117
for
as the use
of
the
Troops
is concerned there is little demand on the Colony for
their support.
13.
Their intended transfer to
Kowloon (Secretary of State's despatch
18th July 1853) is to a certain
extent proof of their not being urgently
required in Hongkong.
14.
Of these remarks regarding the
Troops security to the inland but
as an internal protection from
an external enemy danger, we have
the principal source laid down by Lord Stanley at the foundation of the Colony (November 1843)
that this is dependent mainly
on assistance
from Naval superiority, while the Committee on Colonial Military defences have said that "so far
as assistance from the mother country is concerned the chief thing which most of our
Colonies must look to for defence
against Foreign enemies is a Navy..
15.
Moreover Hongkong being the
only British territory
and the presence
of a
the Court of China,
a Naval Squadron
here being a permanent and not a
temporary necessity the Military
force as is the
case with
half of whom are at
this moment engaged on foreign soil, it
follows
that
Hongkong must be the base of the strength