No: 88/0
Sir,
Enclosure No: 5
181 577
Government House,
Hong Kong,
24th September 1900.
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of
Your Excellency's letter of the 13th instant, and to
inform you that I consider your action in referring to the
Land Court in order to determine the owners of land at
Devil's Peak to whom payments should be paid in connection
with the defences to be erected there, as prudent.
2.
With regard paras: 3 and 4 of your letter, I have
to inform Your Excellency that as advised by the Attorney
General I do not read paragraph 11 of the Secretary of
State's Circular of the 30th December, 1894, as an instruction to the Governor to expend any sum from the General
Revenue in the purchase of lands from private owners for
military purposes, beyond the amount that under the
arrangement there proposed may be shown in the Treasury
books as a debt against the Colonial Government.
Such a financial responsibility would place the revenues of this
Colony at the disposal of the Military Authorities and
would involve an undetermined increase of the 17% on gross
revenue payable to the Imperial Government for military
purposes.
I have &c.
(Sgd:) Henry A. Blake,
Governor &c.
His Excellency,
The General Officer Commanding.