24
Admiralty the prompt and efficient services rendered by Major-General GASCOIGNE and the troops under his command and by the Naval Officers entrusted with the transport of the troops.
5. I am in expectation of further despatches from you as to the progress of affairs in the New Territory.
I have the honour to be.
Sir,
Your most obedient, humble Servant,
Governor,
Sir H. A. BLAKE, G.C.M.G,
&c.,
$c.,
No. 105.
SIR.
&c.
J. CHAMBERLAIN.
(Governor to Secretary of State.)
GOVERNMENT House, HONGKONG, 27th April, 1899.
I have the honour to forward for your information and consideration the enclosed copy of a letter* from the Secretary to the Hongkong Chamber of Com- merce expressing the views of the Committee of that Body in relation to the recent armed resistance offered to British occupation of the New Territory.
I am addressing you in a separate despatch on the subject.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient, humble Servant,
The Right Honourable
JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN, M.P.,
&c.,
&c.,
&c.
HENRY A. BLAKE,
Governor, &c.
SIR,
ENCLOSURE No. 1.
(Secretary, Chamber of Commerce to Colonial Secretary, Hongkong.)
HONGKONG GENERAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
HONGKONG, 21st April, 1899.
In view of the disturbances now taking place in the New Territory, which there is good reason to believe have been engineered or assisted from Chinese terri- tory, I am instructed to ask you to be good enough to lay before His Excellency the Governor the following opinions and suggestions of my Committee :-
1. That having regard to the fact that the New Territory is obviously liable to be overrun by banditti who are either not amenable to Chinese authority or whose acts the mandarins find it convenient to ignore or disavow, it is essential to the preservation of good order in the Colony, and to consolidate our position, that the northern boundary shall be clearly defined by natural features and include within it the town of Shum Chun.
2. That recent occurrences have convincingly demonstrated the inutility, if not the actual mischievousness, of mandarin influence, and furnish excellent reasons for the removal of the Chinese officials from Kowloon City, which otherwise will remain a focus of intrigue against the authority of the Hongkong Government.
3. The Committee would further suggest that, as the suppression of these disturbances will entail a heavy outlay, it would not be unreasonable for Her Majesty's Government to demand the extension of the lease of the New Territory for a longer period than 99 years, if not the complete cession thereof. I have the honour to be,
Sir.
Your most obedient Servant,
Hon. J. H. STEWART LOCKHART, C.M.G.,
R. CHATTERTON WILCOX,
Colonial Secretary.
* Enclosure No. 1.
Secretary.