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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TPIPEC.O. 882

8 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH--NOT TO

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of the water of the Mare-aux-Vacoas, I have the honour to transmit to you a copy of a minute I addressed to the Council of Government on the 7th July last, laying before the Council a report of the Water Authority on the works carried out, and those required to be executed to improve the Mare-aux-Vacoas Waterworks, and proposing that the necessary funds to meet the cost of these additional works be included in a loan to be raised under the provisions of the General Loan and Inscribed Stock Ordinance, 1887.

2. I also transmit a plant showing the works carried out, those in course of execution, and those now proposed, together with a copy of Mr. Chadwick's letter* dated the 18th April, 1901, referred to by Mr. Lejuge de Segrais.

3. My minute was referred to the Finance Committee who, in their report,' a copy of which I enclose, recommended the Council to sanction the proposals to improve the water from the Mare-aux-Vacoas, and to meet the cost of the works, estimated at Rs. 255,000, by a further loan. The report of the Committee was unanimously adopted by the Council at a meeting held on the 1st September, instant.

4. The report of the Water Authority gives a full account of the improve- ments necessary, but if further information is required, Mr. Lejuge de Segrais, who is now on leave of absence in England, will be able to furnish it.

5. That the works contemplated are of inevitable necessity there can be no reasonable doubt. Since the migration from Port Louis immediately following the epidemic of fever during the last half of the decade, 1861 to 1871, and the coincident facilities afforded by the opening of the railways, the general community has grouped itself in social centres mainly in the district of Planes Wilhems, and to these centres the supply of pure water is of vital importance in the strictest sense of the term. The choice of these centres has, in fact, been largely affected by the water question. The town of Quatre Bornes furnishes a notable illustration of this. Twenty years ago, when I was Colonial Secretary, I lived for a time in one of the very few residences in Quatre Bornes. I do not think they exceeded half-a-dozen, and drinking water had to be brought in barrels from a well at a considerable distance. Since the intro- duction of Mare-aux-Vacoas water, Quatre Bornes has become a favourite residence of the commercial, professional and official community. Its affairs are administered by a Board of Commissioners, and by the Census of 1901 it had a population of over 7,000 persons.

The duty of the Government to secure the purity of the water furnished to the new centres of residence is obviously imperative.

6. But for the exceptional expenditure which the Colony has had to meet in consequence of the epidemic of plague and the epizooty of surra, I should have advised that the contemplated expenditure on the Mare-aux-Vacoas Works be met partly out of current revenue and partly by an appropriation from the Surplus Treasury Balances. As it is, the average expenditure on account of plague for the last three years has amounted to about Rs. 300,000, and the special expenditure on railways and tramways consequent on the disastrous effects of the epizooty, is certain to encroach on the estimated excess of revenue over expenditure in the estimates for the year 1903-04. At the same time my experience during the last few years has more than ever impressed upon me the duty of maintaining adequate Treasury balances to meet possible emergencies or loss of revenue from hurricanes or other calamities. The charge to loan account of expenditure for the completion of the Mare-aux-Vacoas Works, and for the purification of its water was authorised by the Public Works Loan Ordinance No. 3, of 1898, and subsequently by the Public Works Loan Ordinance No. 46, of 1899. The latter Ordinance has since been repealed in order to relieve the Imperial Treasury from the operation of the Colonial Loan Act, 1899, but without prejudice to the option of this Government to raise money if necessary for the purposes enumerated in the schedule, under the Mauritius General Loan Inscribed Stock Ordinance, 1887. The sum of Rs. 83,978 included in the loan now proposed represents the expenditure contemplated by item (d) in the schedule of the Public Works Loan Ordinance, 1899.

7. In the circumstances indicated I submit the recommendation of the Council of Government for vour approval, and for vour authority to raise a loan of £16,000 under the General Loan and Inscribed Stock Ordinance, 1887. The proceeds of the loan will be somewhat under the estimated cost of the proposed plant and works, but the balance can be charged to general revenue.

• Not reprinted,

↑ Not reproduced.

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8. I will ask you to consider this despatch in connection with my despatch, No. 358,* of even date on the subject of the charges on account of the public debt of the Colony.

38454

No. 109.

I have, &c.,

CHAS. BRUCE,

Governor.

GOVERNOR SIR C. BRUCE to MR. LYTTELTON. (Received 3.12 p.m., October 20, 1903.)

TELEGRAM.

[Answered by No. 110.]

Referring to my despatch, No. 354, 12th September. † In view of recrudescence of plague I urge strongly immediate prosecution of drainage works by means of advances from Treasury. Do you approve?

38454

No. 110.

MR. LYTTELTON to GOVERNOR SIR C. BRUCE.

(Sent 6.10 p.m., October 26, 1903.) TELEGRAM.

Your telegram of October 20; ‡ proposal approved.

37906

No. 111.

MR. LYTTELTON to ACTING GOVERNOR SIR G. BOWER. [Answered by No. 132.]

(No. 253.)

SIR,

Downing Street, November 3, 1903. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Sir Charles Bruce's despatch, No. 355, of the 12th of September, § submitting for my approval the recommendation of the Council of Government that certain improvements should be made in connec- tion with the Mare-aux-Vacoas Waterworks, the main cost to be met by a loan of £16,000 under the General Loan and Inscribed Stock Ordinance, 1887, and the balance from general revenue, and to inform you that I approve these proposals.

2. I should be glad to learn how the water rates are charged, and whether they cannot be raised so as to produce rather more than the present annual sum of about Rs. 37,000 as against an annual charge for debt and working expenses of Rs. 117,000.

37903

No. 112.

I have, &c..

ALFRED LYTTELTON.

MR. LYTTELTON to ACTING GOVERNOR SIR G. BOWER.

(No. 254.)

SIR,

[Answered by Nos. 121, 123 and 129.]

Downing Street, November 3, 1903.

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Sir Charles Bruce's despatch,

No. 352 of the 11th of September, and to inform you that His Majesty will not

• No. 106.

† No. 107.

‡ No. 109.

§ No. 108.

| No. 105.