no disagreement. This view was, however, not upheld by
the Secretary of State. The Hongkong Government declined
to accept any independent surveyor on the ground that he
would not be familiar with local conditions; it stated
that the War Office could, if they wished, send one out,
but that the Government would not bind itself to accept
his award and would not in any case pay a penny towards
his expenses.
As regards reprovisioning, the Governor
insisted that under the Circulars of 9th June,1890 and
30th December, 1894, the Colony's liability was limited
to the total value of the establishments surrendered, and
that any additional cost over and above this value should
be defrayed by the Military Authorities from the Military
Contributions paid by the Colony (20% of revenue less
certain items). The Secretary of State upheld this view,
which was supported by the G.0.C., but the War Office
declined to accept it, on the ground that the transfer
was not being made for military reasons. The Governor
stated, however, that the point was hardly likely to
arise, as the value of the property to be surrendered
by the military appeared to be much more than sufficient
to meet the cost of present reprovisioning. What the
Colony would not accept was an indefinite responsibility
for new undertakings such as aerial transport and the
housing of a second British battalion.
This, the War
Office stated, had never been contemplated.
In view of the fact that the local valuation
was made in 1920, the Governor in June 1923 offered an
addition of 10% to that valuation, but the War Office
declined to accept the offer and decided to send out Sir John
Oakley at their own expense to make an independent valuation.
The Colonial Government gave him every assistance in his
enquiries,