

 to call witlle^^.•^ and to t.ike shorthand notes of e\ i 

 dence. Thi> ehailged al once the .status of the Coin 

 mittee, and widened immediately its .scofx; of opera- 

 tive labours. I'he di.scu.vsions of the full ("ommiiteo 

 were preluded by what may k- called .scientific 

 inquiry. Mr. Asqiiith went ' a stej) further. He 

 noted, after ;i very short experienn-, ih.at in jire- 

 paration for war every Department o( .Siale w.is 

 ' oiie<'riied. 



He proeeded, lhercf<ire, to .summon the heads 

 . representatives of many of the public depart 

 ments to attend the.sc sub committees, and more re 

 cently he established a .Standing .Sub-Committee. U, 

 l)e presided over alternately by the I'irst Lord ol 

 the Admiralty and the .Secretary of State for War, 

 and composrd of rcpn ■icntatives of the Admiraliv 



and War Office, the Foreign Office, the Board of 

 Trade, the Customs, and. indeed, all the great de- 

 partments, for the i)urpose of co-ordinating in war 

 the naval, military, and civil forces of the State. 

 This Standing Sub-Committee was instructed to 

 constantly review- and revise its own recommenda- 

 tions. 



THE SCOPE OF THE WORK DONE. 



" I am permitted, in order to give you some idea 

 of the subjects with which this Committee deals 

 beyond the scope of the more obvious naval and 

 military problems, to mention that its inquiries have 

 ranged over such matters as .lerial navigation, the 

 strategical asi)ects of the Forth and Clyde Canal, 

 oversea transport of reinforcements in time of war,- 

 the treatment of aliens in time of war. press cen.sor- 

 ship in war, postal censorship in war, trading with 

 the enemy, wireless stations throughout the Empire, 

 local transportation and distribution of food sup- 

 plies in time of war, etc., etc. 



•| This is my final jxiint. 1 mean that the co- 

 ordination of the material forces of the country for 

 war is not the sole concern of the Admiralty and 

 the War Office, but includes in its active sphere 

 almost every branch of civil administration : and, 

 ■further, that the conditions under which all the 

 forces of the Empire can \^e coordinated are con- 

 stantly changing. 



It follows that, whether for i)urix)ses of war- 

 prej)aration in time of jx'ace, or whether for the 

 piirjwse of taking those initial steps in war which 

 decide its theatre and objectives, the sujjreme co- 

 ordinating authority can only hie the Prime Minister 

 and his Cabinet, who are resjionsible to Parlia- 

 ment." 



Viscount Esher concludes hds survey of the 

 de\elo|)ment of the Committee with the following 

 aspiration: — "That we may live to see the great 

 Dominions .sending annually their rejiresentatives in 

 sit ujxin the Committee of Imperi.d Defence, and 

 that thus a long step may be taken towards that 

 federation of the l-lmjiire which has Ix-en the ilre.ini 

 of patriots here and oversea." 



CALLING THE DOMINIONS TO OUR rOUNCILS. 



Those who i<-ad Viscount Rsher's Ixwik, and thev 

 siioiild include e\'ery thinking man and woman who 

 has the interest of this country at heart, will lurn 

 with •.•spe<-ial interest to those pages which deal with 

 the admission of the Dominions to a share in the 

 work of the Committee. I'or this is constructive 

 work, the framework ii|K)n which the ftiluie of th<- 

 Empire will ix^ Iniilt. It is interesting here to recall 

 that Mr. De.ikin suggested to the iin|><-rial Confer- 

 ence of 1907 that ihi- rights of the Dominions in 

 reganl to the Committee should be extended. The 

 upshot was the following n-solution, known as No. 

 J of IQ07 : — 



" Thai the Coloiii.--i Ih; authoriseil to lefer to 

 the r'ommitte*- <.f Imjierial Di'feiice, through the 



