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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 882

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

6 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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3. As the expenditure is either necessary or distinctly remunerative, I have directed the Commanding Royal Engineer to proceed with the execution of the services, and informed him that the expenditure can be met from the house rental collected up to 31st March, 1900, and from the amount realised by the sale of the Japanese huts on the mainland, vide my letter No. 94 of the 16th instant.

4. From the beginning of the financial year the regular procedure laid down in the Financial Instructions will be adopted.

(Wei-hai Wei, 8/31.)

I have, &c.,

A. R. F. Dorward, Colonel, Commissioner, Wei-hai Wei.

Enclosure 2 in No. 26.

SIR,

War Office, January 10, 1900. WITH reference to your letter of the 21st November, 1899, No. 95, respecting revenue from War Department property on the Island of Liu-kung-tao and proposals as to upkeep of same, I am directed by the Secretary of State for War to inform you that all receipts on account or rents from War Department property will be a credit for Vote 10, Appropriations in Aid, Rents, and action should be taken accordingly.

2. As regards repairs and improvements to War Department lettable property (lands or buildings), these will be charged against Vote 10, Sub-head D, and a sum of £500 is authorised for expenditure on such repairs, chargeable to the Annual Estimate, Vote 10, Sub-head D, 1899-1900.

3. The provision of quarters for police-inspector and constables, prisoners' yard, etc., appears to be a purely civil question, and further instructions as to how the expenditure

is to be met will be sent.

In the meantime the provision of such quarters, etc., as may be essential is authorised, and the expenditure so incurred will be kept clearly separated on the vouchers from the cost of repairs and improvements to War Department property for which a sum has been authorised under paragraph 2.

The Military Commissioner, Wei-hai Wei,

9659.

I am, &c.,

G. HILDEBRAND,

Deputy Inspector-General of Fortifications.

No. 27.

TREASURY to COLONIAL OFFICE.

·

(Received March 27, 1900).

SIR,

Treasury Chambers, March 26, 1900. THE Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury have had before them your letter of the 19th instant, proposing, in connection with the decision of Her Majesty's Government, that the leased territory of Wei-bai Wei shall in future be administered by your Department, that Sir Frank Swettenham, K.C.M.G., Resident-General of the Federated Malay States, should visit Wei-hai Wei on his way to this country on leave of absence and furnish a report dealing with such matters as the best means of raising revenue and the staff of civil officers that will be necessary.

My Lords direct me to reply that, in the circumstances, they agree in the proposal of Mr. Secretary Chamberlain that the necessary expenses of Sir Frank Swettenham's mission be charged to Imperial Funds. They note that these expenses are expected to be small.

It will be necessary to open a new sub-head of the Colonial Services Vote.

• No. 24.

I am, &c.,

FRANCIS MOWATT,

9701.

(Confidential.)

SIR,

27

No. 28.

FOREIGN OFFICE to COLONIAL OFFICE.

(Received March 27, 1900.)

[See No. 75.]

Foreign Office, March 26, 1900. WITH reference to your letter of the 19th instant relative to the assumption by

To Sir C. MacDonald. Tel. No. 38 of 21 March, the Colonial Office of the administration of the leased

To Law Officers, Feb. 17, 1899.

From Law Officers, Feb. 99, 1899.

To Mr. Gray, May 19, 1899.

From Mr. Gray, Sept. 16, 1899,

Minutes, 1999.

territory at Wei-hai Wei, I am directed by the Marquess of Salisbury to transmit to you a copy of ■ telegram which was sent to Her Majesty's Minister at Peking in accordance with the request contained in your letter asking him to instruct Her Majesty's Consul at Chefu to give all the assistance power to Sir F. Swettenham on his visit to Wei-hai Wei, to report on matters connected with the revenue, the civil and judicial staff required, etc.

in his

With reference to paragraph 5 of your letter in regard to the draft Order in Council, I am to enclose for Mr. Secretary Chamberlain's information printed copies of correspon- dence as marked in the margin, between this department, the Law Officers of the Crown, and Mr. Albert Gray, by whom the draft order was prepared, as well as a printed copy of the departmental minutes on the same subject.

GENTLEMEN,

Enclosure 1 in No. 28.

I am, &c.,

FRANCIS BERTIE.

FOREIGN OFFICE to the LAW OFFICERS OF THE CROWN.

Foreign Office, February 17, 1899. I HAVE the honour to transmit to you, by direction of the Marquess of Salisbury, a letter from the Admiralty inclosing a copy of a communication received from the Commander-in-chief on the China Station, in which he asks for instructions in the matter of the adininistration of justice at Wei-hai Wei.

By the Convention between this country and China, signed at Peking on the 1st July last, of which a copy is annexed, it is provided that the territory leased to Great Britain shall comprise the Island of Liukung (on which the present British head-quarters are established) and all the islands in the Bay of Wei-hai Wei, and a belt of land 10 English miles wide along the entire coast line of that bay; and it is further provided that within the above-mentioned territory Great Britain shall have sole jurisdiction. The lease is to continue for so long a period aɛ Port Arthur shall remain in the occupation of Russia.

The island is at present administered by a British naval officer, as Commissioner for the territory. He acts as Magistrate for the whole island and deals summarily with all offences against law and order. This arrangement is stated to have worked satisfactorily up till now, no serious crimes having been committed.

Admiral Seymour is, however, anxious to be furnished with instructions for his guidance in the event of any serious cases arising in the future, and he submits the following points for special consideration in this connection :-

1. As to offences of any kind in the leased territory committed by subjects of a civilised State other than Great Britain.

2. Offences committed by British subjects.

3. Serious offences, e.g., murder, committed by Chinese subjects.

With regard to the last category, it appears to Lord Salisbury that no jurisdictional` difficulty can arise between Her Majesty's Government and that of China, since China has given Her Majesty full and complete jurisdiction over Chinese subjects. It may, however, possibly be desirable to make some forinal pronouncement of a public character defining and regulating the conditions under which such jurisdiction is exerciseable, and

• No. 23.

† Not printed.

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