1.
No.493
Hongkong.
C.0.
250
Goverment House,
50400
D
Hongkong, 7th. November, 1902,
sir,
BofT
3350
I have the honour to acknowledge the re-
ceipt of your Despatch No. 273 of the 29th. of August last,
and in accordance with the request contained in the last para-
graph thereof to forward the enclosed statement of receipts
from Shipping Charges and expenditure which may properly be
debited to the Harbour.
losure
detober
1987.
In this statement no account has been taken of
capital expenditure for buildings or other items, such, for
as the Cable laid last year to Waglan Lighthouse at
instance,
a cost of over $9,000.
2.
There is no doubt I think that dredging
for the purpose of increasing the berthing accommodation for
both the Mercantile Marine and for Ships of War must be under-
taken in the near future, but the work would be very costly
entailing according to an estimate of the Harbour Master an
fer annum
expenditure of at least $500,000 (for several years; and till the time arrives for undertaking such dredging it would in
my opinion be unwise to incur the heavy expenditure
in dredging away individual shoals.
3.
involved
But in any case the data on which to base
even a preliminary consideration of any large scheme of dreåg-
THE RIGHT HONOURAKLE
JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN, M.P.,
-ing