Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [‎1r] (1/544)

O
s S C R B T
G.T.-5905.
Memorandum by Lord Cnrzoa.
(Prepared in aceordanoe with '"-'ar Cabinet 363,Minute 20)
THE EASTERN COMMITTEE
RAR CABINET
• • » •
The “'ar Cabinet on Iferch 11th accepted the suggestion of
the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (G.T.3834) that the , ;
wort of the three Committees now dealing with the questions of
the Middle Sast and contiguous regions, should be co-ordinated ,
and ^hat a single Committee to be called THE EAST3:-U COMMITTEE,
should be formed under the Chairmanship of a far Cabinet Minister,
to discuss and ta‘:e action upon all these matters, subject to the
final authority of the 1 st Cabinet*
The Prime Minister asked me to draft the outline of such a
scheme*
As to the composition of the Committee, it appears to me
that the full Members, following the lines of other T/ar Cabinet
Committees, should be the following:-
The Chairman,
The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, or his Deputy,
The Secretary of State for India,
The Chief of the Imperial General Staff,
A War Cabinet Secretary.
Each of the Members, other than the Chairman and Secretary,
would be at liberty to bring tfith him, or to send in his absence,
a departmental representative.. Without these tho Committee
would not possess the requisite information.- Other Ministers
or Departments (e.g.. Admiralty,Shipping) might require, from time
to time, to be represented..
Inasmuch as the greater part of tho work of the Committee
is performed in the Foreign Office, the War Cabinet Secretary will
not be able to work effectively unless he is brought into intimate
relations with that Office, and as the different branches of the
Committee*8 work are dealt with in different departments of the
Foreign Office, it seems desirable that the Secretary should be
in dose touch with the Foreign Office Officials who have hitherto
been performing the work, i.e.
For Persia, Mr. Oliphant,
For Middle East, Sir M. Sykes,
who should act with him as liaison officials, and should attend the
Meetings when their subject is under discussion.
I have not suggested any Foreign Office Official connected with
the present Russia Committee (which is to be absorbed in the new
Eastern Committee) because I understand that there is not likely to^
be any present need for such. I am informed that the Russia
Committee has hitherto dealt, for the most part, with technical
matters, connected with Murmansk, Archangel, and Vladivostock, and