8. In view of the fact that it is the duty of the Colony, to the extent that its means will admit, to provide lands and buildings for its garrison; it would be useless, even if it were practicable, to determine the extent of the interest which the Colony, and the Imperial Government respectively, possess in those properties. Practically these properties are of no tangible value to the Colony until it obtains full possession of them, and when it obtains possession of them, the amount they would fetch in the market is the true measure of the value they possess for the Colony. They are of no value in a money point of view to the Imperial Government, except in so far as their valuation on surrender may prevent extra charges falling on the Exchequer, when they have to be exchanged for more appropriate sites.
13. The Officer Administering the Government states that by fortuitous circumstance the War Department has been "allotted a vast area of land in the very heart of the best quarter of this city, thereby causing immense loss of revenue and much inconvenience to the Colony, and their endeavour should be to remedy, where and whenever possible, this abnormal state of things, instead of endeavouring to gain still greater advantages." When the barracks held by the War Department in Victoria were built, their site was not in the heart of the best quarter of that city, but they have gradually been enveloped by the city, the great growth of which is due to the security and prosperity enjoyed by the Colony under Colonial protection.
14. The proposal to vacate the barracks, &c., in Victoria, and to remove the troops to other barracks to be provided by the Colony, was one conceived entirely in the interests of the Colony, and from which it would have derived enormous advantage. The scheme offers no corresponding advantages to the Imperial Government, but it was willing to agree to it, provided it could be carried out without prejudice to naval and military interests, and without additional charge to Imperial revenues.
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137
6. There appears to be no inseparable difficulty in assessing the respective shares of the Colony and of the military authorities in a property in which they are jointly interested. The fee simple value is doubtless calculated upon so many years' purchase of an estimated rental, and it should be possible for the departments to agree as to the number of years' rental to be assigned as the equivalent of the occupation rights of the War Office; or, failing agreement, to submit the question to the decision of some independent authority (e.g., the Lord Chancellor). But, unless the principle of the assessment is determined, Lord Knutsford sees no prospect of a settlement of these questions of military lands, not only in Hong Kong, but in other Colonies where such lands may be surrendered.
JOHN BRAMSTON.
Enclosure in No. 12.
(Draft.)
Colonial Office to Sir W. Robinson, K.C.M.G., Hong Kong.
Downing Street,
December, 1891.
Sir,
I am now in correspondence with the War Office as to the basis on which surrendered lands should be assessed, and whether the amount should be calculated on the fee simple value of the land, or only on the value of the occupation right possessed by the military authorities.
436
RALPH THOMPSON.
No. 13.
Hong Kong
8
1285
No. 11.
Enclosure in No. 9.
Sir,
No. 12.
Colonial Office to War Office.
Downing Street,
4th December, 1891.
I am directed by Lord Knutsford to acknowledge the receipt of your letter* of the 5th of September last, Hong Kong 8 on the subject of the disposal of Colonial lands and buildings in occupation of the military at Hong Kong.
2. Lord Knutsford considers that it would be better if the question of assessing the value of surrendered properties were kept separate from that of the liability of the Colony to provide all military lands and buildings.
3. The circular of 9th June, 1890, embodied the deliberate decision of Her Majesty's Government, and has been transmitted to the Colonies in that sense; and his Lordship assumes that it is not proposed to depart from the terms of that circular. He is, of course, quite willing that the full value of what the War Office surrenders should be assessed as accurately as circumstances permit, and the amount provided by the Colony; but where the military authorities surrender only a right of occupation, the value of the fee simple which belongs to the Colony cannot properly be included in the assessment.
* No. 11,
† Enclosure in No. 9.
Sir,
Colonial Office to War Office.
Downing Street,
11th January, 1892. I am directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, to transmit to you, for the information of Mr. Secretary Stanhope, with reference to the letter from this department of the 12th of October, 1889, a copy of the despatch on the subject of the disposal of buildings belonging to the War Department in Mauritius.
ROBERT G. W. HERBERT,
My Lord,
Enclosure in No. 13.
Sir C. Lees to Lord Knutsford.
Government House, Mauritius,
8th December, 1891. With reference to your Lordship's despatch, No. 273, of the 6th of October last, I have the honour to transmit herewith a copy of the Report by the Finance Committee, which was read and adopted at a meeting of the Council of Government, held on the 1st instant, from which it will be seen that the Council have concurred in the sale of the old Military Hospital, Port Louis, to Mr. Pougnet, and in the appropriation of the proceeds of the sale to the construction of barracks at Curepipe, as suggested in your Lordship's despatch,* No. 196, of the 18th of June, 1889.
2. A copy of my minute, laying all the correspondence that has taken place on this subject before the Council of Government, is enclosed.
C. C. LEES, Governor.
*For draft, see Enclosure in No. 1.
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