Appendix R
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference →
TLTTI I CO. 882
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
2 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
Appendix Q (a).
Appendix Q (b).
Appendix Q (6).
10
Colonel Barrow, R.A., was appointed by the Indian Government to assist the Committee, and to watch the interests of that Government.
This Committee forwarded their proceedings to the Brigade-Major in the Settlements on the 19th March, 1868.
In their proceedings they stated that they had proceeded by enumerating the stores considered by them suitable and in the quantity required for the Imperial service in lists for valuation; that with the approval of Colonel Barrow they had adopted certain values as those proposed to be charged to the Imperial Government on taking over the stores; and that lists of such stores, showing the valuation adopted, had been prepared and attached to the proceedings.
The only one of these lists which comes within the case is the list of stores recom- mended to be taken from the Ordnance Department.
The proceedings of this Committee were accompanied by a letter from the President of the Committee to the Brigade-Major, containing the following passages :---
"Sir,
· Office of Committee of Valuation, Singapore,
"March 19, 1868.
"I have the honour, with reference to G. O. dated Singapore, 6th November, 1867, to forward herewith proceedings of a Committee of Valuation on all stores required for the use of the Imperial Government in the Straits Settlements.
"2. Since the Order was issued, various causes have operated to cause delay in bringing the labour of the Committee to a conclusion, amongst which may be enumerated the necessity of the Committee visiting the Stations of Penang and Malacca; my own unavoidable absence at Penang, 'on duty,' with his Excellency the Governor, from the 22nd January till the 17th February; the want, until a recent period, of a list from India showing the value of the stores belonging to the Indian Government. The delay that has thus occurred is, however, the less to be regretted, as it has enabled the Committee to have the assistance of Colonel Barrow, R.A. (the officer deputed by the Madras Govern- ment, in accordance with the wishes of the Secretary of State for India, to watch the interests of the Indian Government in the transfer), and as that officer was vested by his own Government with full powers to act without the necessity of referring any questions to India, the endeavours of the Committee to come at once to what they believe to be a fair and equitable arrangement have been much facilitated, and they trust that the financial bearings of the question will also be deemed satisfactory by the Home Government.
"3. As far as the Committee was concerned, Colonel Barrow's functions were necessarily limited to the question of finance, and in order to arrive at a conclusion which, it was hoped by the Committee, would prove satisfactory to both Governments, every article of stores, whether of the Commissariat, Ordnance, or Barrack Department, after having been eliminated from the general stock in store, carefully surveyed by the Committee, and decided upon as fit for the Imperial Service, were again subjected to the scrutiny of the different Departmental Officers both of the British and Indian Services, with a view to determining their value.
"4. It may be observed that, as a general rule, the prices of the Indian Government have been adopted as reasonable wherever the articles have been found to be in a perfectly serviceable and sound condition. In some instances, however, especially the Ordnance Department, where articles, if not absolutely obsolete, were known to be rapidly falling into disuse, a considerable reduction has been made, and from tools and stores in actual use, which either from wear and tear or the effects of climate had already deteriorated, 50 per cent. has been deducted from the cost price.
"5. With regard to the proposed financial arrangements between the British and Indian Governments, the Committee have nothing further to add; but it is desirous of laying its views on some points before superior authority, in order to account for its recommendation to take over, for the use of the Imperial Government, certain articles, especially Ordnance stores, which, as has already been observed, are known to be rapidly Jalling into disuse.'
"6. As the best means of coming to a conclusion regarding the Ordnance necessary to be retained, the Committee deemed it was best fulfilling its duty by obtaining the views of the officer commanding Royal Engineers and the senior officer of Royal Artillery; extracts of letters from Colonel Lovell, K.E., and Major Talbot, K.A., are annexed in the margin.
7. The latter officer does not consider that' either the 9-pounder iron guns or 6-pounder brass light field guns are of any use; but, with regard to the former, the Committee would observe that a suggestion has been made by one of its members
11
(Mr. Wright, Assistant-Superintendent of Stores, who was appointed a member of the Committee in G. O., dated 14th December, 1867), which is, apparently well worthy of consideration, viz., whether, looking at the small charge of gunpowder required for the 9-pounder iron guns, and the large number of salutes annually fired, at a very heavy expense, at Singapore, and the low price put upon these guns, scarcely more than the value of old iron, it might be as well to retain them for saluting purposes.
The Mountain Train Battery has been retained, as it will, most probably, be required for Colonial purposes."
The proceedings of this Committee were forwarded to the War Office, and on the 4th of August, after their receipt, Sir H. Storks wrote, from the War Office, a letter to the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, which it will be convenient to set out at length :-
"Sir,
"Sir H. Storks to Sir F. Rogers.
"War Office, August 4, 1868. "With reference to the letter from this Department of the 6th September, 1867, on the subject of the proposed valuation of the military stores in the Straits Settlements, belonging to the Indian Government, I am directed by Secretary Sir John Pakington to request that you will acquaint the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos that the Report of the Board of Officers, appointed to select and value these stores, having been received, it appears that the total cost of the ordnance and other stores thus selected amounts to the sum of 38,000Z.
"Sir John Pakington is satisfied by the inquiries which he has instituted that the sum charged is very moderate, and that the articles will be found thoroughly serviceable; but, as pointed out in the letter above quoted, only those stores were to have been transferred to the Imperial Government which were, in all respects, fit and suitable for the use of the troops, such, for instance, as commissariat, barrack, and hospital stores, and personal equipment. These, however, form but a very inconsiderable portion of the stores comprised in the list, their utmost value may not amount to above 5,0001, the rest appertaining to the armaments of the several forts.
"In your letter dated 21st April of this year, you state that the Duke of Buckingham considers that the Imperial Government is under no obligation whatever to furnish fortifications or their accessories in the Straits Settlements; and as the main portion of all the above stores consists of the armament required to render these works efficient, it appears to Sir John Pakington to be a question for the Colonial Government to determine, in concert with the Secretary of State for the Colonies, whether it will be advisable to purchase these stores on its own account.
C
Failing such an arrangement Sir John Pakington apprehends that the stores in question will have to be returned to the Indian Government, there being no funds available for the purchase of them on Imperial account.
"Sir Frederic Rogers, Bart.,
&c.
&c.
&c."
"I have, &c.
(Signed)
"H. K. STORKS.
The attention of the Arbitrator is asked to this letter because it appears to be the source of the subsequent misunderstanding. Up to this time no suggestion had been made in any quarter of any pecuniary liability being imposed on the Colony in regard to its military expenditure, except the annual contribution to be paid by it to the War Office. The suggestion is due to this letter, and the India Office appears to have caught at the suggestion, for the letter will be found relied on by that Office in a subsequent communication of 22nd November, 1871, as expressing "the opinion entertained" by the Secretary of State for War as to the liability of the Colony to the Indian Government. It is submitted, however, that the letter cannot be so read, if for no other reason, because the expression of an opinion upon the liability of the Colony in relation to the Indian Government was a matter not within the jurisdiction of the War Office, and it is not to be1 supposed that the Secretary of State for War would pronounce an opinion which, by the nature of the subject-matter, would not be of authority; and, still further, would do so without argument or hearing. The suggestion is explained by the concluding sentence of the letter, that the War Office had no funds available for the purchase of these stores on Imperial account. Under these circumstances, the War Office, in their anxiety to meet by anticipation and repel any claim upon the Imperial funds administered by that Department, made, it is submitted, an erroneous deduction from the words of the Duke of