CO885-(13-15) — Page 646

26372.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

PLLC.O.885

14 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

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SIR,

No. 228.

(MALTA.)

LAW OFFICERS to COLONIAL OFFICE,

Royal Courts of Justice,

29th September, 1899. WE were honoured with your commands signified in Mr. H. Bertram Cox's letter of the 14th instant, stating that he was directed by you to transmit for our consideration a correspondence which passed between the Governor of Malta and the Admiral-Superintendent of the Malta Dockyard in 1887–1888, with reference to certain proposals from the Government of the Colony for the provision of a constant water supply to the naval establishments. That that correspondence included the original draft of the proposals, together with a document in the form of an undertaking by the Government of Malta, dated 9th June, 1888, and signed by the Lieutenant-Governor, which constituted the agreement existing down to the present time for the provision of the above-mentioned water supply.

That the water authority at Malta formed a department of the Civil Government, and had certain powers secured to it by law under the provisions of Ordinance X. of 1886. That Mr. Cox was to refer us specifically to Chapter III. of the Ordinance which dealt with the powers of the water authority, and to Chapters V. and VI., relating respectively to the maintenance of the waterworks, and to the penalties recoverable for breaches of the law.

That in the draft proposals forwarded in Sir J. L. Simmons's letter of 20th August, 1887, it would be seen that the following paragraphs occurred :—

"A plan of the fittings is to be deposited in the Waterworks office, and no material alteration is to be made without due notice to the Waterworks Department."

be

"All water fittings within Admiralty property connected with the waterworks are to open to inspection during office hours by the Waterworks Department."

That the draft proposals were referred to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and that in Admiral Douglas's letter of the 19th May, 1888, to Sir J. L. Simmons, he stated that he was desired by their Lordships to inform the Governor that they would, subject to Treasury sanction, agree to pay the rates proposed, but that, as they paid through meter, they objected to the entry of the Malta Government's Agents into the dockyards to inspect the fittings-an arrangement which was never allowed in the case of water supplied to dockyards by English Companies.

•

That on the 9th June, 1888, Sir J. Lintorn Simmons replied to the effect that the condition providing for access to dockyard premises would not be insisted upon provided that the Admiralty would undertake not to use push tips or other fittings liable to damage the meters by hydraulic push (sic) or otherwise.

That as a result of that correspondence, which provided for certain other minor modifications of the original proposals, the agreement mentioned above was drawn up without the paragraphs set out in paragraph 3 of Mr. Cox's letter to us, and that it was consequently silent on the subjects lealt with by them, no express waiver of the conditions either with respect to material alterations or entry for inspection having been inserted on behalf of the Malta Government.

That in June, 1898, partly as the result of the action of the dockyard officials in breaking open a locked valve, the padlock upon which had been placed inside the Admiralty premises by the water authority to regulate the supply of water, a controversy arose between the representatives of the Admiralty and the Malta Government, the latter claiming that the water authority had a right of access to the dockyard under the provisions of Chapter III. of Ordinance X. of 1886, and that the Admiralty officials were Hiable under Chapter VI. for any breaches of the law, while the former asserted that by the statement in Sir J. Lintorn Simmons's letter of 9th June, 1888, to the effect that the condition providing for access to dockyard premises would not be insisted upon, the water authority was debarred from exercising the powers given them by the Ordinance. That there was no evidence as to whether the dockyard officials were aware that the valve had been locked by the water authority, but that as their servants were necessarily admitted to the dockyard at stated intervals for the purpose of reading the meters, the fact could hardly have escaped the observation of the Admiralty authorities,

9771-23-10.99 Wt 139 D&S

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