SA
37
bc.
NOTE.
Enclosure 4
in No. 4.
Yes
I take it that the objects of the present
negotiations are,
(a) to ascertain as nearly as possible in
what way the position of the plots in question differs
from that of normal Colonial Military Land;
(b) in the light of this, to devise the most
equitable adjustment which will enable them to be
converted into Colonial Military Land.
The following points are not disputed by
either authority: -
(1) that the War Department has at various
dates, either by direct payment to the lessees originally
concerned, or by refunding to the Colonial Government the
payments made on behalf of the Department, paid in cash
for its acquisition of the leasehold interest in the
plots.
(2) that the waiver of the Crown Rent was
normally and deliberately made by the Colonial Government.
(1) appears to have been conceded by the
Colonial Government, although one of the references to
these payments, in the W.D. letter of the 17th September,
1929, appears to indicate that they represent only the
cost of resuming the land in question, and are analagous
to charges which would under present arrangements be met
by the W.D. If that is the case, they cannot be regarded
as conferring the rights of disposal claimed by the War
Office, and the admission of this right represents a
considerable concession on the part of the Colonial
Government.
The point is rea
cally, that this Exact nature of these recinbursements is no longer ascertainable.
Again,