April 12, 1902.1
CHINÁ OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
Government Honso. ability to meet the expenditure involved and
Hongkong, 9th January, 1902. hoped that the Secretary of State would be satisfied on that head and approve of the pro- SIR-I have the honour to inform yon that, posals. A report of the proceedi gs in Legis- for some time past. this Government has Lad lative Council and report by the Director of under its consideration a new scheme in con- Public Works, also papers on the financial sideènection with the proposed new Post Office, and of the question, were enclosed.
as the scheme has now been fully matured, I bave to submit it for your consi leration.
On 22nd July, 1899, the Secretary of State, in reply to the Governor's despatch No. 78 of 2. The proposal which has hitherto been kept 8th March, 1898 pposed of the preparation of in view, but in connection with which no plans locally for the new Post Office and other action has been taken, is that the new Post the site of the offices, but asked for further information as to Office should be built on
The new proposal, the financial ability of the Colony to meet the present Law Courts.
which appears to me to have many advan- expenditure involved in view of the effect on the revenue from Land Sales of the decision totages over the old, is to erect the Post Office on the reclams1ion in front of the Offices limit the term of Crown leas28.
of Messrs. Jardine, Matheson and Company. This will necessitate the purcha e of an expen- sive site, but, on the other hand, thè Govern- meut will have as an asset tie valuable site upon which the present Post Office and Land tourts now stand,
The Governor reported to the Secretary of State as regards the financial question that he did not think the revenue from laud sales would be seriously affected,
3. Before lying before you the details of the new scheme, I will recapitulate the somewhat intricate history of the reports and negotiations which bave led to its adoption, and in order to elucidate my remarks, I at ach a small plan of the City on which are indicated all the various s les which have been selected or considered suitable for the new Post Office, and which are now abandoned in favour of that which I have mentioned
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(marked "D" on plan) which has recen ly bean put forward.
15. The advantages possessed by this site are great, and it will be obserV- undoubtedly ed that its distance from the present Post Office is so inconsiderable that it may be disregarded. They are as follows:----
(1.) It is on the Harbour Front. (2.) It is adjacent to the principal landing place of the City-Blake Pier.
(3.) It is on the route of the propos dtramways. (4) It is surrounded on three sides by main streets all of which are 75 feet in width. 5) It possesses the further advantages that no interference will be caused with the working of the Office, which on or tinu, to occupy the prase it building nu il the new on has been completed. 16. The only disadvantages it possesses are that the land must be purchased from its present owner and that the cost of the foundations will be greater on this site than on the present one.
17. With regard to these disadvantages, I have ascertained from Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co. that Sir Robert Jardine is prepared to sell the are, which comprises 25,414 square feet, at $20 per square foot, or at a total cost of $503.28).
18. As the site of the existing Post Office, Cour.s, &c., would be rendered available for sale by the transfer to site "D," the Colony would be recouped for this outlay.
On the discussion of the plans of the new Supreme Court, Mr. May suggested putting the G. P. O. on the ground floor and Supreme Court above, thereby releasing the valuable site of the present G.P.O., but the Director of Public Works advanced objections, and the Governor decided not to re-open the matter.
On 23rd November, the Director of Public Works submitted a proposal that the Govern- ment should exchange the site of the present G. P. O., eld., with Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co., for a site occupied by their offices in front of the present building at the corner of 4. The matter was first dealt with by the 19. After providing for the construction of a Des Voeux Road and Pedder's Street, and the Committee appointed by Sir William Robinson public street in order to degelop the land, for Government welcomed the suggestion as provid-in 1894, which recommended in its report, dated the purpose of which, a certain area of private ing a solution of this troublesome matter, bnt November, 1896, that the Post Office should be property must be acquired, there will remain an the negotiations fell through, and it remained, erected on a site on the Reclamation. From area of 38,942 square feet for sale, the value therefore, to face the question of re-erecting the the Appendix to the report, specifying the of which is estimated at $629,328. From this conditions of competition subject to which it must be deducted the cost of resuming the area G. P. O. on its present site, which involved the necessity of finding temporary accommodation. was proposed to invite designs from Architects, just mentioned, which is estimated at $80,000, The Executive Council advised the erec- it will be seen that the s'te, which I have mark-leaving the net return from the sale of the land tion of a three-storied building on the presented" A on the accompanyi g plan, was the one $549,323. site of the G. P. O. and Law (ou tз to relected. accommodate a new G. P. O., Treasury, Local Anditor's Office, Registrar-General's Off 6, Education Department, and Sanitary Board Office, and that competitive designs be invited locally. Thereupon the Director of Public Works formulated particulars and conditions and suggested raising the estimate to $175,000. The matter, however, remained in abeyance owing to the impossibility of finding temporary accommodation and until the new Supreme Court came to be completed.
20. With regard to the extra cost of the 5. Subsequently Messrs. Aston Wobb and foundations, this may be taken at about 860,0 10, Ingress Bell, who were appointed Architects | as an offset against which there is the avoidance
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of the cost of temporary buildings and of the for the New Law Courts, selected site the most suitable for the Courts and recom- dislocation of the work which must inevitably mended that the Post Office should be erected result from attempting to utilise the existing site. on site "B"
6. This recommendation was referred by His Excellency the Governor to the Public Works Committee, which decided that the existing site, marked "C" on plan, was more central and and would suitable for purpose than site B afford the desired accommodation if the area at presen! occupied by the Courts were added to it. 7. The Committee's proposal, though good in many respects, is open to serious objections, the principal being that excessive delay and inconvenience would be caused in the carrying out of the work.
In September, 191, the matter took a fresh start when the Colonial Secretary (Mr. Stewart Lockhart) proposed the reclama. tion in front of Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co., on the Praya, as a site. The Director of Public Works was all in favour of this site as being the most convenient possible, near present
8. To explain this, I must emphasise the fact building, as still central, and near the principal landing place. The new proposal came before that the new Post Office was to embrace the Executive Council on 17th October, 1901, and sites of the present Post Office and Supreme it advised submitting the matter to the Secre| Court, and that, at the present tine, practically tary of State. This course was followed on 9th half the ground floor of the Supreme Court is January, 1902, in a despatch No. 9, which re-occupied by the Post Office. viewed the intricate history of the question, aud first came up in 1894, and explained the many advantages of the proposed Praya site over all others, which advantages were held to fully compensat, the Government for the additional cost involved. A telegraphic reply was asked for as Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co. were only willing to allow the Government the refusal of the offer of the land for two months. It was suggested that Sir H. A. Blake be consulted.
On this date [15th February, 1902] the Secretary of State telegraphed approval, and on the 22nd February, the Officer Administering the Government proposed to take over the land forthwith and to invite competitive designs locally as the staff of the Public Works De- partment was not sufficient to undertake the work and as delay ought to be avoided.
The Secretary of State replied that this might be done.
The Government by letter formally accepted Messrs. Jardine, Matheson's & Co.'s offer,
Steps are now being taken to settle definitely the exact amount of accommodation_required by the various offices to be housed in the building to be erected, and: the Director, of Public Works is preparing the necessary notices inviting competitive designs,
4th April, 1902.
M. J. D.
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9. It will, therefore, be seen that before con- struction of a new Post Office can be began on the existing site, both the Courts and the Post Office must be removed.
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21. It will, therefore, be seen that the ad- vantages of adopting the new site are very great and may be regarded as fully compensating for the additional cost which would be involved in carrying out the proposal.
22. In submitting the above scheme for your consideration, I have the honour to request that you will inform me of your decision in the matter as soon as possible by telegraph, as Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co. have intimated in the letter, of which I enclose a copy, that they will allow the Government to bave the refusal of their offer for only two months and that they desire to be informed as promptly as possible of its acceptance or decline.
23. As Sir Henry Blake is fully sequinted with the details of the scheme, I have the honour to suggest that you should apply to him for any information or explanation you require during his absence in England-I have, &c.,
W. J. GASCOIGNE, Major Gener 1,
Administering the Government. 10. The removal of the former to the build-Right Hon. JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN, M.P., &o.
A " will not take ing to be erected upon site plac before 1905 at the earliest, nor will its removal render possible the commoncement of the new Post Office for the reason m ntioned in paragraph 8.
il. It follows, therefore, that, in order to admit of the new Post Office being begun with- in a reasonable period of time, both the Courts and Post Office (including the Treasury) must be removed to temporary premises. The idea of procuring suitable accommodation otherwise thaa by erecting temporary buildings must be dismissed, because investigations have shown that no suitable buildings are available.
The flower of the Indian Army is to bɔ represented at the coming Coronation, says the Englishman. The contingent that is to be sent bome is to number no less than 1,000 of all ranes, and is to be drawn from the finest
There regime uts in the country, care being taken to select types of all the martial races. can be no doubt that the magnificent force that is to be drawn together will considerably astonish the good people in Europe, and it is no doubt meant to serve as an object lesson to those who believe that all the Imperial army, is in South Africa. The Indian Volunteer contingent which is to be sent home is regiz- tered to 100, and the men are to be drawn from each corps according to its strength, Thus the Calcutta Port Defence will send two, the Calcutta Light Horse one and the East Indian Railway Volunteers five.-In the fac of all this, it would be interesting to know what Hongkong is really going to do, and when it intends doing it. The Volunteer con- 14. Having thus dealt with the sites hitherto | tingent seems to be as far off formation as recommended, I will now turn to the one
12. Patting aside the inconvenience and ex- pense which would be caused by the erection of temporary buildings, there is the serious risk attached to such a proposal of a fire occurring which might involve irreparable loss.
13. The only other important objection to the proposal is that all mails arrive or are despatched by steamer and consequently the disadvantages of a Post Office which does not front on the Harbour are very great.
ever.