orig. at No. 12
on 54126/6/47
EXTRACT FROM A DESPATCH ADDRESSED TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES BY THE
GOVERNOR OF HONG KONG.
Secretariat File No. 37/2321/47
CONFIDENTIAL
No. 282
292
Government House,
Hong Kong.
55 IA
12th December, 1947.
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But while this Colony is prepared to meet the cost of rehabilitation to the best of its ability, it is strongly felt that, where equipment from general war stocks was supplied to local Government departments, any claim for a refund of the value should be waived. When the Colony was re-occupied, the Harbour Department was much handicapped by the fact that most of the pre-war small craft had disappeared or had been rendered unserviceable, and a certain number of vessels were supplied from general war stocks to make good the deficiency. These were by no means ideal for the purposes for which they were provided, and if the Harbour Department had been able to order the types of vessel best suited to their requirements, far better value would have been obtained. The cost of assembling these small craft amounted to $325,000, and this has been met from Hong Kong funds. It was hoped that no claim would, in the circumstances, have been presented in respect of these vessels, but one has recently been received from the Ministry of Transport. The question is being taken up in more detail in a separate despatch but I con- sider that as these craft were supplied from stocks accumulated for the general purposes of the war and were utilised to replace vessels removed or damaged by the Japanese, it is unreasonable to charge the Colony with their value which is estimated at £143,950, especially when the Harbour Department has, since the re-occupa- tion, transacted business on behalf of the Ministry of Transport free of charge to a value of over $3,000,000.
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