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[This Document is the Property of Her Britannic Majesty's Government.}
Printed for the use of the Colonial Office. September 11, 1900.
No. 230 M.
C.O. Nos. 15488, Secret, and 25905.
HONG KONG.
State of Defences.
85
Memorandum by the Colonial Defence Committee.
THE Colonial Office have referred to the Colonial Defence Committee letters from the Secretary to the Navy League in the United Kingdom forwarding extracts from letters from the Hong Kong branch of the League, dated the 31st March and 5th July, 1900.
2. The Committee attribute much value to these extracts on the assumption that they represent the matured views of the non-official inhabitants of an important Colony which has great interests, Imperial as well as local, to defend. The patriotic spirit which has prompted a large proportion of the inhabitants to come forward to contribute as volunteers to this defence should, in the opinion of the Committee, ensure due consideration being given to their views.
3. The extracts referred to deal in the main with three subjects, viz. :—
(1.) The inadequacy of the present approved garrison.
(2.) The ineffectiveness of the armament now mounted.
(3.) The necessity for a considerable extension of the fixed defences of the Colony.
4. As regards the garrison required for the normal defence the Committee would point out that the statement in the first letter from the Hong Kong branch of the League represents the number of artillery and engineer units at the station at some- what below the number actually there. The statement is correct as regards the number of infantry units. Some addition to this arm of the permanent garrison is, in the opinion of the Committee, necessary on account of recent developments in the Far East. They understand that the addition of another Indian battalion to the approved garrison for Hong Kong is under the consideration of the War Office.
In the meantime, as the Navy League are aware, the special requirements of the present crisis have been met by sending to the station troops of the Indian establishment.
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5. The Committee are unable to accept the view expressed in the second letter from the Hong Kong branch that the Imperial garrison of that Colony should be able to supply a flying column of men to any part of China where our interests might be threatened, or where serious troubles might occur requiring our interven- tion." They consider that the number of troops permanently maintained at Imperial fortresses and coaling stations abroad should be confined to the number required to secure the safety of these places against those forms of attack to which they are liable, and that for operations outside Her Majesty's dominions, if Imperial troops are required, they must be drawn from some part of the Empire where large forces have
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