their Lr wish, further engring shall be made of the
forr but the same
~ for of
our hitte shows that there
are marims grounds on which the Colony might susist the
Lurral
Claim & repay £9000 has spurt o
Years
ад
without constellation with them, & in the mean
-time the demand on the £40000 will be delaysi
counter
and the (dony may raise the claims which soned canan
&
fasten delay, & Großibly may allege that they ought: Receive Inbstantial confinsertion for the benefits giver by the eramunks &. I.M. forces, beyond the abandomuto of a claim for £ Don which on the
fan fit is
Disputabl
84.31/12/89
Draft XW5.0. & Jumoury dras Ind
al 903/1140
六
In the reply to this Letter the following
Number should be quoted.
16519
89
0.0.
209
23526
TREASURY CHAMBERS,
گرم
RESE 6 DEC 9,
December 1889,
Jes
19261
Frees 16014 Prait
sir,
I am directed by the Lords Commissioners of Her
Majesty's Treasury to acquaint you, for the information of
1
the Secretary of State, that They have considered Mr
Bramston's letter of the 17th October on the Military
Contribution to be paid by the Colony of Hong Kong
The Secretary of State demurs to My Lords' proposal
that the Contribution of £40,000 a year should be fixed
for two years.
He refers to the letter from this Board
on the subject of Singapore, in which My Lords named three
or four years as the period which the two Secretaries of
State and the Chancellor of the Exchequer had fixed in
conference, and in fulfilment of this agreement Lord Knuts-
-ford proposes to fix the said contribution for five years.
The Secretary of State therefore departs from the Agree-
mant as much in one direction, as MyLords departed from it
in the other direction. It must however be recollected
at, at the time when the letter of 10th August respecting
Singapore was written, the Chancellor of the Exchequer had not agreed with the Secretary of State to ask Her Majesty's
Advisers to refer the question of these Contributions to a
Cabinet Committee. It is obvious that the opinion of such
an a Committee, if accepted by the Cabinet would supersede the Agreement made by the three Ministers above named, and it would be desirable that duration should only be given to
that,
The Under Secretary of State,
Colonial Office,
that
i
BC: