282
There remain two principal questions to be decided by the Court in relation to this Arbitration, namely (1) principle on which the lands of the Company are to be dealt with, and (2) the settlement of the question dealt with by the Governor's despatch, No. 450, of the 31st October last.*
As regards (1) the questions to be argued before the Court have been agreed with the Solicitors for the Company.
The dispute which has arisen as to (2) will by consent be dealt with by a sub- mission to the Court of Arbitration, the draft of which was submitted to us in the Colony, and will now be agreed with the Company's Solicitors.
The papers relating to both these matters will be received by us at the same time as the corrected transcript of the shorthand writer's notes, and we shall then be in a position to communicate with the legal advisers of the Company as to a resumption of the sittings of the Court.
We take this opportunity of acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 15th instant and its enclosure, and are pleased to note both Lord Elgin's and Sir John Anderson's appreciation of the manner in which the instructions received from you have been given effect to in the Colony by our junior partner.
45050
We have, &c.,
SUTTON, OMMANNEY, AND RENDALL.
283
the documents consigned to us by s.s. "China" were not delivered here until the 29th ultimo, and, consequently, it has not been possible to complete our examination of the proof print of the shorthand writer's notes of the proceedings in this arbitration, with the exception of the appendices, until yesterday, when we sent a proof print, with our corrections and notes on such points as appeared to us to be inaccurately reported, to the Solicitors for the Company for their consideration and approval.
We have not yet received from our printers a proof of the appendices, which are very lengthy and are mostly tabular matter, though we anticipate that a proof print will be furnished to us in the early part of next week.
Pending the completion of the transcript of the shorthand writer's notes we have instructed our junior counsel to settle, for submission to the Court of Arbitration, the questions dealt with by the Governor's despatch, No. 450, of the 31st of October last, but as it is desirable that Mr Balfour Browne should approve of the form of such submission, we doubt being in a position to forward the same to the Company's solicitors, for their approval, till after the election.
Will you please inform us how many prints of the transcript of the shorthand writer's notes and appendices you would wish to be supplied with for your own reference and for transmission to the Colony? We understand that the Governor will expect to receive at least 12 prints.
We have, &c., SUTTON, OMMANNEY, AND RENDALL.
No. 301:
COLONIAL OFFICE to CROWN AGENTS.
GENTLEMEN,
Downing Street, December 30, 1905. I AM directed by the Earl of Elgin to request you to pay from Straits Settle- ments funds to Messrs. Sutton, Ommanney, and Rendall the sum of one thonsand guineas, the balance of the fee due to them for their services at Singapore in connec- tion with the Tanjong Pagar Dock Arbitration.
45050
No. 302.
I am, &c.,
C. P. LUCAS.
COLONIAL OFFICE to MESSRS. SUTTON, OMMANNEY, AND RENDALL. GENTLEMEN,
Downing Street, December 30, 1905. I AM directed by the Earl of Elgin to acknowledge the receipt of
your letter of the 21st instant, ‡ and to inform you that the Crown Agents have been instructed to pay you the sum of one thousand guineas as the balance of the fee due to you on account of your services at Singapore in connection with the Tanjong Pagar Dock Arbitration.
1275
No. 304.
COLONIAL OFFICE to MESSRS. SUTTON, OMMANNEY, AND RENDALL. GENTLEMEN,
Downing Street, January 18, 1906. I AM directed by the Earl of Elgin to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 10th instantt and to request you to be good enough to supply 25 copies of the shorthand writer's notes and appendices of the Tanjong Pagar Arbitration pro- ceedings for the use of this Department and for transmission to the Governor of the Straits Settlements.
2336
No. 305.
I am, &c.,
C. P. LUCAS.
1275
No. 303.
I am, &c.,
C. P. LUCAS.
MESSRS. SUTTON, OMMANNEY, AND RENDALL tơ COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received January 11, 1906.)
SIR,
[Copy to Governor, January 18, 1906, Confidential. L.F.]
[Answered by No. 304.]
3 and 4, Great Winchester Street, London, E.C., January 10, 1906.
Straits Settlements.
Tanjong Pagar Dock Company, Limited.
REFERRING to our letter to you of the 21st ultimo, § we have to inform you that
↑ No. 298.
‡ No. 299.
§ No. 300.
• No. 286.
MESSRS. SUTTON, OMMANNEY, AND RENDALL to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received January 22, 1906.)
SIR,
[Answered by No. 811.]
3 and 4, Great Winchester Street, London, E.C.,
Straits Settlements.
Tanjong Pagar Dock Company, Limited.
January 20, 1906.
WITH reference to previous correspondence and interviews on the subject of the employment of Messrs. Deloitte, Plender, Griffiths and Company to investi- gate the books of the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company and to give evidence in these Arbitration proceedings, and in particular to our Mr. Ommanney's letter to Mr. Fiddes of the 4th May last, we now hand you Messrs. Deloitte and Company's account & containing particulars of their professional charges and of their out-of- pocket expenses, from which it appears that after giving credit for the sums paid them on account, a balance of £2,085 73. 8d. is due to that firm.
• No. 286.
308-03
↑ No. 303.
‡ No. 86.
§ Not printed.
10
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TTTUC.O. 882
8 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TOPage 601
284
We have referred to the terms of their engagement, as evidenced by the corre- spondence, and have otherwise satisfied ourselves that this account is correct, and we recommend payment thereof.
2541
SIR,
We have, &c.,
SUTTON, OMMANNEY, AND RENDALL.
No. 306.
ADMIRALTY to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received January 23, 1906.)
[Copy to Governor, February 2, 1906. Confidential. L.F.] (Confidential.)
Admiralty, January 22, 1906.
WITH reference to your letter of 30th November last, No. 41919, I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to forward herewith, for the information of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, copy of instructions which have been sent to the Commander-in-Chief, China, regarding the measures to be taken in connection with the storage of Admiralty coal and patent fuel at Singapore.
With regard to Sir J. Anderson's despatch of the 2nd November last, I am to state that in arranging terms for the storage and handling of coal it was not suggested that the Admiralty should receive exceptionally low terms or preferential rates. It is desired that any negotiations with the Dock Board should be conducted on an ordinary business footing, and it is solely with this end in view that the Com- mander-in-Chief has been instructed to refer the proposed rates home for their Lordships' concurrence before the contract is finally concluded.
Their Lordships' views on the matter are clearly expressed in paragraph 2 of Mr. Lyttelton's letter of the 26th September‡ to the Governor of the Straits Settle- ments, but Sir J. Anderson appears to have been under some misapprehension as to their purport.
Lord Elgin will note that in consequence of difficulties attending the appoint- ment of a Naval Representative on the Dock Board their Lordships are willing, for the present, to waive their proposal on this subject.
Their Lordships also accept Sir J Anderson's view that the Governor should be responsible for taking the necessary steps to meet Naval requirements for wharfage and labour on an emergency occurring, and that no previous stipulation need be made.
I am, &c.,
C. I. THOMAS.
285
It remains, therefore, for you in due course to arrive at an agreement with the Colonial Authorities as to the precise site to be available for ordinary peace require- ments and as to the terms on which it could be obtained, Their Lordships desire you to take the necessary steps accordingly.
In the meantime, and without prejudice to the ultimate arrangement with the Colonial Government, approval was given by Admiralty Letter C.P. 16559, of the 3rd November, to your proposal to arrange a contract for storage and handling of coal and patent fuel shipped by the Admiralty, the Governor having stated that the land now used for Admiralty coal will be kept available for this purpose.
As the transfer of the Dock Company to the Government took place in July last, my Lords presume that the interim arrangement will necessarily be with the newly- constituted Dock Board.
It was proposed in Admiralty Letter M. 4982, of the 28th July last, to stipulate that in case of emergency the whole of the wharfage, or such portion of it as may be considered necessary by the Naval Authorities, should be at the disposal of the Naval Service, and that the Naval Authorities should determine when such case of emergency has arisen. Sir J. Anderson, however, states that full powers are vested in the Governor for dealing with an emergency, and that no Governor would hesitate to use them so far as might be required to ensure the speediest possible coaling of His Majesty's ships.
The Secretary of State for the Colonies having concurred in Sir J. Anderson's views, their Lordships consider that it may be left to the Governor to take the necessary steps when the emergency arises, and that no special stipulation is required beforehand.
Their Lordships have also decided for the present to waive their proposal that a Naval Representative should be appointed on the Singapore Dock Board, in view of the difficulties which have been shown to attend this course.
The Commander-in-Chief,
2674
His Majesty's Ships and Vessels, China.
No. 307.
I am, &c.,
C. I. THOMAS.
SIR,
(Confidential.)
Enclosure in No. 308.
Admiralty, January 22, 1906. WITH reference to Admiralty telegrams, Nos. 162 and 196, of the 22nd August and 1st December last, I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to inform you that correspondence has taken place with the Colonial Office with regard to the action which you were directed to take with the Colonial Government at Singapore in consequence of their acquisition of the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company.
As regards coaling arrangements, the Admiralty requirements are that storage for coal and patent fuel up to 30,000 tons shall be at their disposal at Singapore.
You were informed on the 21st March last by Sir J. Anderson that if suitable terms could be arranged he would be prepared to allot for Admiralty purposes certain land which is to be reclaimed, and which he subsequently stated would be available in about two years' time. Permanency of tenure would be an essential feature of these arrangements:
• No. 291.
↑ No. 287.
‡ No. 273.
MESSRS. SUTTON, OMMANNEY, AND RENDALL to COLONIAL OFFICE. (Received January 24, 1906.)
SIR,
[Answered by No. 309.]
3 and 4, Great Winchester Street, London, E.C., January 23, 1906.
Straits Settlements.
Tanjong Pagar Dock Company, Limited.
*
WгTH reference to our letter of the 10th instant, as the points raised by the Governor's despatch, No. 450, of 31st October last, which will be referred to the Court of Arbitration for decision, relate to the manner in which the balance sheet of the Company for the 30th of June, 1905, should be made up, it is necessary that we should place ourselves in communication with Messrs. Deloitte, Plender, Griffiths, and Company, with a view to their assisting Counsel and ourselves, and, should the Court decide to hear evidence, to give evidence as to the manner in which that balance sheet has been prepared, having regard to the practice of this Company in the past, with respect to their method of dealing with the items of depreciation, reserve, and the amount carried forward as shown in their previous balance sheets.
We shall be glad to receive your authority to employ Messrs. Deloitte, Plender, Griffiths, and Company for this purpose and to arrange for Mr. Maltby of that firm to place his services at the disposal of the Government. In this instance we do not
• No. 303.
† No. 286.
20505
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.