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Enclosure 1 in Nó 92
Ordinance No. 36 of 1905.
AN ORDINANCE enacted by the Governor of Mauritius, with the advice and consent. of the Council of Government thereof, to further amend Ordinance No. 33 of 1897 (Military Contribution).
J assent,
CAVENDISH BOYLE,
Governor.
13th December, 1905.
Be it enacted by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Council of Government, as follows :—
Further proviso added to Article 2 of Ordin- ance 33 of 1897.
1 The following enactment is added as a third proviso to Article 2 of Ordi nance No. 33 of 1897 :-
Provided further that upon past contributions from revenue, the deduc- tion of four per cent. per annum shall take effect as and from the first day of January, 1904, and upon all future contributions from the date of each of such contributions respectively, and that every such deduction of four per cent. per annum shall cease after the same shall have been deducted for fifty consecutive years from the first day of January, 1904, in respect of past con- tributions, and from the date that each contribution shall respectively he made in respect of future contributions.
Short Title.
2. This Ordinance may be cited as "The Military Contribution (Amendment) Ördinance, 1905," (No. 2). Passed in Council at Port Louis, Island of Mauritius, this fifth day of Decem- ber, One thousand nine hundred and five.
LÉON KOENIG,
Clerk of the Council of Government
Published by order of His Excellency the Governor, this thirteenth day of December, One thousand nine hundred and five.
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It will be necessary to give Council assurance as to improvement of the river, and also information as to capital measures required (sic).
Am sending home by next mail for consideration of Consulting Engineers alter- native schemes for improvement of river involving expenditure of $4,500,000 or $7,500,000. In the event of the more expensive scheme being adopted total cost of harbour and river improvement will be $18,000,000, and probably, to meet Penang opposition, and on advice of Consulting Engineers, we shall have to spend $1,000,000 on extending the pier at Penang. This expenditure will involve a total annual charge for interest and sinking fund of, say, $700,000 after allowing for expenditure from balances. I propose to meet those charges by the establishment of a special fund to be called the harbours and river improvement fund. Into this fund would be paid a special rate of 1 per cent. on the annual value of all property within 100 vards of the river bank. This is estimated to produce $70,000 a year. I propose also to increase spirit duties from 14 to 24 dollars: wine duties by 50 per cent. and beer duties from 18 to 25 cents. These increases are estimated to produce $800,000
a year.
The proposed work will not be directly reproductive, but will indirectly largely benefit general revenue. It will be impossible to induce the Council to agree if military contribution is to be paid on proceeds of special taxation. I hope principle of special taxation will be accepted by you.
The farms must be re-let this year, and tenders should be called for at the beginning of June; therefore it is desirable to impose new duty at once to enable tenderers to estimate for next three years on the basis of the increased duty. After the present year two-fifths of spirit farm receipts would be paid to proposed fund. three-fifths to general revenue.
Legislative Council meets on the 23rd.-ANDERSON.
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No. 94.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TIPIC.O. 882
9
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE. LONDON:
| ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-| COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
(No. 1010.)
Enclosure 2 in No. 92.
GRAHAM BOWER,
Colonial Secretary.
EXPLANATORY REPORT ON ORDINANCE No. 36 of 1905.
21 December, 1905. This Ordinance, which was introduced into the Council and passed without debate at a meeting held on the 5th instant, gives effect to the instructions contained in Secretary of State's despatch, Mauritius, No. 178, of the 26th September, 1905, and provides that the arrangements under Ordinance No. 15 of 1905 shall date from the 1st of January, 1904.
2. I am of opinion that there is no reason why His Majesty should be advised to exercise His powers of disallowance with respect to this Ordinance.
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A. HERCHENRODER,
Procureur-General.
No. 93.
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 6 p.m., 18 February, 1906.)
TELEGRAM.
[Answered by No, 97 and L.F. transmitting copy of No. 96.]
Referring to telegram of 13th February* from Crown Agents as to harbour improvements. Notice given for 23rd February of resolution approving acceptance.
* 5743 not printed.
SIR,
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.
COLONIAL OFFICE to TREASURY AND WAR OFFICE.
[Answered by Nos. 95 and 96.]
Downing Street, 21 February, 1906.
I AM directed by the Earl of Elgin to forward to you, to be laid before the [Lords Commissioners of the Treasury][Army Council] a copy of a telegram* which has been received from the Governor of the Straits Settlements with regard to the cost of certain proposed public works in that Colony.
2. [Their Lordships] [The Army Council] will observe that it is proposed to provide for the charges for interest and sinking fund on the loan which will be required to defray the cost of these works by the imposition of special taxation, and that the Governor asks that the proceeds of this taxation may not be included in the revenue of the Colony for the purpose of the calculation of the military contribution. 3. I am to point out that the expenditure on these works will indirectly benefit the general revenue, and will thus lead indirectly to an increase in the military contribution. It would, therefore, in Lord Elgin's opinion, be inequitable also to levy the contribution on the proceeds of the special taxes which make the expenditure possible. His Lordship, therefore, trusts that [the Lords Commis- sioners] [the Army Council] will agree to accept the Governor's proposal.
4. As the matter is urgent, I am to ask for the favour of a reply to this letter
at [their Lordships'] [the Council's] earliest convenience.
5. A similar letter has been addressed to the [War Office] [Treasury].
24058
• No. 93.
I am, &c.,
C. P. LUCAS.
ва
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