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that its value shall be credited to the Colony in the book
account already alluded to. And if this is so, the provision
by a Colony of lands required for military purposes may arise
under some special agreement or be the result of the general
obligation that rests on every Colony to contribute, accord-
ing to its means, to its own defence. (vide clause 11 of the
despatch).
14. The Colony already contributes 174 % of
its annual revenue less premia from land sales, and a further
sum of $70,000 on account of barrack services and defence
works per annum,
If we assume the annual revenue of the United
Kingdom to be $100,000,000 it will be found that a sum of
about £18,000,000 is voted for military purposes, which repre-
sents almost the same rate of taxation devoted to military
objects in the United Kingdom as is levied in Hong-Kong for
similar ends here.
If to this 17% is added the sum of $70,000
mentioned above, it cannot be doubted, I submit, that this Colony
does, irrespectively of all value of land yielded to the Mili-
tary Authorities for either defensive or military purposes,
contribute, according to its means, towards its own defence, as
judged by comparison with the amount contributed in Great
Britain.
16. If therefore the obligation of a Colony to
provide other lands required within its borders for military
purposes does not, in the case of this Colony, rest on the ge-
neral obligation already otherwise fulfilled, it seems to fol-
low