No
157.
Hongkong.
sir,
wo
1570
462 453
Goverment House,
th
Hongkong, March, 1903,
7
APR O
I have the honour to acknowledge the re-
ceipt of your Despatch No. 19 of the 22nd. January last, eiz-
closing a copy of a War Office letter on the subject of the
proposal to remove the Magazine from Stonecutters' Island and
to erect a Convict Establishment there.
2.
In reply I have the honour to refer you
to my Despatch No. 473 of the 24th. October last and to the
Committee's Report transmitted therewith, and to inform you
that I can see no good reason for giving up the project for
the erection of the Gaol extension on Stonecutters. In my
opinion there is no doubt that Stonecutters' Island would be
the best place in the Colony for such an establishment, and
would also be the cheapest. I see no force in the argument
that the small body of European and Indian Warders who would
have to be permanently stationed there would prejudice
Military interests in the Island, and I fail to see how such
a result can be anticipated. At present the Superintendent of the Gunpowder Depot and its Police Guard are stationed there, and I am not aware of any Military objections to their presence.
Nor can I see that it would be necessary to increase the
Military Guards on the Island. If trespassing on the precincts
HE RIGHT HONOURABLE
JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN, M.P.,
of
800 - -
&c..