CONFIDENTIAL.
174
Correspondence relating to the Military Contribu- tion payable by Hong Kong, and War Department Lands at that Station.*
Arising out of Section 4 of the Report of the Committee on Colonial Contributions,
CONTRIBUTION AND LANDS.
No. 1.
War Office to Treasury.
Sir,
C. O.
10629
REC Ge8825 MAY 91
40248
35
War Office,
6th August 1888 With reference to the letter from this department of 4th instant, No. 40248
on the subject of the future garrison of Singapore, I am now directed by the Secretary of State for War to enclose, for the information of the Lords Com- missioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, a copy of the Report of the Committee on Colonial Contributions, on the garrison of Hong Kong.
The case for an increase to the garrison of Hong Kong is a very strong The defences cover a large extent of ground, and the armaments, it is hoped, will be in position within a few months.
one,
Both the Colonial Defence Committee, and the Garrisons Committee, strongly urge that its great distance from England renders it imperatively necessary to increase the garrison of Hong Kong, even if, in a temporary emergency, reinforcements could be obtained from India,
The present and proposed garrison of Hong Kong is as follows :--
40
Royal Artillery
Royal Engineers
Infantry
Gun Lascars
Submarine Miners
Total
Present.
Proposed.
211
258
140
176
896*
2,026
177
440
Nil
53
1,424
2,953
* This number will be increased to 1,189 on the removal of the present battalion to Singapore.
Exclusive of Staff and details, and of a local force of 200 Volunteers, and 150 Militia Engineers, provided by the Colony.
The military authorities, following the recommendation of the Coloniał Defence Committee, urge that the battalion of Infantry should be raised to war strength, and that another battalion of similar strength should be added to the garrison.
The Defence Committee propose, as an alternative, that a special corps should be recruited in the Punjab for service at Hong Kong, but the Indian Government would almost certainly object to our recruiting in the Punjab for such a service, and unless some other source of supply can be adopted, it will be necessary to fall back on a British battalion, if the garrison is to be increased. The proposed addition to the garrison will raise the expenditure
*The question of Lands at Hong Kong is so mixed up with the question of the Contribution, that the correspondence on both subjects has been printed together.
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