1
N°
83
C.O
18094
REG19 APR 15
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
HONGKONG, 10th. March, 1915.
27375
Sir,
I have the honour to submit for your considera-
-tion the enclosed copy of a letter from the Reverend C. Bone, Head
of the Wesleyan Mission in Hongkong and President of the Committee which manages an Institution, known as the Soldiers and Sailors Home, inaugurated by the Mission for the benefit of members of His 'Majesty's Military and Naval Services, praying for the remission of the Crown Rent for the land on which the Institution stands during
the continuance of the war.
2.
A site on Crow Land was granted for this Institution in accordance with proposals made in Sir Willian Robinson's Despatch No. 243 of the 23rd. of November, 1897. One feature of those proposals was the abnormally high Crown Rent of 8400 per annum which represents a rate of $3,893 per acre.
At the time the land was applied for the
premium for it was assessed at $11,187.50 (at $2.50 per square
foot) and the Crown Rent at 878 per annum (at 760 per acre). The
Mission, however, being unable to raise so large a sun to cover the premium agreed to pay the comparatively low premium of $4,000 and to saddle the property with the large Crown Rent mentioned
above.
3.
Owing to the depletion of the squadron employed
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
LEWIS HARCOURT, M.P.,
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&.c..
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on