CO129-253 - Public Offices & Others - 1891 — Page 188

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by Mr. Mills, who moved for the Committoo in the House of Commons, and who justified his proposals upon the plea of economy.

3. My Lords will not follow the Secretary of State through his reasons for exempting the Colonial at the expense of the Imperial taxpayer. They expressed, in their letter of the 10th August, their view of the duties and obligations of subjects of the Empire, in whatever part of the Empire such subjects may have fixed their residence, and they must abide by the opinion thus expressed.

4. They are, however, anxious on all occasions to give the inhabitants of distant parts of the Empire full credit for works which contribute towards military defence, and presuming that it is in the power of the Secretary of State to show that the waterworks, mentioned in the 13th paragraph of the lotter under reply, represent a substantial money value acknowledged by the War Office and the Admiralty, my Lords are prepared to balance that item against the charge for submarine defence

works.

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that the Secretary of State for War feels bound to represent that it is The character of absolutely essential that the work be commenced at once."

the scheme for Hong Kong is such that it will necessarily take a long time to carry out, because a certain amount of accommodation must be provided before the property can be sold, the sale of which is to supply funds for a great part of the remainder of the scheme, which, as is clear from the above considera- tions, cannot be carried out at one and the same time.

Mr. Secretary Stanhope has accordingly, in anticipation of their Lordships' covering sanction, ordered contracts to be entered into for the following works, viz. :-

Approximate

costi.

£

Enclosure 3 in No. 14.

FRANK MOWATT.

Colonial Office to Treasury.

Downing Street,

Barrack for battery, Royal Artillery, at Lymoon 10,000 30,000 Married Quarters in Victoria

Under the circumstances represented, Mr. Secretary Stanhope ventures to hope that their Lordships will not withhold any longer their sanction for the expenditure involved, which is covered by the amount of 350,0001. included in the Imperial Defence Loan.

R. H. KNOX.

Hong Kong

2

4307

Sir,

7th January, 1890. In reply to your letter,

16519

of the 5th ultimo, regarding the Military Contribu- , 89 tion to be paid by the Colony of Hong Kong, I am directed by Lord Knutsford to transunit to you, to be laid before the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, the draft of a despatch which, with their Lordships' concurrence, he proposes to address to the Governor on the subject, and I am to ask that the figures given in the draft may be verified in their Lordships' department.

2. In this draft despatch their Lordships will see that Lord Knutsford accepts the proposal that the new contribution should be fixed for three years only, which he under- stands to be the years 1890-92.

3. As regards the last paragraph of your letter under acknowledgment, I am to request you to inform their Lordships that the new waterworks at Hong Hong have already cost the Colony over 1,100,000 dollars, that the statement regarding these works, in paragraph 13 of the letter from this department of 17th October last, was the result of personal communication with the late Surveyor-General, who had recently arrived in England on his retirement from office, and that if their Lordships wish, further enquiry will be made of the Governor on the subject; but the same paragraph of the letter of 17th October shows that there are various grounds on which the Colonial Government might resist the claim to repay 9,000 spent several years ago without consultation with them, and in the meantime the demand for the annual con- tribution would be delayed, and the Colonial Government might raise counter-claims, which would cause further delay, and possibly might allege that the Colony ought to receive substantial compensation for the benefit given by the waterworks to Her Majesty's forces beyond the abandonment of a claim for 9,000, which, on the face of it, they might urge to be disputable.

LANDS.

No. 15.

R. G. W. HERBERT.

War Office to Treasury.

War Office,

Sir,

With reference to your letter of the 13th ultimo,

8th January, 1890. 17774

I am directed 89

to acquaint you, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, that, for military reasons, the question of providing accom- modation for the proposed increase to the garrison of Hong Kong is so urgent,

* No. 18.

No. 16.

CONTRIBUTION.

War Office to Colonial Office.

War Office, Sir,

15th January, 1890. In reply to your letter* of the 7th instant covering a draft of the despatch which Lord Knutsford proposes to address to the Governor of Hong Kong on the subject of the Military Contribution to be paid by that Colony during the three years, commencing on the 1st January, I am directed by the Secretary of State for War to return the draft with suggested verbal alterations in para- graphs 2, 6, and 16, and in the Appendix.

The alteration in the Appendix from "Infantry of the Line, two batta. lions" to "Infantry, two battalions" is suggested, because it is proposed that one of the Infantry battalions shall be raised in India, and technically will not therefore be a "battalion of the Line." In order to avoid any possible mis- understanding hereafter with the Colony, should the garrison at any time temporarily fall below the total strength indicated in the Appendix, from other causes than "variations of reliefs and similar matters," Mr. Stanhope would suggest the omission of paragraph 8. Under that paragraph the Colony, which is only asked to bear one-seventh part of the estimated cost of the garrison, might claim to have its contribution reduced if the force, for other reasons than those above mentioned, fall below the full strength given in the Appendix, a claim which could not be admitted unless the garrison were so reduced as to bring the total cost below the Contribution demanded from the Colony; a contingency which in this case is of such improbable occurrence that any special provision against it seems unnecessary.

A paragraph to the same effect is contained in Lord Knutsford's despatch to the Governor of the Straits Settlements, and at the time escaped the atten- tion of the Secretary of State for War. In that case also it is very improbable that the garrison will ever fall below the numbers covered by the Contribution to be paid by that Colony; but should unforeseen circumstances give rise to such a reduction in any Colony paying a Contribution, a rebate would be granted in the same manner as was provided for in the 1865 Agreement with Ceylon, which at that time undertook to bear the full cost of its garrison.

RALPH THOMPSON.

* No. 14.

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