CO882-(8-9) — Page 588

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference:

C.O. 882

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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(c) that the arrangement should be revised in Ford, Ad).

1894 with a view to the Colony assuming the whole cost of its ordinary garrison in 1895. (4) that as regards Trincomalee previous decisions Had.,

should be disregarded and that the Colony para. 248.

should bear some portion of the cost of the garrison, since both garrisons, Trincomalee and Colombo, were essential to the efficient defence of the Colony.

(e) that the Imperial Government should bear the T, para. balance of charge for the Trincomalee barracks 259.

after devoting to their construction such funds As might accrue from the disposal of Ceylon military Crown lands and buildings no longer required for military purposes; and that the cost of new barracks elsewhere should be a charge against Colonial revenues.

The garrison, in accordance with the recommendations Ibid., paras.

of the Colonial Defence Committee, was to be placed at 196, 197. 1,534 on a peace, and 1,653 on a war footing, the esti- nated cost being placed at £151,172.

12.

Mr. Bramston dissented, especially as to Trincomalee, Ibid., but he agreed as to the payment of £50,000 for 1890. p. vii. During 1890 there was some rather acrimonious corre- A. 253, spondence with the Treasury on the question whether Nos. 1 to Ceylon should pay the £50,000 in rupees at the Treasury bid., No. rate of exchange, which would have meant rather more 12 (En than Rs. 716,000, or whether Rs. 600,000, which repre- closure). sented what £50,000 was wofth in 1884, should be taken. Eventually the Secretary of State agreed reluctantly to the payment of £50,000 in rupees at the current rate of exchange at the end of each quarter when an instalment fell due. The contribution recommended by the Com. inittee for the years 1891-1894 formed the subject finally of a discussion between the Parliamentary heads of the three Departments, and on the 11th December, 1890, the Ibid., No.

20 (En- closure). Treasury placed on record the terms which had been agreed to. They were £70,000 in 1891, rising by annual increments of £10,000 to £100,000 in 1894, to be paid either locally in rupees at the Treasury rate, or in this country in sterling. The Secretary of State was asked to explain to Ceylon that this low and gradually increasing scale was fixed out of special consideration for the Colony's financial embarrassment and for the expectations of in- dulgence which the correspondence respecting Trincomalee and the reduction consented to in 1884 must have aroused: but "The Colony should at the same time be given to "understand that after the year 1894, should the state of "her finances warrant it, a contribution more nearly equalling the cost of the whole garrison may be asked

*

“

for, and in particular that the question of the justice of charging for the garrison of Trincomalee will be "reconsidered."

closure).

In a letter of 15th December, 1890, the Treasury asked Ibid., No. the Colonial Office to accept the Committee's recommenda- 21 (En- tions as to expenditure on barracks, pointing out that as regards future barracks the Colony should be safeguarded by the adoption of the Committee's suggestion that the Governor should be consulted before any capital expendi- ture was undertaken.

The Governor was informed by telegram on the 26th of Ibid., No. December of the contribution demanded for the next 25 (En-

closure 2). four and the telegram stated “Trincomalee has been

years, treated as Imperial." The War Office objected to this

11.

No 96.

Pet..

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phrase and sent a memorandum by Sir A. Haliburton on the subject of Trincomalee: the memorandum, in my view, is a clever perversion of the facts, but the point is perhaps not very material now.

A long draft despatch to the Colony, setting forth the No. En conclusions arrived at, was submitted to the Treasury in February, 1891, and after correspondence with the War Office on the question, the Treasury wrote on 17th July

closure 1.

15.

No 38

Bord..

Closure),

that as Her Majesty's Government have decided for the "present not to charge the Colony for the garrison at

Li

Trincomalee, my Lords are of opinion that it will be expedient to confine the average annual contribution for "the five years 1890-1894 to the estimated cost of the * garrisons at Colombo and Kandy, instead of adding an "anomalous contribution for the defence fund of the Empire as would be necessary if " the full amounts already decided upon were adhered to.

**

The Secretary of State's despatch (dated 23rd July, 1891)

No. 3 (En- was consequently much altered; the contribution being fixed at £65,000 for 1891, £75,000 for 1892, £87,000 for 1893 and £100,000 for 1894; which, with £50,000 already paid for 1890, made an average contribution of £75,400. This sum was fixed as being roughly the cost of the garrisons at Colombo and Kandy, and half the total cost (151,172): the remaining portion being the cost of the Trincomalee garrison. The despatch proceeded to point out that troops were no longer wanted for internal peace, and that the questions for decision were :—

Para. 12 of

"

(1) what expense is necessary for the defence of the island, and especially the coaling stations in

the island, in time of war against a sudden attack by a foreign foe; and

(2) why Ceylon should not, like other countries,

provide for its self-defence ?

The Secretary of State then developed the theme as follows:-

"It is evident that the safety of each part of the Empire Enclosure. "depends not only upon the land forces which garrison it, but also upon the troops at home and in neighbouring "possessions, as well as upon the ships of Her Majesty's Navy-the combination of these three forms of defence giving the best available security of life and property to "the inhabitants of each dependency.

Ibid.,

No. 40.

(1

"It is therefore prima facie just that each colony or dependency should pay not only for its own special land "defence but also for part of the cost of the fleet; and “this view is actually carried out in the case of the larger "colonies-most of the Australasian colonies, for instance, "not only paying for all their land forces but also con. "tributing to the cost of ships to supplement the Imperial "Navy, and to be employed exclusively in Australasian "waters. Similarly, India not only pays for the troops "which garrison her frontiers and keep peace throughout "her provinces, but also in part defrays the cost of the "Indian squadron; and it can hardly be contended that “a like train of reasoning does not apply to Ceylon, "especially when the understanding upon which Ceylon was detached from India and made a Crown Colony is "borne in mind."

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Curiously enough the War Office, which took exception to the statements in the despatch that Trincomalee was regarded as an Imperial station, also objected to the enunciation of this general principle, and considered that the principle that the mother country should provide the

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