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No. 203.
Governor Hennessy, C.M.G., to the Right Hon. Sir Michael E. Hicks Beach, Bart.— (Received April 16.)
Secret and Confidential.) Sir,
Government House, Hong Kong, March 6, 1880. ADVERTING to my despatches of the 22nd November and the 16th December, 1879, I have now the honour to lay before you the Report of the Committee I appointed, under your instructions, on the proposed scheme of supplementing from local sources the Imperial force ordinarily maintained in Hong Kong. I also inclose, for your consideration, Major-General Donovan's observations on the Report.
2. The Committee consisted of the Colonel commanding the Royal Engineers, the Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the Royal Artillery, the Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the 27th Regiment, and two civilians, Mr. Tonnochy and Mr. Creagh. Assistant Com- missary General Moore acted as Secretary. The Committee began work in November, 1879, and, having obtained the evidence in writing of a considerable number of witnesses, they sent me their Report on the 18th February, when I at once forwarded it, with the Appendices (A) and (B),† to the Major-General, for his remarks.
3. The Committee unanimously recommend the employment of Chinese for com- batant purposes on a small scale, as an experiment. In the first instance, a Chinese company, officered by Europeans, to be raised. They think an auxiliary force of non- Europeans. about 1,200 or 1,500 strong, should be available, the greater part of these being raised in India.
4. The Major-General dissents from the recommendation of the Committee as to raising any Chinese whatever for combatant purposes. He expresses the opinion that Hong Kong is, for all intents and purposes, as much a military station as Gibraltar, and that, though styled a Colony, it has not, in his opinion, any colonists. He thinks there are already too many Chinese on the island. In the event of a rupture with Russia, he thinks all the Chinese should be sent back to China, except those who could give security; and even those, the Major-General is of opinion, should be kept well away from the defending force, as he thinks no Commander would be justified in allowing them to reside in the neighbourhood of the troops.
5. The Major-General is not entirely satisfied either with the proceedings of the Committee, as he thinks it would have been more satisfactory if the Committee had obtained evidence from all the representatives of the different British firms as to their views on the formation of a local force. He finds that only three of these gentlemen were examined, and he adds: "As a matter of course I attach more importance to their views than I can to those of the rest "-though the other classes of witnesses included the Senior Naval Officer in charge of Her Majesty's Dockyard; Commodore Smith, R.N.; Captain Cleveland, R.N., of the "Iron Duke;" the Harbour-master, Captain Thomsett (the senior Head of a Department in the Hong Kong Civil Service); the Head of the Police Force; the Acting Senior Police Magistrate; the three or four local clergy who have had longest experience of the natives; the Chief Justice and the Acting Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court; the Superintendent of the Gaol; the Assistant Commissary-General of Ordnance, being the military officer who has had most experience in employing natives; and a number of other military men.
6. Instead of raising a local force to supplement the small Imperial force ordinarily maintained in the Colony, Major-General Donovan recommends that the Imperial forces in Hong Kong be increased by some Royal Engineers, some Royal Artillery, an infantry regiment from India, and some Indian cavalry-the cavalry being required because, in the Major-General's opinion, the telegraph wires cannot always be depended upon, owing to the climate. Furthermore, in war time, he thinks a complete division should always be held in readiness at Madras, to embark for Hong Kong or the Straits at the shortest notice. He recommends a coolie corps of 100 Chinese, being a smaller number than is actually employed at this moment by the Commissary-General of Ordnance, the Royal Engineers, and the Head of the Royal Dock yard.
7. The Major-General makes no observations on the questions and answers in Appendix (A), which I laid before him with the Report, and in which I raised the point as to the defence of British Kowloon and the hill passes of the Island of Hong Kong, and the protection of the dock at Aberdeen, and the reservoir at Pokfulam. Nor does he say anything as to the cost of the additional forces he would bring into the Colony, or hold in readiness at Madras.
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8. I cannot agree with the Major-General, either in his dissent from the recom mendation of the Committee, or in his observations on their proceedings. That some sort of a beginning should be made in enlisting Chinese for combatant purposes is clearly desirable. It is not only the unanimous opinion of the Committee, but it is the opinion of the naval authorities on the spot, and in fact of every unprejudiced and intelligent person I have consulted.
As to the fault the Major-General finds with the Committee for not examining more ads of British commercial firms, or, indeed, all the heads of British houses apparently, it is only fair to remember that such a proceeding would have seriously prolonged the sittings of the Committee, and multiplied the already voluminous mass of ovidence tenfold.
9. I make no comment on the Major-General's views as to our having too many Chinese in the Colony, the sending away of all the 40,000 British-born Chinese and others who could not give security, the removal of their houses, &c., beyond noting the fact that these are the people who, as my predecessor, Governor Sir Hercules Robinson, said, con- tribute over 90 per cent. of our revenue, who mainly conduct the trade, and who are the permanent residents of the place. The Major-General's opinion that Hong Kong is to all intents and purposes a military station, and nothing but a second Gibraltar, does not coincide with the views recorded by any Secretary of State or by any of my predecessors. On the contrary, I need hardly say that it contains one of the most important depôts of shipping and commercial harbours in the Empire, and that it is a first-class naval station.
10. In addition to expressing my concurrence with the Committee and the Naval Authorities as to making a beginning of a local force of Chinese, I strongly recommend Her Majesty's Government to rely more on floating forts, such as the iron-clad "Wyvern now coming out, and on torpedo defence, than on a costly scheine of numerous land batteries, and, as a necessary consequence, a considerable increase of the garrison.
11. The existing little volunteer corps I shall endeavour to improve, in accordanc with the suggestions of the Committee. I contemplate also submitting for your approval a plan for forming a torpedo volunteer corps, to utilize, when necessary, for defensive pur- poses, the numerous fleet of steam-launches we have in this harbour.
12. With reference to forming a local corps of Chinese, whether we begin with one company or with a battalion, I would venture to draw your attention to the evidence given by Lieutenant-General Sir Hope Grant before a Committee of the House of Commons in 1866, in which (questions 2160-2164) he recommended the raising of Chinese troops for the defence of Hong Kong, adding that he would have English officers for such troops, but that the non-commissioned officers should be Chinese. Whilst fully aware of the very bad characters to be found in Hong Kong at that time, General Sir Hope Grant, who saw how Chinese can fight, and had experience of the fidelity and courage of those he had employed, said he considered them next to Europeans as fighting men.
"I think," he says,
"the Chinese have the making of a very fine class of soldiers," and he gives his reasons for preferring them to Indian troops in garrisoning Hong Kong.
13. Not only do I concur with General Sir Hope Grant in thinking that the Chinese in this Colony should furnish the material for its defence in the shape of soldiers, but, looking to the loyalty and wealth of the Chinese now in Hong Kong, I believe Her Majesty's Government might count with confidence on obtaining from the local community the whole of the requisite funds to pay for such troops and for the floating batteries I have referred to.
I have, &c. (Signed)
Inclosure 1 in No. 203.
(Secret and Confidential Committee.)
Sir,
J. POPE HENNESSY.
Hong Kong, February 17, 1880.
I HAVE the honour to forward herewith the Report and proceedings of, and evidence taken by, the Secret and Confidential Committee appointed by your Excellency to investi- gate certain questions connected with the defence of Hong Kong.
I have, &c.
(Signed) W. J. STUART, Colonel,
His Excellency J. Pope Hennessy, C.M.G.,
Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Hong Kong.
Chairman.
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↑ Not printed.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
CO. 885
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