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No. 294.

MESSES. SUTTON, OMMANNEY, AND RENDALL to COLONIAL OFFICE.

SIR,

(Received December 7, 1905.)

[Copy to Governor, December 12, 1905. No. 337. L.F.]

3 and 4, Great Winchester Street, London, E.C., December 6, 1905.

Straits Settlements.

Tanjong Pagar Dock Company, Limited.

REFERRING to our letter to you of the 29th ultimo,* we have now to inform you that Mr. Bannerman handed us yesterday a complete copy of the transcript of his shorthand writers' notes of the proceedings in this Arbitration, and we are instructing our printers to print the same forthwith.

We have requested Mr. Bannerman to state in writing the reasons why he failed to supply day by day; as he engaged to do, transcripts of his shorthand writers' notes to the Arbitration Court, Counsel, Solicitors, and others engaged in the case, and on receipt of his explanation we will communicate further with you. In the meantime we defer making Mr. Bannerman any further payment on account.

We have, &c.,

SUTTON, OMMANNEY, AND RENDALL,

279

8. Mr. Woodward also, as I anticipated, did invaluable work, and has added largely to the reputation for ability and judgment which he already enjoyed in the Service.

9. Mr. Adams had much less to do than the others connected with the case, but did what he had to do well.

I have, &c.,

43248

No. 296.

JOHN ANDERSON.

COLONIAL OFFICE to CROWN AGENTS.

Downing Street, December 11, 1905.

GENTLEMEN,

I AM directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to request you to pay from Straits Settlements funds to Messrs. Sutton, Ommanney, and Rendall the sum

of 3,500 guineas on account of the fees of Messrs. Wheatley, King, Price and Company in connection with the Tanjong Pagar Arbitration.

44280

No. 297.

I am, &c.,

C. P. LUCAS.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

הזה!

C.O. 882

Reference :-

8

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

43550

(No. 467.) SIR,

No. 295.

GOVERNOR SIR J. ANDERSON to MR. LYTTELTON.

(Received December 9, 1905.)

Government House, Singapore, November 11, 1905. WITH reference to my despatch, No. 447, of the 26th ultimo, † I have the honour to forward the remainder of the transcript of the proceedings of the Arbi- tration Tribunal.

2. So far as I can judge from a partial perusal of this part of the transcript, it is a slight improvement on the earlier part. The length of the sittings and the breakdown of part of the reporting and transcribing staff which was brought out from England, and the consequent necessity of employing such local material as could be obtained on short notice, account in some measure for the imperfection of the record.

3. Mr. Ommanney is taking steps, in conjunction with the representatives of the other side, to have the material errors corrected, and will take the transcript so revised home to be printed in England.

4. There can be no doubt that the impatience of the members of the Tribunal and of counsel to return to England, which led to unduly prolonged sittings, caused a tremendous strain on all connected with the arbitration, but I am, on the whole, satisfied with the presentation of the Government case.

5. Mr. Balfour Browne showed a far better mastery of his case than the leading counsel for the Company, and our expert witnesses undoubtedly made a far better appearance than those retained by the Company.

6. Of Mr. Ommanney's work it is impossible to speak too highly. His work during the proceedings would have proved a heavy strain even in a temperate climate, and it is a matter for surprise that he was able to get through as he did in this climate without a breakdown.

7. Whatever the result may be this Government has every reason to congratu- late itself on having found a solicitor who devoted himself with so much loyalty and ability to the preparation of the case, and to whose readiness and resource during the proceedings counsel were much indebted.

• No. 290.

† No. 284.

MESSES. SUTTON, OMMANNEY, AND RENDALL to COLONIAL OFFICE.

SIR,

(Received December 15, 1905.)

[Copy to Governor, December 22, 1905. No. 351. L.F.]

Straits Settlements.

Tanjong Pagar Dock Company, Limited.

3 and 4, Great Winchester Street, London, E.C., December 14, 1905. REFERRING to our letter to you of the 6th instant,* we now hand you copy of a letter of the 12th instant, which we have received from Mr. Bannerman, setting forth the circumstances under which he found it impossible to comply with the terms of his Agreement as to the supply of transcript of his shorthand writers' notes. A further communication will be made to you with respect to the course we suggest should be adopted as regards any further payment to Mr. Bannerman as soon as we have had an opportunity of conferring with our junior partner on his return to this country.

We take this opportunity of informing you that we have paid Messrs. Wheatley, Kirk, Price and Company the further sum of £1,837 10s. Od., the balance of their agreed fee.

We have, &c.,

DEAR SIRS,

SUTTON, OMMANNEY, AND RENDALL.

Enclosure in No. 297.

Tanjong Pagar Dock Company Arbitration.

3, Pump Court, Temple, E.C., December 12, 1905.

I MUCH regret that the complete report of the proceedings herein was not supplied in time for use on the morning succeeding each sitting of the Tribunal, but I cannot admit that this unsatisfactory result was in any way attributable to me or to my staff.

When the arrangements for reporting the proceedings were under discussion, it was clearly understood between us that under no circumstances would the sittings of the Court extend beyond a normal London working day, and, in fact, taking into consideration the enervating climatic conditions prevailing at Singapore, it might reasonably be assumed that they would be considerably curtailed.

• No. 294.