PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 882
9
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
46
No. 105.
including the cost of all military works and buildings, The. En but to including any capital expenditure required for closure in military lands and buildings; provided that in no year shall the sum paid by way of percentage exceed the cost "of the garrison for that year."
VIL-THE PERIOD TO THE END OF 1911.
After this settlement the question slumbered for some years so far as Mauritius and Ceylon were concerned; but it was soon raised again in Hong Kong and the Straits Settlements. Tu April, 1895, Lord Ripon had sent a despatch to Hong Kong on the subject of the barrack H.K., P.P., services required for the garrison, which were estimated to Third east £211,935. He explained that it was proposed to spread the works over ten years, and that the cost should be provided as follows :—
**
cir- my That the Colony should, in accordance with cular despatch of the 30th December last, devote the ** value of any military lands and buildings that may now be surrendered by the War Department, so far as it will "extend, in reduction of the gross cost of the scheme, including the cost of any new sites that may be required, "al that the remainder of the cost should be divided in ** the proportion of two-thirds to the Imperial Government "and one-third to the Colonial Government, that being about the proportion in which the cost of the new forti- fications of Hong Kong was divided between the two * Governments."
saries,
No. 8.
In 1898 it was decided to finish off the worka as ex. Ibid.. peditiously as possible, and it was thought that the total No. 44. expenditure would probably be less than the estimate. However, when, in 1990, it was decided to increase the etences of Hong Kong, it appeared that there had been additions to the original scheme. The War Office, writing A. 668, to the Treasury in June, 1900, said that the Home No. 107. Government considered that it had a claim on the Colony
in respect of certain barrack services found necessary since
the original programme was passed, and also in respect
The total
of new defence works exclusive of armament. liability of the Colony was placed at £165,000, which (See Thirl..., apparently represents the estimated cost (£90,000) of the No. 106.) new defence works plus £75,000 as the Colony's one-third share of barrack charges, originally estimated at £211,935. The War Office remarked that the Colony did not accept
a portion of this liability, and they urged, with a view to avoiding delay and friction, that, as recommended by the Colonial Defence Committee, the percentage should be raised to 20, "and should cover the entire cost of its
"defences, including all capital expenditure required for
military lands and buildings."
"
The Secretary of State was prepared to press this hid arrangement upon the Colonial Government, but with the No. 108. exception that the Colony should not be called upon to Ibid., give the War Department free of cost available unoccupied No. 109. lands for military purposes, since the liability of the Colony to be called upon to give such lands free of cost had never been admitted in the case of Hong Kong. The bil, War Office agreed not to press the point, and, with No. 110.
Bent a lespatch was to the Ibid., Treasury concurrence, Colony on the 24th October, 1900, setting forth the No. 113. circumstances, and instructing the Governor to introduce
Para.
Ibid.,
No. 114.
A. 616, No. 125.
Aures 1 & 2.
1..
Para. 4.
47
an Ordinance to give effect to the proposal. The Secretary of State said :—
L
The new contribution will be payable by the Colony "in full return for the annual cost of the Imperial "garrison, including all capital expenditure required for
64
military lands and buildings. As part of this arrange- **ment all lands required by the War Department which "are the property of private persons will be purchased at the cost, and will become the property, of that Depart- Lands which belong to and are occupied by, or or are a source of revenue actual or potential to, the be similarly treated. "Colonial Government, should
**ment.
When land is thus purchased by the War Department the capitalized value of the Crown Rent will be paid by "that Department to the Colonial Government at the time "of purchase."
The necessary Ordinance was passed as No. 1 of 1901. The Straits Settlements arrangement lasted till 1897, when the Legislative Council, in voting a
แ
sum of
$237,600 as the Colony's share of the cost of the improved armament considered necessary for the defences of Sub-enclo Singapore, resolved that the Colony could not be called upon fairly to bear the whole cost of the change in the emplacements and other necessary works, which they Enclosure were, strictly, bound to pay. The Governor, in a despatch of the 28th June, 1897, sending home the resolution, urged that the contribution should be raised to 20. per cent. of the revenue, with the implication, though the despatch is not very clearly worded, that works would be paid for in return by the Home Government. He said :- "It may, and probably will, be said by the War Office "that the demands made on the Colony during these three years for the construction of barracks and for the pro- "vision of gun-emplacements, are altogether abnormal "but I have quite recently been invited to confer with the Major-General Commanding on the subject of consider- "able additional expenditure in the future on these very barracks, which were designed by the War Office, "and of which the mortar is scarcely dry. I foresee that "there will be in the future ever-recurring demands of "this nature, involving friction between the civil and military authorities, and discontent on the part of the Colony. I would therefore suggest to you, Sir, that the "question of percentage be reconsidered, and that the "amount already paid and to be paid from the date of the commencement of the recent agreement be adjusted on "the basis of one-fifth of the revenue, that being made the
contribution of the Colony for its defence."
Ibid.,
No. 125. Ibid..
No. 120.
61
16
LL
A copy of the despatch was sent to the War Office on the 30th July, 1897, and on the 24th of the following May the War Office addressed the Treasury. After pointing out that the Inter-Departmental Committee of 1895 had not agreed to recommend the inclusion in the percentage of capital expenditure on lands and buildings or lodging allowances in lieu of barracks, because "It "would be difficult to provide in a fixed annual charge "for a purely local expenditure of an uncertain amount "and extending over an uncertain number of years,' the War Office admitted that the existing arrangement worked with difficulty and friction, and that the extra 2 per cent. would be ample to cover auch capital expenditure; they asked for the views of the Treasury, adding that they could not agree to reopening closed accounts as suggested by the Colonial Governor.
T