is to inform the Marquess of
Salisbury that,
as regards the
Leased Territory
at Hongkong,
that territory forms
an integral
part of the Colony, all reference to
it should in Mr Chamberlain's
opinion be omitted
from the
suggested declaration.
3. It should be explained to the
Duke that the leased territory
at Kowloon has been declared to
be an
integral part of the Colony,
that, as far as
possible, the Laws
of the Colony
are already
applied to it: it therefore stands
on a
wholly different footing
from an extension into a
sphere of interest. It is
an extension, conditioned by
a term
of years, of an existing
Colony, which
is not
unforeseen at the present time
as regards Custom duties.
4. Mr Chamberlain also apprehends
that the declaration, at least in
the form in which it stands,
could have no applicability to
the leased territory of Kowloon;
he would therefore suggest that the
declarations should be confined
to spheres of interest