'Mesopotamia Commission. Report of the Commission Appointed by Act of Parliament to Enquire into the Operations of War in Mesopotamia, together with a Special Report by Commander J Wedgwood, DSO, MP, and Appendices. London: HMSO, 1917.' [‎104r] (207/248)

5
Draft Rule 1, head (G) (ii.) and (iii.) : we are about to refer to you a
question as to your intentions in respect of mobilisation stores and the control
of remounts. Sub-rule (iii.) has been drafted with object of avoiding any
further amendment of rules on receipt of your decision.
Draft Rule 2 : the word “ ordinary ” has been omitted in order to enable
the Commander-in-Chief to take charge of Army Department.
Draft Rule 3 reproduces the existing rule, merely adding a reference to the
new draft Rules 3a and 6a.
Draft Rule 3a provides for submission of cases by the heads of the
divisions of the Army Department direct with the Member, and not through
the Secretary. This is a necessary consequence of amalgamation of Army
Headquarters with the Army Department.
Draft Rule 6a : this rule maintains the constitutional responsibility of the
Commander-in-Chief to the Governor-General in Council by securing that the
Secretary in the Army Department shall have full knowledge of the business of
the Department at every stage from initiation to completion. He will then be
in a position to keep the Governor-General fully informed regarding every
detail of military administration over which the Government of India exercises
ultimate control. All important questions arising in that Department will
come before either the Mobilisation Committee or the Advisory Committee, or
both. The Secretary will attend meetings of the former Committee, and will
himself be a member of the latter, and will, therefore, be fully cognizant of all
matters dealt with by them. As regards other questions which are not
important enough to come before one or other of these committees, but which
nevertheless require orders of the Government of India, those orders must,
under Rule 10, be signed by him, and it will be his duty to see that they
conform with the rules of practice and traditions of army administration in its
relations to Government. He will also receive a daily list of the papers and
cases submitted to the Commander-in-Chief by heads of divisions. Finally, a
further security will be afforded by the schedule referred to in head o of your
telegram of 14th July last. That schedule is an exhaustive enumeration of all
cases which might have to be submitted to the Governor-General. I consider
it sufficient to provide that the cases described in the schedule shall be referred
to the Secretary, who will be responsible for submitting to the Governor-
General those cases which he considers it desirable for his Excellency
to see. Finally, the daily list of papers and cases submitted direct to the
Commander-in-Chief will enable the Secretary to comply with requirements
of Rule 5 (2).
Although under my proposals the position of Secretary in the Army
Department will differ somewhat from that of secretaries in other depart
ments, I regard this as unavoidable, and, in view of many safeguards
provided for him, I consider his position as unassailable, and in no way
inferior to theirs.
The object of draft Rule 6a, (v.) (6), is : to enable Secretary to place his
views before the Commander-in-Chief, and thus, in the event of those views
being accepted by him, to obviate necessity of a reference to Governor-
General.
Draft Rule 11, (2) (b), is accepted by the Financial Department as
sufficient for their requirements.
The procedure explained above will apply only to the Army Department,
and not to the Department of Military Supply. The Member in charge of
that Department will be in exactly the same position as any other member of
the Governor-General’s Council, and, as at present advised, I think all cases
should be submitted to him by the Secretary.
Arundel, Ibbetson, Richards, and Hewett dissent from these proposals,
since th^y object to intended amalgamation of Army Headquarters Staff with