119/Abroad/745 (F.1.)
to be
6th December, 1927.
Sir,
With reference to your letter of September 7th,
No. 30212/27, transmitting a copy of despatches from the
Government of Hong Kong, I am commanded by the Army Council
to inform you that they accept the view that the scheme for
removing the Military Establishments postponed in 1925 on
account of the circumstances of the Colony, should now be
abandoned, owing to the difficulty of obtaining suitable
sites for reprovision and because it is now considered that
the defence needs of Hong Kong require the continuance of the
Military Barracks in their present positions.
In these circumstances the Council agree that
the special Reprovision Account is no longer necessary and
that it should be closed. The disposal of the credit to
the War Department of the $235,217.00 will be dealt with in
a separate communication.
As regards the £114,317.18.9. which is entered
to the credit of the Colonial Government representing the
overpayment of military contributions referred to above, I
am to ask you to recall the history of this sum. It owed
its origin to the fact that during the years of the war,
1917-18 and 1918-19, the payments of the Colony, which were
made on the basis of 20% of the revenue at a time when the
revenue (expressed in sterling) had experienced a sharp rise,
exceeded appreciably the cost of the garrison, which was
simultaneously low. The overpayments were brought to notice
in War Office letter 10/2982 of 2nd March, 1920, to the
Colonial Office, and at the same time attention was invited
to the letter from the Governor of Hong Kong, dated 4th May,
1917, in which it was stated that it was the intention of
the Members of the Legislative Council to place any surplus
The Under Secretary of State,
Colonial Offiče,
S.W.1.
revenue