Copy.
41
EXTRACT from a letter from Mr Amery to the Right
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Honourable Sir L. Worthington Evans.
Dated 29th October, 1928.
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You asked whether there were not a danger
that Hong Kong would also ask for a reduction.
As
you will see from our official letter of the 12th of
October, Hong Kong have put forward proposals for
altering the basis of the contribution so as to yield
approximately the same sum, and the Governor has
already had some discussion with your advisers. I
think the terms offered by clementi are decidedly
advantageous to the War Office particularly as they
involve dropping a claim for a refund of £114,000
which would be decidedly embarrassing to you at
present and that if you make a prompt bargain with
Hong Kong you will make it very awkward for them to
base anything on what you may concede to Straits.
from this the cases can I think be sufficiently
differentiated.
Apart
Although it is true that Hong Kong
used to urge (with some degree of reason) that its
garrison was maintained largely for imperial purposes,
the present position in China has made them decidedly
anxious, and the Governor, as you know, is in favour of
increasing the permanent garrison, whereas apart from
the gift of land to the Admiralty and Air Ministry
nobody in the Straits has shown any marked enthusiasm
in favour of the Base! So, taking it all round, I
don't