Government and the War Office is limited to Colonial Crown property which has neither been granted nor leased by the Crown to private persons, but a perpetual user of which for purposes of defence has been accorded by the Colonial Government to the War Department.
The official correspondence, covering many years, which preceded Colonel Lewis's Memorandum and the subsequent Agreement between the Colonial Government and the War Office is strictly confined to "Colonial Crown Lands" devoted to military use for defence purposes. For example, the document transmitted to the Colonial Government in Lord Knutsford's Circular Despatch of the 9th June, 1890, refers to the disposal, whenever occasion may arise, of 'Colonial Military Crown Lands' no longer required for defence purposes.
At the time that Circular Despatch was written, "Spring Gardens" was not, as it never has been, within the category of "Colonial Military Crown Lands" but was 'Imperial' leasehold land which upwards of 33 years previously had been purchased by the Imperial Government from a private owner. The 5th clause of the Memorandum referred to in that Despatch clearly shows that the Memorandum then transmitted refers only to "lands other than such as may have been purchased and...
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