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War Department, and those for which application has been made to the Colonial Government.
D&B will observe with despatch that the retention of Her Majesty's Troops in that settlement is required for the preservation of internal tranquillity in the Colony, and the defence of the British community residing there, but General Faber does not, under the peculiar circumstances of Hong Kong desire to lay much stress on that fact. He is aware, as Sir E. Lytton observes, that Hong Kong cannot be considered as a colony in the proper sense of the term, and that the Imperial Government may be justly called on to contribute to the expenses of administering and defending it. But he does not think the payment of rent to the colony for the ground which any department of the Imperial Government "may happen to require" is either an usual or a legitimate way of making such contributions.
General Faber desired me further to request that the attention of Sir E. Lytton may be called to a correspondence which took place in 1852 upon a similar question and which resulted in instructions to the Governor from the Colonial Secretary of State in May of that year. If possible to cause the remission of certain ground rent claimed by the local Government in the case of premises purchased by this Department from...
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