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estimates to amount to 134,215 square feet, and to be worth 402,645 dollars (at three dollars per foot), which he considers to be a low estimate.
It therefore appears to Mr. Secretary Stanhope that an arrangement might be come to on the basis that the Colonial Government should defray the cost of the Praya in front of North Barracks, Commissariat Buildings, Wellington Barracks, and Arsenal, estimated to cost 320,000 dollars, and should recoup themselves by retaining possession of the reclamation in front of North Barracks, estimated to be worth 402,645 dollars, while the War Department would retain the reclamation in front of Commissariat Buildings, Wellington Barracks, and the Arsenal to deal with as may be found desirable.
Such an arrangement would be more favourable to the colony than the one proposed by the Colonial Government, and though the Secretary of State for War acknowledges that the War Department would gain considerably in land, it would not gain in money, unless the Commissariat Buildings were parted with, in which case the reclamation in front of them, less the strip 15 feet wide required by the Colonial Government for a road, could be sold, the estimated value being £14,882 dollars according to the statement of the Surveyor-General.
As the result of the formation of the Praya with its reclamations will almost certainly be an increase of sickness in the garrison for a time, the Secretary of State for War would gladly learn that the scheme was abandoned altogether; but in spite of this, Mr. Secretary Stanhope is prepared to consent, with Treasury sanction, to an arrangement on the basis mentioned, as he is aware of the great importance the Colonial Government attach to the scheme.
The Secretary of State for War is also aware of the technical difficulties as to the sale of property in Hong Kong; but he has not found that those difficulties have prevented the War Department acquiring property in the open market, though very high prices were paid.
Mr. Secretary Stanhope confidently trusts that the Governor will afford such assistance as may be necessary to enable the War Department to part with North Barracks, and also any other property which it may be decided to sell, realizing the full market value of the properties disposed of.
Mr. Stanhope is the more assured that the required assistance will be afforded because the sales will tend to mitigate the congestion of population so much complained of, by throwing land into the market for building purposes, and at the same time half the amount obtained for any property parted with will practically go into the pocket of the colony by reducing the amount it would otherwise have to contribute towards the cost of the new barracks.
With regard to the plan for the new Praya, Mr. Secretary Stanhope notices that the piers at Wellington Barracks and Arsenal are destroyed and not re-provided; and it appears from paragraph 18 of Sir W. des Voeux's despatch, dated the 15th January last, that many details have yet to be settled.
The settlement of such details, the re-provision of the piers as may be necessary, and the satisfaction of indispensable requirements in connection with the submarine mining service and the arsenal water transport, would form an essential part of the proposed arrangement. The cost of the Praya would probably be increased in consequence, but there would be a considerable margin to meet this increased cost in the difference, 82,465 dollars, between the present estimated cost, 320,000 dollars, and the estimated value, 402,465 dollars, of the reclamation in front of North Barracks.
Another matter which the Secretary of State for War must stipulate for as an essential part of the proposed arrangement is, that the whole of the land reclaimed in front of North Barracks, the Naval Yard, Commissariat Buildings, Lots 20 and 21, Wellington Barracks and Arsenal, should be included in the area on which the erection of buildings for Chinese should be prohibited.
It is, in the opinion of Mr. Secretary Stanhope, much to be regretted that buildings for Chinese were ever allowed to be erected in that part of the town; the result of which has been that within the last few years the War Department has had to expend over £36,000 in acquiring sundry blocks of Chinese dwellings within the limits of the cantonment, which constituted a serious sanitary danger.
The Secretary of State for War feels bound to take every means to prevent the erection of Chinese dwellings in the future within those limits.
I am to observe that the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have asked the Secretary of State for War to inform them in regard to the particulars of any property which the War Department may propose to part with in case that the Admiralty may desire to purchase any of it, in view of increasing the naval establishments at Hong Kong and to observe that, as the Admiralty will have to pay the market price for any such property purchased, the future satisfaction of the possible requirements of that department need not, it is considered, affect any arrangement which may be arrived at between the War Department and the colony with regard to the Praya.
With respect to your enquiry whether the Secretary of State for War would be prepared to accept the offer of the Colonial Government to purchase a certain portion of North Barracks at 3 dollars per foot, I am to observe that, in paragraph 6 of Sir W. des Voeux's despatch, before alluded to, 3 dollars per foot is stated to be a very low computation of the value of the land to be reclaimed in front of the naval yard, and that Mr. Stanhope has reason to believe that the portion of North Barracks alluded to is worth much more.
I am to add that a valuation of the property proposed to be disposed of is now being made, and, on its receipt, a further communication will be addressed to you on the subject.
I have, &c.,
RALPH THOMPSON,
The Under Secretary of State,
Colonial Office, S.W.
Sir,
Colonial Office to War Office.
Colonial Office, Downing Street,
4th March, 1890.
8
1246
I am directed by Lord Knutsford to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 30th of November last, on the subject of the provision of additional barrack accommodation at Hong Kong, and of your letter of the 9th of December, on the subject of the extension of the Praya wall in front of the military cantonments.
2. The two subjects are so closely connected that they must, to some extent, be considered together, and Lord Knutsford, before making any communication to the colony in regard to the proposals contained in your last-mentioned letter, will be glad to have further information on both subjects. His Lordship has not seen the War Office letter to the Treasury of the 9th January 1889, referred to in yours of 30th November, and some correspondence appears to have taken place with the Treasury and Admiralty affecting the colony, but this office is not acquainted with its purport. It would, however, seem possible that the scheme for extending the Praya, which was not before Her Majesty's Government on the 9th of January 1889, may have superseded the proposals made by the War Office on that date.
3. With reference to the first part of your letter of 9th December, I am to point out that any outlay by the Colonial Government which increases the comfort or convenience of Her Majesty's troops is a distinct and valuable contribution to the defences of the colony, and that the addition of a large quantity of reclaimed land amounting, it is believed, to 10 acres or thereabouts, to the military cantonments is an immediate and not a mere speculative benefit. The price which it would fetch in the market, if put up for sale, is the best test of its value, and the value of the land seems to supply a correct measure of the benefit received by the military authorities, and furnishes the reason why the War Department is asked to contribute to its acquisition.
4. Mr. Stanhope, however, declines to make any contribution, and proposes instead, an arrangement on the basis that the Colonial Government should defray the cost of the Praya in front of North Barracks, Commissariat Buildings, Wellington Barracks and Arsenal, estimated to cost 320,000 dollars, and should recoup themselves by retaining possession of the reclamation in front of North Barracks, estimated to be worth 402,645 dollars, while the War Department would retain the reclamation in front of Commissariat Buildings, Wellington Barracks, and the Arsenal, to deal with as may be found desirable.
5. Lord Knutsford concludes that the last eight words are not meant to include a claim to sell the land and apply the proceeds in aid of army funds, for it seems only reasonable that if any part of the reclaimed land is not required for military occupation, it should remain the property of the Colonial Government, which at its sole cost will have brought it into existence. Subject to this observation, his Lordship is disposed to recommend the proposed arrangement to the Colonial Government, but on the understanding that if the North Barracks are sold to the Colonial Government, or to any private person, the right of the colony will be preserved to any land which it may reclaim in front of the present water frontage of the North Barracks, and that the sale will be made expressly subject to that right, whatever may be its effect upon the purchase price.
6. Lord Knutsford is not aware of any proposals for selling military property, except that the colony have offered to buy the North Barracks at 3 dollars a square foot, an offer which the letter under acknowledgment leaves in abeyance. It should, however, not be overlooked that the legal estate in the land is vested in the Queen, but as Her Majesty has given to the Governor power to dispose of it, in common
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