PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :~~~
TC.O. 882
لتسلسلينا
30484
(Confidential.)
116
No. 104.
FOREIGN OFFICE to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received July 25, 1902.)
SIR,
Foreign Office, July 23, 1902. I LAID before the Marquess of Lansdowne your letter of the 10th instant,* enquiring whether, in view of the undertaking given to Germany in 1898 that England would not construct railroad communication from Wei-bai-Wei" into the interior of Shantung." His Majesty's Government would be precluded from granting permission for the construction of a line from Wei-hai-Wei to Chefoo.
I am directed by Ilis Lordship to point out that the application enclosed in your letter is not one for a railway to Chefoo but to the boundary of the Wei-hai-Wei leased territory, in the direction of Chefoo.
Chefoo being on the coast, it might be contended that a railway from Wei-hai-Wei to that place is not specifically barred by the terms of the pledge to Germany, but it is possible, and indeed probable, that Germany would hold that such a line would violate the spirit of the undertaking.
His Majesty's Government have, on the other hand, an undoubted right to con- struct lines within the limits of the leased territory, and if a concession has been, or should be, granted to Americans or others, without opposition on the part of Germany, to build a line from Chefoo or any other place in Shantung to the border of the leased territory of Wei-hai-Wei, there would seem no reason why such a line should not be permitted to connect with a line within that territory.
I am, &c.,
29812
FRANCIS BERTIE.
117
3. The cost of this Staff, including the salary of the Commissioner, was as
follows:-
Commissioner
Mr. Walter
Assistant Commissioner
---
Secretary and Interpreter
Interpreter
Allowance for Magistrate on the Island
Quartermaster-Sergeant
$15,000
5,000
3,000
2,000
360
600
360
$26,320
4. Shortly after my arrival Mr. Hare left for the Straits Settlements and, as you had decided to abolish the post of Assistant Commissioner, the vacancy caused by his departure remains unfilled.
5. Mr. Dupree, Secretary and Interpreter, whose salary as well as the allow- ance for the Magistrate on the Island and the salary of his interpreter were defrayed from the item of $10,000 for Island expenses which appears in the approved esti- mates for the present financial year, was in hospital when I arrived, and died last month. No officer has been appointed to succeed him, but it has been necessary to cbtain clerical assistance from the Military Authorities, for which is being paid a sum of $30 a month.
6. The annual cost of the present staff is as follows:—
Commissioner
Mr. Walter
Allowance for Magistrate
Interpreter
Quartermaster-Sergeant
Clerical Assistance
$15,000
3,000
600
360
360
360
$19,680
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH——NOT TO
6 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
No. 105.
MR. CHAMBERLAIN to COMMISSIONER LOCKHART.
(Sent 5.25 p.m., July 28, 1902.)
TELEGRAM.
[-Inswered by 38511: not printed, and by „No. 116.]
Referring to my despatch, No. 29, 3rd October,† concluding paragraph. Report fully by post as to subsidiary coin, as soon as practicable.
31012
SIR,
(No. 32.)
No. 106.
COMMISSIONER LOCKHART to MR. CHAMBERLAIN.
(Received July 29, 1902.)
[Answered by No. 132.]
Government House, Wei-hai-Wei, June 16, 1902.
I HAVE the honour to address you with regard to the Staff of this Dependency. 2. On my arrival here I found Mr. Hare, Acting Assistant Commissioner, Mr. Walter, seconded from the service of the Federated Malay States, and Mr. Dupree, Secretary and Interpreter. These were the only members of the Civil Service In addition to those officers, the Military Authorities were kindly assisting by allow
proper. ing an officer to act as Magistrate on the Island, who employed an interpreter, and by lending the services of à Quartermaster-Sergeant of the Army Pay Corps to aid in the financial work.
• No. 99.
† No. 56.
The difference between the expenditure on account of establishment now and when I first arrived is $6,640.
7. It is quite evident, however, that the establishment as at present constituted is not satisfactory.
In the first place I consider it necessary that there should be a properly paid Secretary to Government.
8. On reference to Mr. Hare's Administrative Report, paragraphs 2 to 4, which was forwarded in Major Cowan's despatch, No. 14, of the 1st May last,* you will see that he recommended the retention of the post of Assistant Commissioner. I concur generally in Mr. Hare's views, except that I am of opinion that the title of the office should be Secretary to Government.
I also do not agree with his remarks regarding the duties of the Commissioner. I am not aware what work was done before I arrived here, but ever since I assumed the duties of my present office, I have found my time more than fully occupied. This may not continue, but in any case it will be impossible for the Commissioner to deal with all the details of the administration without having a reliable officer to assist him. Such assistance can only be rendered in a dependency like this, where the population is practically entirely Chinese, by an officer well acquainted with Chinese in whom implicit confidence can be placed, and who would be able to act for the Commissioner when necessary.
The importance of having an officer here with local knowledge and experience to take the place of the Commissioner, when occasion arises, seems to me a necessity for which provision should be made.
9. It does not seem reasonable to expect to retain the services of such an officer as is required for a salary equivalent to that paid to a Passed Cadet, viz., £300 æˆ year. I therefore recommend that the salary of the Secretary to Government be fixed at £500 a year with quarters, the same salary as formerly paid to the Assist- ant Commissioner. I do not consider this sum as in any way excessive, having regard to the responsible nature of the duties of the post and the difficulty of securing the services of an officer with the necessary qualifications.
• Xo. 96.