(Acting Colonial Secretary to Chairman, Jubilee Committee.)
473
No. 979.
SIR,
COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE,
HONGKONG, 31st May, 1900.
I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 25th instant, stating that the Executive Committee of the Jubilee Committee had, at a meeting held on the 18th instant, considered the conditions upon which the Military Authorities are prepared to withdraw their objections to the construction of the road from Kennedy Town round Mount Davis to Aberdeen, being the first section of a carriage road round the Island of Hongkong in commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of Her Majesty's Accession to the throne, and saw no reason why such conditions should not be complied with.
You further state on behalf of the Committee that it is desirable that steps should be taken at once for the commencement of the work of construction and that, if the Public Works Department are not in a position to undertake the work, the matter should be referred back to the Committee with a view to the employ- ment of a local firm of Engineers for the purpose.
In reply, I am to inform you that the Director of Public Works has no officer he can spare for the work, and that the Government accepts the suggestion that the Committee should itself make arrangements for the construction of the road on the distinct understanding that the plans, specifications, and tender for the road must be first approved by the Director of Public Works and that the work of construction is placed under the general supervision of that officer.
I have further to state that the Government concurs in the suggestion contained in the last paragraph of your letter under reply.
I am to add that the Director of Public Works is of opinion that a rough trace of the road with no steeper gradient than 1 in 20 (made with a road tracer) should be opened in the first instance to prove if the proposed road is practicable. If the trace is approved by the Director of Public Works the proper survey and section for the road could then be made, and I am to cuquire whether the Committee are prepared to adopt the Director of Public Works' suggestion.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
The Honourable
C. P. CHATER, C.M.G.,
Chairman, Jubilee Committee.
F. H. MAY, Acting Colonial Secretary.
(Chairman, Jubilee Committee, to Acting Colonial Secretary.)
HONGKONG, 13th June, 1900.
SIR,
In reply to your letter of 31st May, I have the honour to inform you that the Jubilee Committee are prepared to adopt the suggestions of the Director of