Sir,
Colonial Office to War Office.
Colonial Office, Downing Street,
6th May 1889.
Hong Kong 8 and previous
1183
Hong Kong Referring to your letter of the 14th November last,
1207. correspondence respecting the extension of the Praya wall at Hong Kong, in front of the Royal Naval Yard and the military buildings, I am directed by Lord Knutsford to request that you will lay before the Secretary of State for War the accompanying copy of a despatch from the Governor at Hong Kong, with enclosures, on the subject. The plans referred to have been transmitted to the Admiralty, and will be furnished to you as soon as they are returned.
Mr. Stanhope will remember, that in the arrangement proposed to him in the letter from this department, of the 16th January 1888, a smaller reclamation was contemplated, for the purpose of carrying the Praya roadway in front of the naval and military premises, and the Colonial Government was to provide a new naval yard at Kowloon, to take over a portion of the military land, and to contribute the cost of military buildings in another locality.
It now appears that there are very serious difficulties which render the construction of a naval yard at Kowloon practically impossible, and the present scheme has been prepared with a view of effecting the junction of the East and West Praya, without necessitating the removal of the present naval yard or any of the War Department buildings, to which, at the same time, increased accommodation will be added.
It appears indeed that, so far from any injury being done, the adoption of the present scheme would result in a very great advantage to both the naval and the military departments, and that in the case of the latter, a very large quantity of valuable land will be added to the present holdings.
It is estimated that the value of the land to be reclaimed in front of the War Office property will be at least 1,325,000 dollars, while the cost of that portion of the proposed works which is opposite to the military cantonments, and which will secure this reclamation, is estimated at only 320,000 dollars. In these circumstances, the Governor proposes that the War Department should undertake to bear the initial cost of its portion of the scheme. Lord Knutsford has nothing to add to the arguments by which Sir George des Voeux supports his proposal, and his Lordship hopes that Mr. Stanhope will accept an arrangement which appears to be so advantageous to the War Department.
Lord Knutsford understands that a rearrangement of the military buildings is in contemplation, in connection with the provision of accommodation for the increased garrison, and he would be glad to learn whether, in event of the War Department being desirous of disposing of the portion of the North Barracks site alluded to by the Governor in paragraph 14 of his despatch, the price of 3 dollars a square foot therein offered would be accepted.
In paragraph 10 of Sir George des Voeux's despatch, he states that the military authorities have in contemplation to sell a portion of their property in the open market, and I am to express Lord Knutsford's doubt whether this can be legally done without the consent and assistance of the Governor. When, by the Treaty of Nankin, Hong Kong was ceded by China to Great Britain, the soil of the island vested in the Crown, and it seems to his Lordship that neither the civil nor the military authorities would have power to dispose of any portion of the original Crown lands in the island, without an express authority from the Crown. Such authority is delegated to the Governor by the Letters Patent constituting his office, but while successive Governors have granted leases to persons desirous of occupying land in the island, such leases containing a power to resume the land on certain conditions, it is believed that no freehold titles have been granted to any person. Large tracts of land were in the earliest days of the colony given up to the military authorities for military purposes, and these are vested in the Secretary of State for War, under the Ordinance 6 of 1860, but this arrangement would appear to give no more than a right to the possession, and not a right to alienate these lands. If this be so, any attempt to sell in the open market must, it would seem, fail from the inability of the military authorities to make a title. Lord Knutsford does not advance these questions with any desire of impeding the alienation of military properties, but at the same time he thinks it may be better to mention the view which is held in this department, in respect to the military reserves in the colonies.
The Under Secretary of State,
War Office.
I am, &c.,
JOHN BRAMSTON.
My Lord,
(Enclosed with letter from Colonial Office of 6th May 1889.)
Sir G. W. des Vœux to Lord Knutsford.
Government House, Hong Kong,
15th January 1889. Referring to previous correspondence on the subject, I have the honour to transmit to your Lordship the enclosed report of the Surveyor-General on a proposal for the junction of the East and West Prayas, by the construction of a sea wall and roadway of the same character in front of the Royal Naval Yard and military cantonments, together with a general plan and estimate of the cost of the work.
2. The design, in its present shape, differs materially from the plans previously submitted, the serious shoaling of the foreshore during recent years having rendered it necessary to move out the line of embankment into deeper water. But this alteration, though it will increase the cost of the work, will afford more than full compensation by the much larger area which will be made available for reclamation, and as the new design is still more favourable to naval and military interests than any previous one, there has been no difficulty in securing for it the approval of the Vice-Admiral, Sir N. Salmon, and Lieut-General Cameron, both of whom have, I understand, communicated with their respective departments at home in support of the project.
3. Having, therefore, no reason to apprehend that either the Admiralty or the War Office will require further modifications of the plan, and presuming that your Lordship should accede approval to it, the only question which remains to be settled is the important one of contribution towards the cost of the work on the part of the Imperial Government.
4. Before entering upon the subject of the Admiralty portion of the proposed work, I should mention that the scheme, lately contemplated, of removing the naval yard to Kowloon, and obtaining for the colony the land now occupied by it has, on further consideration, appeared to be a very undesirable one for the colony. Land is becoming of such value in Kowloon, that the sum likely to be obtained for the present site of the naval yard would not be sufficiently in excess of the sum which could be realized for the very much larger area required for the new site, to prevent an exceedingly heavy loss to the colony on the re-erection of the buildings.
5. On this ground alone the project did not appear to me to be worthy of further consideration on the part of this Government. There are, however, other objections to it---
(1.) Owing to the rapid growth of population in Kowloon, I apprehend that there would soon arise there the very same condition which has caused so much trouble in Victoria, viz., that created by the cutting of the town into two parts, and the obstruction to free communication between them.
(2.) I am disposed to think that, with the naval yard at Kowloon, there would almost certainly be required some addition to our defence works, involving more expense to the colony, not only in the cost of construction, but in the loss of the large area required for the necessary fort, and to give free range to its guns.
6. Under these circumstances the scheme now proposed has appeared to me very far preferable as regards the colony, and owing to its ready acceptance by the local authorities representing the Admiralty, I imagine it to be also not less desirable in the interests of the Navy; for it will be at once seen from a glance at the plan that the latter gain very largely by it in the following particulars :-
(1.) By the conversion of the foul and noxious Admiralty foreshore (at present so silted as to be inaccessible during low tide) into a large inland basin, accessible at all times, and affording protection to the naval lighters and boats, now left exposed in the open during the typhoon season.
(2.) By the formation, beyond the Praya wall face in comparatively deep water, of two Admiralty quays, to be reserved for the exclusive use of Her Majesty's vessels.
(3.) By the projection of a timber pier from one of the new quays into still deeper water for the accommodation of the naval "shear-legs," and for the use of vessels of deeper draught; and lastly,
No. 11. 15th January 1889,
(247)
* No. 11. 7th January 1889.