34
(8)
(1)
in use by the Hong Kong Government in which
the Admiralty and War Office were interested,
but this is the only mention of such
interest we can trace. We have had no
reference of any kind from Hong Kong to the
Admiralty and War office claims referred to
in your letter of the 12th July and we have
likewise not received any proposal such
as you mention that the Secretary of State
should convene a meeting of interested
Departments, so that a lump sum payment
for small craft might be arrived at.
The Governor has however asked for our
assistance in negotiating with you and,
in doing so, has said that the grounds for
pressing for the payment to be scaled down
to a figure which accords with actual value
are as stated in his despatch No.19 of the
30th January 1948, to which he would add
that it is proving increasingly difficult
to obtain spares for many of the craft
and that the cost of maintenance of those which
are being retained in service is a heavy
drain.
6.
Before we can go much further it seems
to me that we must find out the views of the
Hong Kong Government about the Admiralty
and War Office claims and, in order that we
may be in a position to do this, it has
occurred to me that it might be useful and
saving of further time if an officer of my d
Department were to get together with one of
yours