108
16
27. I confess that in making these remarks I cannot refrain from reflection on the case of the two neighbouring Colonies, Manila and Macao. The one a Spanish Colony of great fertility and power of production, the other a Portuguese Settlement, producing nothing. Both have been hundreds of years in the hands of their present holders and each is called on for a contribution to the Treasuries of Spain and Portugal respectively. In Macao the trade once considerable is reduced to nothing, and the place is only the shadow of its former self; of Manila it is notorious that the most is not made and her principal City is as deficient in the ordinary requirements of civilization as if it had been kept two centuries back. On the recent occasion of a disastrous Earthquake a sum (of an amount variously reported, but large) was contributed by the Madrid Government in relief of a Colony which under a different system would have been perfectly independent of such external aid.
28. I do not of course attribute the condition of these two places solely to the contributions exacted by the Mother Countries, but I am not, I think, straining a point in my argument if I maintain that the monies they remitted to Europe would have been beneficially expended on the spot, and would directly on the Colony and indirectly on the Mother Country have reflected more credit than at the present time can be claimed by either.
29. I am aware that there is another Colony in this part of the world similarly circumstanced and apparently contradictory of my view, but the financially prosperous possession of Java is excluded from our present consideration by the forced labour system of the Dutch Government, which would not be recognized under a British constitution.
30. I have instanced the only Colonies in these regions actually bearing on the point, the one productive, the other like Hongkong, non-productive, but in any case it seems to me that the Mother Country would have been amply repaid with the profits and advantages immediate and collateral resulting from her trade with the Colony and with the Countries adjacent, for the promotion of which I assume the original settlement to have been made.
31. I admit that it is the duty of all Colonies to relieve the Mother Country as far as they can, and that this duty is imperative on all producing Colonies; but in the case of a non-producing Colony like Hongkong it should be borne in mind that it did not plant itself and that the Mother Country had—it must be assumed—a self-interest in planting it; the attainment and preservation of which interest should be a sufficient return without a direct pecuniary impost, which can only be levied at the cost of the development of the Colony.
32. But not to occupy more of Your Grace's valuable time I may state my conclusions briefly thus (1) The presence of Troops here is not absolutely necessary for Colonial purposes, while the Colonial Revenue is urgently needed to the last cent for Public Works, some of them largely contributing to the benefit of the Imperial Government (2) Hongkong in many respects renders important service to the Mother Country, service equivalent, without direct money payment, to what may in reason be required of a Colony established as this has been, and circumstanced as it is.
33.
And next I propose to put forward practical suggestions in the form of alternative proposals.
2
—As I have shown that the Military are not wanted for local purposes I would propose that they be withdrawn altogether, except a Battery of Artillery for which the Colony might be charged—I propose this in deference to Professional opinion which pronounced during the discussions of the Executive Council in June last that Land Batteries were required in aid of the Naval Force.
I enclose Return of cost of Battery amounting to £6,173.5—say $29,631.60.
—Should the above proposition be considered inadmissible I would suggest that the cost of the Battery be the only part of the Military expenditure that falls on the Colony. 3.—As £20,000 would supply us with an additional European Police Force of between 200 and 300 men, is it not possible to utilize the Military for a local purpose and work them as a Police under the Civil Power? I recommended this on a special occasion seven years ago and with the two-fold consideration of economy to the Colony (for the Colonial allowance would only be small and supplementary to their regular pay) and of benefit to the Soldier, whose pay and comforts would be increased, while healthy employment would be given him, the want of which, as all experience of Hongkong shows, tends to the stagnation of his mental, and ultimately to the destruction of his physical, powers.
4.—If it be determined to levy the full sum of £20,000 per annum, let not the necessary public works be stopped as they otherwise must be, but let a special Military contribution Tax be levied to that amount under authority of a Legislative Enactment. I should of course prefer to see any other method pursued and propose this only as a remote alternative, but I have the less hesitation in doing so under the circumstances in that the residents of Hongkong find the Colony singularly profitable, and
17
are but lightly taxed—the Police and Lighting Rates, with a Water Rate in prospect are the only taxes to which they are subjected.
At the same time it is proper to point out that the enforcement of this contribution amounts in effect to making the residents in a British Colony pay for the protection of foreign and rival Ports, and of the interests of the numerous nationalities there represented.
The natural tendency would be to drive people from Hongkong where they are taxed, to Shanghae and other places where they are not, and cannot be, taxed. 5.—Let Hongkong be put under a purely Military Government, as Gibraltar, to which it bears a closer resemblance than to any other British Colony; politically it is of less, but commercially of far greater importance than Gibraltar; but the accidents of the two places have a certain similarity and under a Military regime, Troops would be made locally useful, which now, as already shown, they are not.
6.—But failing one and all of the above propositions I have only to ask, and I beg Your Grace's attention to this very earnestly, that the present claim for a Military contribution be postponed for a period not of one year as now fixed, but of 4 or 5 years by which time the financial condition of the Colony will be more firmly established, its real future will be more accurately ascertained, and its wants, now calling imperatively for all its funds, will be satisfactorily and finally supplied.
34. I have only in concluding to request Your Grace to pardon me for thus venturing to question Your Grace's expressed resolution, but as the period of a year must yet elapse before that resolution be carried into effect, I am confident that the various reflections I now submit will receive all due consideration, and I shall be satisfied that if the Colony be finally called upon for the contribution, it will have had the advantage of being heard, even though by so poor an advocate as myself, on a matter vitally important to its interests.
35. I fully understand that Your Grace's proposition is made in furtherance of a general scheme to be applied more or less to all the Dependencies of Great Britain, but in placing before Your Grace the special circumstances of this Dependency I am encouraged by the words of Lord Palmerston himself who is reported to have said in the House of Commons on the 22nd July 1850 that it was "a mistake to look at Hongkong in the same light as other Colonies," and further by the description given of the Colony in the Colonial Office List, under the authority of which I infer that Hongkong is not to be judged under the rules and conditions prescribed as applicable to Colonies generally.
His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, K.G.,
&c.,
&c.
I have, &c. (Signed)
Enclosure No. 1 in No. 5.
W. T. MERCER,
Memo. of Amounts required for completion of Works in progress and for Works proposed, in Victoria and Stone Cutters' Island,
REP. AND EST. APPROVED. SERVICE AMOUNT No. 8 of 1859 Sup. No. 5 of 1862. Sup. No, 6 of 1862. Sup. No. 21 of 1883 Reconstruction of Victoria Gaol (Bal. R. & E. 8/59, 1st Nov. 1868) Convict Gaol on Stone Cutters' Island (do. Sup. do. 5/62, 1st Nov. 1868). Now Central Police Station, (do. do. 6;62, 1st Nov. 1863... Completion of Water Works, City, (do. do. 21/63, 1st Nov. 1863) Separate Water Works for Wanchai, Bowrington and probably Causeway Bay $ c. Connexion of present Water Works with West Point 41,277.45 96,674.70 56,593.64 12,925.26 80,000.00 Now Court House 15,000.00 New Post Office 35,000.00 Hongkong Mint (£25,000) 25,000.00 120,000.00 Total Works 482,371.05Surveyor General's Office, 23rd November, 1863.
CHAS. ST. GEO. CLEVERLY,
Surveyor General.
108
16
27. I confess that in making these remarks I cannot refrain from reflection on the case of the two neighbouring Colonies, Manila and Macao. The one a Spanish Colony of great fertility and power of production, the other a Portuguese Settlement, producing nothing. Both have been hundreds of years in the hands of their present holders and each is called on for a contribution to the Treasuries of Spain and Portugal respectively. In Macao the trade once considerable is reduced to nothing, and the place is only the shadow of its former self; of Manila it is notorious that the most is not made and her principal City is as deficient in the ordinary requirements of civilization as if it had been kept two centuries back. On the recent occasion of a disastrous Earthquake a sui (of an amount variously reported, but large) was contributed by the Madrid Government in relief of a Colony which under a different system would have been perfectly independent of such external aid.
28. I do not of course attribute the condition of these two places solely to the contri- butions exacted by the Mother Countries, but I am not, I think, straining a point in my argument if I maintain that the monies they remitted to Europe would have been benefici- ally expended on the spot, and would directly on the Colony and indirectly on the Mother Country have reflected more credit than at the present time can be claimed by either.
29. I am aware that there is another Colony in this part of the world similarly circum- stanced and apparently contradictory of my view, but the financially prosperous possession of Java is excluded from our present consideration by the forced labour system of the Dutch Government, which would not be recognized under a British constitution.
30. I have instanced the only Colonies in these regions actually bearing on the point, the one productive, the other like Hongkong, non-productive, but in any case it seems to me that the Mother Country would have been amply repaid with the profits and advantages immediate and collateral resulting from her trade with the Colony and with the Countries adjacent, for the promotion of which I assume the original settlement to have been made.
31. I admit that it is the duty of all Colonies to relieve the Mother Country as far as they can, and that this duty is imperative on all producing Colonies; but in the case of a non-producing Colony like Hongkong it should be borne in mind that it did not plant itself and that the Mother Country had-it must be assumed--a self interest in planting it; the attainment and preservation of which interest should be a sufficient return without a direct pecuniary inpost, which can only be levied at the cost of the development of the Colony.
32. But not to occupy more of Your Grace's valuable time I may state my conclusions briefly thus (1) The presence of Troops here is not absolutely necessary for Colonial purposes, while the Colonial Revenue is urgently needed to the last cent for Public Works, some of them largely contributing to the benefit of the Imperial Government (2) Hong- Long in many respects renders important service to the Mother Country, service equivalent, without direct money payment, to what may in reason be required of a Colony established
s this has been, and circumstanced as it is.
33.
And next I propose to put forward practical suggestions in the form of alternative
proposals.-
2
-As I have shown that the Military are not wanted for local purposes I would propose that they be withdrawn altogether, except a Battery of Artillery for which the Colony might be charged-I propose this in deference to Professional opinion which pronounced during the discussions of the Executive Council in June last that Land Batteries were required in aid of the Naval Force.
I enclose Return of cost of Battery amounting to £6,173.5-say $29,631,60.
-Should the above proposition be considered inadmissible I would suggest that the cost of the Battery be the only part of the Military expenditure that falls on the Colony. 3.--As £20,000 would supply us with an additional European Police Force of between 200 and 300 men, is it not possible to utilize the Military for a local purpose and work them as a Police under the Civil Power? I recommended this on a special occasion seven years ago and with the two-fold consideration of economy to the Colony (for the Colonial allowance would only be small and supplementary to their regular pay) and of benefit to the Soldier, whose pay and comforts would be increased, while healthy employment would be given him, the want of which, as all experience of Hongkong shows, tends to the stagnation of his mental, and ultimately to the destruction of his physical, powers.
4.-If it be determined to levy the full sum of £20,000 per annum, let not the necessary public works be stopped as they otherwise must be, but let a special Military con- tribution Tax be levied to that amount under authority of a Legislative Enactment. 1 should of course prefer to see any other method pursued and propose this only as a remote alternative, but I have the less hesitation in doing so under the circum- stances in that the residents of Hongkong find the Colony singularly profitable, and
the lates
17
are but lightly taxed-the Police and Lighting Rates, with a Water Rate in prospect are the only taxes to which they are subjected.
At the same time it is proper to point out that the enforcement of this contribution amounts in effect to making the residents in a British Colony pay for the protection of foreign and rival Ports, and of the interests of the numerous nationalities there represented.
The natural tendency would be to drive people from Hongkong where they are taxed,
to Shanghae and other places where they are not, and cannot be, taxed. 5.--Let Hongkong be put under a purely Military Government, as Gibraltar, to which it bears a closer resemblance than to any other British Colony; politically it is of less, but commercially of far greater importance than Gibraltar; but the accidents of the two places have a certain similarity and under a Military regime, Troops would be made locally useful, which now, as already shown, they are not.
6.- But failing one and all of the above propositions I have only to ask, and I beg Your Grace's attention to this very earnestly, that the present claim for a Military contri- bution be postponed for a period not of one year as now fixed, but of 4 or 5 years by which time the financial condition of the Colony will be more firmly established, its real future will be more accurately ascertained, and its wants, now calling im- peratively for all its funds, will be satisfactorily and finally supplied.
34. I have only in concluding to request Your Grace to pardon me for thus venturing to question Your Grace's expressed resolution, but as the period of a year must yet elapse before that resolution be carried into effect, I am confident that the various reflections I now submit will receive all due consideration, and I shall be satisfied that if the Colony be finally called upon for the contribution, it will have had the advantage of being heard, even though by so poor an advocate as myself, on a matter vitally important to its interests.
35. I fully understand that Your Grace's proposition is made in furtherance of a general scheme to be applied more or less to all the Dependencies of Great Britain, but in placing before Your Grace the special circumstances of this Dependency I am encouraged by the words of Lord Palmerston himself who is reported to have said in the House of Commons on the 22nd July 1850 that it was "a mistake to look at Hongkong in the same light as other Colonies," and further by the description given of the Colony in the Colonial Office List, under the authority of which I infer that Hongkong is not to be judged under the rules and conditions prescribed as applicable to Colonies generally.
His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, K.G.,
&c.,
Soc
&c.
I have, &c. (Signed)
Enclosure No. 1 in No. 5.
W. T. MERCER,
Memo. of Amounts required for completion of Works in progress and for Works proposed, in Victoria and Stone Cutters' Island,
REP, AND EST. APPROVED.
SERVICE,
AMOUNT,
$ c.
No. 8 of 1859 Sup. No. 5 of 1862. Sup. No, 6 of 1862. Sup. No. 21 of 1883
Reconstruction of Victoría Gaol (Bal. R. & E. 8/59, 1st Nov. 1868) Convict Gaol on Stone Cutters' Island (do. Sup. do. 5/62, 1st Nov. 1868). Now Central Police Station, (do. do. 6;62, 1st Nov. 1863... Completion of Water Works, City, (do. do. 21/63, 1st Nov. 1863) Separate Water Works for Wanchai, Bowrington and probably Causeway
Bay.....
41,277.45
96,674.70
56,593.64
12,925.26
80,000.00
Connexion of present Water Works with West Point
15,000.00
35,000,00
25,000.00
120,000.00
482,371.05
Now Court House.....
New Post Office
Hongkong Miat (£25,000)..
Surveyor General's Office, 23rd November, 1863.
Total Works..
CHAS. ST. GEO. CLEVERLY,
Surveyor General.
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