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2. On the constitution of the force, bearing in mind that it is most desirable that the regular forces should not be increased if any other arrangement is possible.

3. Whether a trustworthy auxiliary force can be raised within the Colony to aid the garrison in the defence; and, if so,

4. What should be its constitution, and whether it should be permanently embodied or should be of the nature of a militia to be trained in the first instance and afterwards called out periodically.

5. The part such force should take in the defence.

6. The method of training the force, and the amount of assistance to be rendered by the garrison in training it.

7. The provision of officers, and whether, in the event of the force being constituted as a militia, they could be procured on the spot.

8. Also the provision of a small corps to assist the Royal Engineers in laying out the submarine mines which have been sent out to aid in the defence of the Colony.

It is expected that the Report will deal in detail with all these points and with estimates of the cost which might attend the raising of any force the Committee may recommend.

On looking through the correspondence the Committee will see that my original proposal contemplated enlisting Chinese in Hong Kong for service in India and elsewhere as well as in the Colony. The question, however, of raising additional troops now sub- mitted to the consideration of the Committee is confined to the enlistment of auxiliary forces for service within Hong Kong, and is not to extend to the question of enlisting forces for service out of the Colony.

J. POPE HENNESSY.

Government House, Hong Kong, November 20, 1879.

(Signed)

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allied with a European Power against us, I would have more confidence in such a floating battery than in some of the works now being constructed on the Chinese side of the harbour.

Sir,

I bave, &c. (Signed)

J. POPE HENNESSY.

No. 86.

Colonial Office to the Secretary to the Royal Commasion on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad.

Downing Street, December 30, 1879. I AM directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to transmit to you, for the consideration of the Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Com- merce Abroad, a copy of a despatch* from the Governor of Tasmania on the subject of the defence of that Colony. I am also to inclose a copy of a despatch† which Sir Michael Hicks Beach has addressed to Governor Weld informing him that a copy of his despatch has been transmitted to the Royal Commissioners for their consideration.

I am, &c.

(Signed)

No. 87.

EDWARD WINGFIELD.

No. 85.

Governor Hennessy, C.M.G., to the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bart.--- (Received December 30.)

(Secret and Confidential.) Sir,

Government House, Hong Kong, November 8, 1879.

IN opening the Legislative Session of 1879-80, I made some remarks on the commerce and finances of Hong Kong, in which, referring to the balances to the credit of the Colony, I said :—

"Apart from ordinary local expenditure, I think it well, on Imperial grounds, that a Crown Colony should have a substantial balance in the Treasury chest. Contingencies may arise at any moment not contemplated in the usual items of Čolonial Expenditure."

2. The balances in question amount to about 230,000 dollars on the Special Fund account, and 390,000 dollars, being savings from current revenue for the last few years, or a total of 620,000 dollars. I have also a floating balance of about 50,000 dollars.

3. No doubt the new gaol on Stone-cutters Island, the new central school, the breakwater for junks in the typhoon season, and the observatory recommended by Mr. De la Rue on behalf of the Royal Society, may absorb some part of those balances, though, looking to the increasing value of the site of the present gaol, which stands in one of the best parts of the town of Victoria, and to the ready facilities for augmenting the ordinary revenue of the Colony, I do not despair of accomplishing those works mainly, if not entirely, from current income.

4. In other words, I have endeavoured to save from surplus revenue a few hundred thousand dollars that might, if Her Majesty's Government think proper, be devated to the defence of the Colony.

5. I would venture, therefore, to suggest, for your consideration, whether the greater part of this fund might not be properly appropriated to providing for the defence of Hong Kong a small armour-plated turret-ship. The soundings in the harbour of Victoria, and the depth of water around the island, seem to render this Colony suitable for the operation of a ship of the "Hecate" class.

6. If included in the scheme of local desence, such a ship, I presume, would not form a part of the Naval Commander-in-chief's squadron for sea-going purposes, but would, under all circumstances, be retained in the waters of the Colony.

Į

7. In the unlikely, but still possible, contingency of a war in which China might be

(Secret.)

Sir,

The Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bart., to Governor Weld, C.M.G.

Downing Street, December 30, 1879. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, Secret, of the 23rd October,‡ on the subject of the defence of Tasmania.

Since writing your despatch you have no doubt received my Circular despatch of the 21st October last,§ announcing the appointment of a Royal Commission to consider the question of the defence of British Possessions and commerce abroad, and I have to inform you that a copy of your despatch, and of its inclosures, has been transmitted to the Royal

Commissioners for their consideration.

Sir,

I have, &c.

(Signed)

No. 88.

M. E. HICKS BEACH.

Hastings C. Huggins, Esq., to Colonial Office.

109, Ladbroke Grove, W., January 3, 1880. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 27th_ultimo,|| referring to my communication of the 26th November, ¶ and informing me that any sugges tions I may desire to submit should be put in writing, and that, then, the Royal Commis- sioners will be able to decide whether it is desirable I should be called as a witness.

2. The willingness I expressed, in the communication referred to, to give evidence before the Royal Commissioners, may be briefly stated to be a desire to bring to their notice a class of men-permanent residents of British Guiana-commonly called (though in some respects erroneously) Portuguese, for the military defence of the Colony.

3. So far back as the year 1835, a number of Portuguese was introduced in the Colony from the Island of Madeira, principally then as labourers, and, in part, at the expense of the Colonial Government. This introduction, in the year named, induced others of a better class to emigrate, and to such an extent, that, after all deductions from death and otherwise were made, the census of 1871 showed the settlers from that island and the Azores to be, in number, nearly 8,000, viz., 7,925.

4. No census of the population has been since taken, but from the large numbers which, year by year, have subsequently arrived, namely, since the year 1871, and have become, like their predecessors, permanent residents of the Colony, it is estimated that at least 4,000 male adults, between the ages of 18 and 50, and physically eligible for such

‡ No. 74.

• No. 74.

§ No. 42.

† No. 87.

|| No. 80.

4

No. 63.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

4 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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