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of public utility.
The Cabinet were also reminded of a recent
telegram in which it was stated that a Minister of the
Nationalist Government had laid some emphasis on the
importance of re-conditioning the railways.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer having consented
in deference to the views of his colleagues, to resign the
Treasury claims,
The Cabinet approved the proposals of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, who undertook to do his utmost to try and secure the expenditure of as much of
the funds as possible on railway construction, etc.,
and to obtain the allocation of some part of it to Hong
Kong University, though he could not hold out much
hope of securing a large sum for this purpose.
Sir Austen Chamberlain asked the President of the
Board of Trade to let him have a short Memorandum
regarding the sort of works he contemplated. While the proposal of the Secretary of State for the
Colonies was understood to apply only to the
accumulated funds, Sir Austen Chamberlain hoped that
the expenditure on constructive work might perhaps be applied both to the accumulated funds and to the
annual amounts surrendered.