161
Enclosure 1.
Bishop Raimondi to Secretary of State for the Colonies.
RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR,
ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSION HOUSE,
HONGKONG, 28th May, 1884.
I have been recommended by His Excellency the Governor, Sir GEORGE BowEN, to address your Lordship in a very important urgent matter which affects very considerably the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith in Rome, to whom pertains the Roman Catholic Mission of Hongkong.
Since the year 1845, the Roman Catholic Mission of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda is in possession of Lot No. 50 in Hongkong. By an Indenture of Crown Lease dated the 14th day of August, 1845, and made between our Sovereign Lady the Queen of the one part and the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith of the other part, Her said Majesty did demise, lease, and to farm let unto the Sacred Congregation all that piece or parcel of ground, and premises known and registered in the Land Office Hongkong as Inland Lot No. 50, to hold the same unto the Sacred Congregation for the term of 75 years subject to the pay- ment of a certain sum to be paid on or before the sealing and delivery of the Inden- ture to the Governor at the time being of Hongkong for the use of the said Majesty, and also subject to an annual rent, &c., and by a further Indenture dated the 30th day of April, 1879, the said term was extended for a further period of 924 years. The sum requested for the price of the ground was paid, the receipt whereof is ack- nowledged in the Crown Lease. The Crown Rent was annually paid consisting of £58 per year for 39 years till now, and a receipt given by the Government. When His Excellency Sir RICHARD MACDONNELL thought to have power to remit a part of the heavy Crown Rent on Lot 50 on behalf of the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith, the Right Honourable the Secretary of State at the time strongly objected and refused to approve of it. All this was certainly to be taken as recognizing the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda as owner of the Lot 50, with all the power to hold and to dispose of the said Lot, and it was in that persuasion only that the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda has on the said piece or parcel of ground at its own expense erected a Cathedral Church, Presbytery and Schools. The said Cathedral Church, Presbytery and School buildings having lately become too small for the needs of the Roman Catholic Mission of Hongkong, and being very inconveniently situated, the neighbourhood having changed to the worse, the Roman Catholic Mission of the said Sacred Congre- gation of the Propaganda have, out of their own moneys, purchased more than three years ago, other lands more favourably situated and have erected new and spacious schools thereon, and have laid the foundation of and are now in course of erecting on another portion of the said land a Cathedral Church more suited to the needs of the Mission. The contracts for carrying on the works have been made and signed, and we calculated to have the necessary funds to do it from the result of the sale which we intended to have of the said Lot 50. In fact, the Lot 50 was sold once at the end of 1881; the sale was carried on and no question about the title was raised. The conditions of sale, however, not having been complied with, the property returned to us. In the beginning of this year we were about to sell it again, or to have a loan by mortgaging the said Lot 50, when on
Page 165Page 166