27042
222
No. 204.
MR. LYTTELTON to GOVERNOR SIR JOHN ANDERSON.
(Paraphrase.)
(Sent 6.25 p.m., August 4, 1905.)
TELEGRAM,
Referring to last part of preliminary brief,* Counsel agree that evidence as to possible competition at other ports should be procured. The best course will be to send a competent man to collect information on the spot, including facilities and possibilities of expansion, so that he will be able to speak from personal knowledge. IIe should bring back certified copies of all tariffs, &c., likely to be of use.
I am advised that Kenny would not be a good selection. It is thought prefer- able to send Swan, Manager of Prye. Despatch him at once if you concur.
27553
SIR,
No. 205.
MR. LYTTELTON to GOVERNOR SIR J. ANDERSON.
(Confidential.)
Downing Street, August 4, 1905. WITH reference to your despatch, No. 254, of the 15th June, I have the honour to inform you that the question of employing an expert for the valuation of the machinery and plant of the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company has been very carefully considered here, and it has finally been decided to retain Messrs. Wheatley, Kirk, Price, & Co., the firm mentioned by you.
I enclose a copy of a letter from Messrs. Sutton, Ommanney, and Rendall, showing the terms on which this firm has been engaged. It is understood that the two assistants will leave this country on the 11th instant, travelling overland via Brindisi, and that Mr. Place, a partner in the firm, will start a fortnight later, accompanied by Mr. Trowell.
I have, &c.,
ALFRED LYTTELTON.
223
those instructions seem to suggest that their Lordships have not the full circum- stances of the position before them.
The enclosed copy of a despatch,* addressed to the Governor of the Colony in November last, will explain to their Lordships the reasons which led the Secretary of State to recommend that the Colonial Government should acquire this property, and also his views as to the manner in which it should be administered in the future. I am to request that the despatch may be treated as confidential, as it has not been published in extenso in the Colony.
I am also to enclose a copy of the Ordinance under which the transfer has been effected. It will be seen that the composition of the Board is fixed by law; the addition of the Senior Naval Officer as an ex officio member would require an amend- ment of the Ordinance, which Mr. Lyttelton does not consider it expedient, at any rate at the present time, to suggest.
The proposal that the Naval Authorities should be entitled, to the exclusion of the Governor, to determine when a "case of emergency" had arisen, whereby the whole or part of the wharfage should be placed at their disposal, is one which the Secretary of State is unable to accept.
Mr. Lyttelton has no doubt that the Governor will give his best consideration to the other proposals made in the letter to the Commander-in-Chief, and he is happy to think that the acquisition of this property by the Colonial Government may in- cidentally result in giving increased facilities to the ships of His Majesty's Navy.
He need only remark, to prevent possible misapprehension hereafter, that any services rendered by the Board to the Naval Authorities will of course be paid for at such rates as may be agreed upon. The Government of the Straits Settlements assumed a serious financial responsibility when taking over this property in the general interests of the Colony; it is an essential principle of the scheme that the dock should be managed on strictly commercial lines; and any suggestion that services should be rendered by the Board on unremunerative terms would provoke the strongest opposition in the Colony and could not be recommended for their acceptance by the Secretary of State.
I am, &c.,
C. P. LUCAS.
27604
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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27553
No. 206.
COLONIAL OFFICE to MESSRS. SUTTON, OMMANNEY, & RENDALL. GENTLEMEN,
Downing Street, August 4, 1905. I AM directed by Mr. Secretary Lyttelton to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 3rd instant, reporting the arrangements which you have made for retaining the services of Messrs. Wheatley, Kirk, Price, & Co., in connection with the Tanjong Pagar Dock Arbitration.
26641
SIR,
No. 207.
I am, &c.,
C. P. LUCAS.
COLONIAL OFFICE to ADMIRALTY,
[Copy to Governor, August 11, 1905, Confidential. L.F.]
[Answered by No. 244.]
Downing Street, August 4, 1905.
I AM directed by Mr. Secretary Lyttelton to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 28th July§ with its enclosures relative to the arrangements which the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty desire to make in consequence of the acquisition of the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company's property by the Government of the Straits Settlements.
I am to express Mr. Lyttelton's regret that he was not consulted prior to the despatch of the instructions to the Commander-in-Chief, China, as the terms of
† No. 170.
‡ No. 202.
§ No. 192.
• Eastern No. 98.
SIR,
No. 208.
COLONIAL OFFICE to SIR M. E. HICKS-BEACH, BART., M.P. [Answered by No. 211.]
Downing Street, August 5, 1905. I AM directed by Mr. Secretary Lyttelton to acknowledge the receipt of letter of the 3rd instant, with reference to your nomination as Umpire in the your Tanjong Pagar Dock Arbitration.
2. Mr. Lyttelton regrets that the fee named in my letter of the 1st instant§ is not entirely satisfactory to you. He desires me to explain that the arbitrator nominated on behalf of the Colonial Government had accepted a fee of 4,000 guineas to include all disbursements, and in these circumstances the proposed fee of 5,000 guineas to the Umpire appeared to the Secretary of State to be a reasonable one. It is the case that the Company have offered 6,500 guineas to the arbitrator nomi- nated by them, but the solicitors to the Colonial Government have given formal notice that they do not concur in the arrangement, and it is intended to contest, before the Taxing Master, the liability of the Government in respect of this payment.
3. I am, however, to state that in view of your letter under reply, the Sec- retary of State has reconsidered the question of the Umpire's remuneration, and he would be glad to learn whether a fee of £5,750, to include all disbursements, would be regarded by you as satisfactory.
4. With regard to the concluding paragraph of your letter, Mr. Lyttelton will be glad to make such arrangements as may be convenient to you, and he would suggest that half the amount should be paid to you forthwith, and the remainder upon delivery of the award.
I am, &c.,
C. P. LUCAS.
• No. 19.
† Enclosure in No. 121.
‡ No. 201.
§ No. 198.
224