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HONGKONG, 16th September, 1895.

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His Excellency

SIR,

In a letter which I had the honour of addressing to your Excellency under date the 13th Noveber, 1894, I took the liberty of calling your attention to the very grave dangers to which this Colony must be exposed in time of war because of the close proximity to the city and harbour of the Chinese boundary line; to the necessity of obtaining, if possiblc, a rectification of our frontiers, and to the very favourable opportunity that then appeared to exist for pressing the matter upon the attention both of Her Majesty's Government and of the Chinese Government.

May I be permitted to again call your attention to the very great importance of obtaining at a very early date some re-adjustment of the boundaries of the Colony, and to point out to you that no more favourable opportunity than the present is ever likely to occur for obtaining the assent of the Government and people of England to a demand on the Chinese Government for a further slight cession of territory in this neighbourhood, and for pressing that demand with effect upon the Court at Peking.

I am re-opening the subject at the special request of my colleagues, the Un- official Members of Council, and in their names. At a meeting held on Saturday last I laid before them my previous letter of the 13th November last, and after long and careful consideration and debate they were unanimously of opinion that every possible means should be adopted to press on the attention of your Excellency and of the Home Government the immense importance of prompt action, when every thing promises so well for the success of any negotiations that may be now taken in hand. The Unofficial Members are most anxious that your Excellency should put yourself in communication with the Colonial Office by wire, and, if it meets with your approval, move the Major-General Commanding to address the War Office at the same time.

The Chamber of Commerce and the newly formed Navy League will, in all probability, address your Excellency at a very early date on this subject, while the Hongkong Branch of the China Association intends to take steps to set in motion the parent Association in London.

I need not now endeavour to press upon your Excellency's attention any arguments in support of the contention that an enlargement of the boundaries of the Colony to an extent which would give us possession of the mountain range to the north from the Canton River to Mirs Bay and of the islands immediately to the south of Hongkong is absolutely essential to the continued existence of the Colony as a fortress and naval depôt. All naval and military authorities recognise the fact. Your Excellency has accepted it as conclusively proved and, if I have understood you aright, Her Majesty's Ministers have not failed to perceive the necessity for action of some kind. The recent proposals in Parliament to increase the docking accommodation for the Royal Navy and to enlarge the naval establish- ments here have emphasized the position, and it is difficult to understand how any great expenditure on such a project can be sanctioned unless it is intended to take steps to secure to us the possession and control of all points from which the new docks could by any possibility be exposed to hostile fire.

Sir WILLIAM ROBINSON, K.C.M.G.,

Governor, &c., &c., c.,

HONGKONG.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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