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(4.) By the reclamation from the sea of an area containing 52,264 square feet, which will be added to the yard, and which will afford most valuable sites for new naval workshops or other buildings that may be required later; these 52,264 square feet of land, at a very low computation of 3 dollars a square foot, representing no less a value than 156,792 dollars.
7. As, according to the new design, the Praya roadway will not be interposed between the naval premises and the harbour, but will pass over arches, which will afford the freest access from the yard to the water's edge, and as, furthermore, the roadway in question will be screened by a wall so as to preclude any possibility of the yard being overlooked, it will be seen that the great improvements proposed, which will add so greatly to the importance and efficiency of the naval establishment, will now be obtained at no sacrifice whatever on the part of the Admiralty, and that consequently there is no longer any basis for the plea, which was previously urged, that my Lords Commissioners should not be called on to contribute towards a project likely to destroy the privacy of the yard or cut off its access to the sea.
8. It should further be mentioned that the rapid silting of the foreshore is likely, in the absence of the proposed embankment, to compel before long the expenditure of a large sum in either taking the naval yard down to the sea, or bringing the sea up to the naval yard, so that the saving of this cost is another substantial benefit to accrue to the Admiralty from the project in question, and under the circumstances, I venture to think, no more need be said to show how unjust it would be that no contribution to the heavy expense of this work should be made on the part of a department which so largely gains by it.
9. The amount of contribution ought, I consider, to be at least the value of the reclaimed land which will be added to the naval yard, i.e., 156,792 dollars, and even then the Admiralty would obtain for nothing the other very great advantages mentioned.
10. But strong as is the claim of this colony for a contribution on the part of the Admiralty, the case is very much stronger as regards the War Department. Your Lordship is perhaps aware that with the sanction of the Secretary of State for War, the local military authorities have it in contemplation to re-arrange and re-construct the greater portion of the barracks and other buildings in the cantonments, with better regard to efficiency and economy of space, and to sell in the open market all such lands as they may no longer require under such new re-arrangement, the object being to raise by means of these land sales the funds necessary to meet the cost of the proposed new barracks. The actual possessions of the War Department comprise about 104 acres, and it is intended to dispose of about one-half of this area, either by auction or by direct negotiation with private purchasers, and the sale of these surplus lands, calculated at the lowest rates now ruling here for leasehold estate, will bring in about one million dollars. But in addition to their present holdings, the military authorities claim the right to retain any sea reclamations in front of the cantonments that may be made under the present embankment project, and they look to these reclamations to add very largely in area and value not only to the ground which they intend to retain for future buildings, but also to that which they intend to sell.
11. The military authorities are right in attaching great importance to the embankment project, for it will add no less than 453,701 square feet of new land to their present holdings, which, if it was sold, would realise at the present market rates at least 1,325,856 dollars.
12. Looking at the enormous gain which will thus accrue to military interests from the project in question, not only in increased space for future barrack extensions, but in actual money, any contribution on the part of the War Office to its cost would, in my opinion, be most unfair to the colony, if it were less than the actual expense of the embankment and reclamation in front of military premises. Nor can I apprehend that the War Office authorities will object to make this very reasonable concession when it is discovered how very largely they will gain by the undertaking.
13. For I am unable to conceive on what grounds any arrangement could be morally justified, by which it were sought to secure to the War Department possession of these immensely valuable sea reclamations at the sole expense of the colony. There is not a marine lot-holder in Hong Kong who, were he in the position of the War Department in this matter, would not eagerly come forward and offer to carry out the entire project at his own charges, even though the cost were far greater than that given in the enclosed estimate, in exchange for the privilege of retaining the areas reclaimed, and in support of the estimates of prospective benefits here given, I may state that they are based not on fancy or on mere opinions, but on actual business offers made in this colony for marine properties of even less value. There is, therefore, no room for doubt that the War Office will obtain in return for an outlay of 320,000 dollars (the estimated cost of its share of the work), land which, if sold, would readily realise 1,325,856 dollars, thereby gaining a net profit of 1,005,856 dollars.
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14. For that section alone of the North Barracks site, which is shown tinted scarlet on the small fly-leaf attached to the accompanying general plan, the Colonial Government would be prepared to pay the War Office at the rate of 3 dollars a square foot, or a total sum of 263,700 dollars. This proposition must, however, form the subject of a separate despatch to your Lordship.
15. Lieut-General Cameron, who from the first has perceived the great advantage that will result to military interests from the embankment scheme, has represented to his department the justice of a substantial War Office contribution towards the cost of the works; and I am confident that the facts now before your Lordship, which will, no doubt, be duly communicated to the Secretary of State for War, will have such weight with Her Majesty's Government as to relieve the colony from any money payment whatever for the embanking of the military lands; indeed, I feel sure that a very bitter feeling would be aroused in the colony if the military as well as the naval departments should appear to take advantage of our extreme necessities, for obtaining better terms than the extremely favourable arrangement here proposed.
16. In connection with the question of proprietary rights over foreshores, I must not omit to call your Lordship's attention to the case of the proposed reclamation in front of Marine Lot 22 (Commissariat buildings), which stands on a different footing from the reclamations in front of the rest of the military properties in the cantonments. The latter are original reservations made in the earliest days of the colony, and vested in the old Board of Ordnance, which might be held to possess rights of ownership over foreshores, whereas Marine Lot 22 was bought by the military authorities from a private individual, who could convey to them no right of ownership outside his own boundaries. The claims of the Colonial Government to the foreshore in front of the Commissariat must therefore be borne in mind in any discussion that may arise in respect of proprietary rights, though I apprehend your Lordship will waive those claims, and give the War Department the reclamation in question, valued at 114,882 dollars, provided that department should accede to the terms above proposed, viz., payment of the whole cost of its share of the reclamation.
17. To prevent misconception hereafter, it should be mentioned that the precise cost of the works cannot be specified until after all details of design shall have been settled locally with the Royal Engineer Department, and until a tender for the execution of the work shall have been accepted. But the preliminary estimates now put forward are reported by the Surveyor-General as being sufficiently approximate to form the basis of any negotiations with Imperial departments. Briefly recapitulated, the cost of these works will amount to 691,000 dollars, of which I propose the Admiralty should pay at least 156,792 dollars, that the War Department should pay 320,000 dollars, if it desires to retain the lands reclaimed, that Mr. Sharp should pay 21,000 dollars, and that the Colonial Government should defray the balance, i.e., 193,208 dollars.
18. I have not deemed it necessary to touch in this despatch on the many minor provisions that have been stipulated for in local correspondence, both by the naval and military authorities, with regard to buildings, piers, fences, walls, roadways, gates, &c., in connection with the scheme. Suffice it to say that I have met all these requirements, and no pains will be spared to make the plan acceptable in all its details both to the naval and military authorities. A strenuous effort, however, will yet have to be made to obtain from the naval authorities some reduction of the great height of "headway" which they demand under the bridge over the entrance to the naval yard basin, as this height, if adhered to, will involve unduly steep gradients in the new Praya roadway.
19. In conclusion, I would remind your Lordship that the Colonial Government has been now 10 years endeavouring to effect the realization of this most important undertaking; that in these 10 years of fruitless effort and disappointment, and of almost interminable correspondence with the Imperial Departments, the population of the western town has had time almost to double itself, and to become congested to a dangerous degree; and that, in consequence of a situation so full of grave anxiety, it is of vital importance that the War Office as well as the Admiralty should be moved to an early decision. For even if, through your Lordship's efforts in that behalf, a satisfactory result should be arrived at, and I should then be enabled to cause this much needed work to be commenced during 1889, we can scarcely expect to have the embankment finished before 1893; and only then will it be practicable to establish the tramway communication with the eastern suburbs, so urgently required to lead the population in that direction, and to thus afford a remedy for the evils of overcrowding, which at present threaten the health of the civil community, the garrison, and the naval establishment alike.
I have, &c.,
The Right Hon.
The Secretary of State for the Colonies.
G. W. DES VŒUX, Governor.
*The actual terms in this case to depend to a certain extent on your Lordship's decision as to what is to be required from marine lot-holder under Mr. Chater's scheme, which is the subject of my despatch, No. 284, of the 7th of August 1888, and I am of opinion that a considerable premium should be paid in addition in respect of this reclamation.