No. 16.
Treasury to War Office.
Treasury Chambers,
T. No. 16137
6th November, 1894.
The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury direct me to enclose, for the information of the Secretary of State for War, a copy of a letter from the Colonial Office of 31st ultimo, and of the reply from this department of to-day's date, respecting the obligation of the Colony of Hong Kong to provide sites for new barracks.
Sir,
FRANCIS MOWATT,
Enclosure 1 in No. 16.
Colonial Office to Treasury.
Downing Street,
31st October, 1894.
In reply to your letter,* of the 19th instant, regarding the incidence of the cost of the new barracks at Hong Kong, I am directed by the Marquis of Ripon to request you to point out to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury that, since the report of the Colonial Military Contribution Committee, dated 27th July, 1888, was written, the general question of Colonial military lands was dealt with in a somewhat different sense by a later report of that Committee, dated 27th March, 1889, and in the Secretary of State's circular† despatch of 9th June, 1890, which is about to be again amplified in a further circular, the terms of which have been agreed upon in your letter of the 26th instant, and previous correspondence.
It seems to Lord Ripon that proposal (6) in your letter under acknowledgment hardly accords with the new circular, and that the proper course under paragraph 3 of the new circular would be to appropriate the value of any surrendered lands or buildings, so far as it will extend, to providing the new sites required, and to providing the new buildings, and to divide the remainder of the cost in the proportions proposed between the Imperial and Colonial Governments,
The Committee go on to explain in the next paragraph that, in their opinion, when land is required for Colonial military purposes, it should be provided by the Colony; and, save in very exceptional circumstances, this should be done free of charge.
In the letter from the Colonial Office to the War Office, of 21st September, 1888, it was stated that the Secretary of State is happy to concur in the above recommendation of the Committee, and in their letter of 19th ultimo, my Lords expressed a similar concurrence, the stipulation in question being stated in paragraph (6).
The Secretary of State now objects to the stipulation that the Colony is to provide the necessary sites for the barracks free of charge. If the sites had to be bought by the Colony at some exorbitant price, my Lords would be open to conviction that the case was one in which very exceptional circumstances might, as the Committee foresaw, relieve the Colony from the obligation of providing sites wholly free of charge. But no such ground is alleged by the Secretary of State for his objection. He bases it on the assumption that the stipulation is inconsistent with the report of the Colonial Military Contributions Committee, dated 27th March, 1889, and the recently agreed circular, respecting the terms on which Colonial military lands are to be surrendered by the War Department to a Colonial Government.
My Lords would point out, however, that the report of 1889, and the circular referred to by the Secretary of State, only prescribe the return that a Colony is to make for the surrender by the War Department of Colonial military lands, and in no way affect the normal obligation of a Colony to provide new sites required for its own defence. This is clearly explained in paragraph 10(4), which the Secretary of State agreed, by your letter of the 23rd ultimo, to insert in the circular, for the purpose of preventing any misapprehension on the point.
My Lords hope that, on reconsideration, the Secretary of State will agree that there is no inconsistency between paragraph (6) of the Treasury letter of 19th ultimo, regarding the provision of new sites free of charge and the new circular, and that my Lords could not have omitted that paragraph without departing from recommendations in which both the Colonial Office and the War Office have concurred.
Sir,
FRANCIS MOWATT.
No. 17.
War Office to Treasury.
War Office,
20th December, 1894.
With reference to the War Office letter of the 27th July, 1893, Hong Kong 2, wherein a scheme was put forward showing a list of services which it was proposed to adopt for joint execution by the War Department and the Colony during the following eight years, leaving further services to be dealt with later on, I am directed by the Secretary of State for War to acquaint you, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, that representations have been received from the station to the effect that the hospital ship "Meanee" is in an insanitary state, and that its continued occupation is injurious to the health of the patients.
2. The medical authorities at the station have recently made strong representations in the matter; contending that the time has now come when diseases can no longer be properly treated in such a structure, especially at sea, and in such a climate as that of Hong Kong, where the temperature and other conditions are so variable.
3. It is also necessary that separate wards should be provided for the treatment of infectious diseases, and for the itch, as well as for the reception of lunatics.
4. At present cases of small-pox, scarlet fever and diphtheria have to be treated as best they can, no official accommodation having been provided for the isolation of patients suffering from these diseases.
5. The provision of a hospital on shore, to which special allusion is made in the 10th paragraph of the War Office letter before quoted, has, therefore, now become a service of pressing urgency, and Mr. Secretary Campbell-Bannerman finds it necessary to add this to the list previously put forward.
Enclosure 2 in No. 16.
Treasury to Colonial Office.
Treasury Chambers,
6th November, 1894.
The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury have had before them your letter of the 31st ultimo, in which the Marquis of Ripon invites them to waive one of the conditions recommended by the Colonial Military Contributions Committee in 1888, and never heretofore objected to by the Colonial Office, regarding the proportion of the cost of new barracks to be borne by the Colony of Hong Kong.
The condition in question is contained in the last words of paragraph 34 of the report of the Committee, dated 27th July, 1888, which are underlined in red ink in the following copy of that paragraph:
31. After devoting the realized or estimated value of the surrendered sites to the provision of the required accommodation for the garrison, the Committee consider that the balance required to complete that accommodation should be divided as follows:-One-third against Colonial and two-thirds against Imperial revenues, being about the proportions in which the capital expenditure on defences has been shared, the Colony in addition providing the necessary sites for the barracks.
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Sir,
16
No. 16.
Treasury to War Office.
Treasury Chambers,
T. No. 16137
6th November, 1894. 94
The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury direct me to enclose, Ilong
for the information of the Secretary of State for War, a copy of a letter from Kong 2
the Colonial Office of 31st ultimo, and of the reply from this department of to-day's date, respecting the obligation of the Colony of Hong Kong to pro- vide sites for new barracks.
4694
Sir,
FRANCIS MOWATT,
Enclosure 1 in No. 16.
Colonial Office to Treasury.
Downing Street,
31st October, 1894.
14964
94
In reply to your letter,*
of the 19th instant, regarding the incidence of the cost of the new barracks at Hong Kong, I am directed by the Marquis of Ripon to request you to point out to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury that, since the report of the Colonial Military Contribution Committee, dated 27th July, 1888, was written, the general question of Colonial military lands was dealt with in a somewhat different sense by a later report of that Committee, dated 27th March, 1889, and in the Secretary of State's circulart despatch of 9th June, 1890, which is about to be again amplified in a further circular, the
15717 terms of which have been agreed upon in
of the 26th instant,and previous your letter,
94 correspondence.
It seems to Lord Ripon that proposal (6) in your letter under acknowledgment hardly accords with the new circular, and that the proper course under paragraph 3 of the new circular would be to appropriate the value of any surrendered lands or buildings, so far as it will extend, to providing the new sites required, and to providing the new buildings, and to divide the remainder of the cost in the proportions proposed between the Imperial and Colonial Governments,
EDWARD FAIRFIELD.
17
The Committee go on to explain in the next paragraph that, in their opinion, when land is required for Colonial military purposes, it should be provided by the Colony; and, save in very exceptional circumstances, this should be done free of charge.
In the letter from the Colonial Office to the War Office, of 21st September, 1888, it was stated that the Secretary of State is happy to concur in the above recommendation of the Committee, and in their letter of 19th ultimo, my Lords expressed a similar concurrence, the stipulation in question being stated in paragrapli (6).
The Secretary of State now objects to the stipulation that the Colony is to provide the necessary sites for the barracks free of charge. If the sites had to be bought by the Colony at some exorbitant price, my Lords would be open to conviction that the case was one in which very exceptional circumstances might, as the Committee foresaw, relieve the Colony from the obligation of providing sites wholly free of charge. But no such ground is alleged by the Secretary of State for his objection. He bases it on the assumption that the stipulation is inconsistent with the report of the Colonial Military Contributions Com- mittee, dated 27th March, 1889, and the recently agreed circular, respecting the terms on which Colonial military lands are to be surrended by the War Department to a Colonial Government.
My Lords would point out, however, that the report of 1889, and the circular referred to by the Secretary of State, only prescribe the return that a Colony is to make for the surrender by the War Department of Colonial military lands, and in no way affect the normal obligation of a Colony to provide new sites required for its own defence. This is clearly explained in paragraph' 10(4), which the Secretary of State agreed, by your letter of the 23rd ultimo, to insert in the circular, for the purpose of preventing any mis- apprehension on the point.
My Lords hope that, on reconsideration, the Secretary of State will agree that there is no inconsistency between paragraph (b) of the Treasury letter of 19th ultimo, regarding the provision of new sites free of charge and the new circular, and that my Lords could not have omitted that paragraph without departing from recommendations in which both the Colonial Office and the War Office have concurred.
Sir,
2
FRANCIS MOWATT.
No. 17.
War Office to Treasury.
War Office,
245
Sir,
Enclosure 2 in No. 16.
Treasury to Colonial Office.
Treasury Chambers,
6th November, 1891.
The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury have had before them your letter of the 31st ultimo, in which the Marquis of Ripon invites them to waive one of the conditions recommended by the Colonial Military Contributions Committee in 1888, and never heretofore objected to by the Colonial Office, regarding the proportion of the cost of new barracks to be borne by the Colony of Hong Kong.
The condition in question is contained in the last words of paragraph 34 of the report of the Committee, dated 27th July, 1888, which are underlined in red ink in the following copy of that paragraph
31. After devoting the realized or estimated value of the surrendered sites to the provision of the required accommodation for the garrison, the Committee consider that the balance required to complete that accommodation should be divided as follows:-One-third against Colonial and two-thirds against Imperial revenues, being about the proportions in which the capital expenditure on defences has been shared, the Colony in addition providing the necessary sites for the barracks.
* Enclosure in No. 15.
† Enclosure 1 in No. 20 of Correspondenco relating to Military Lands and Buildings, Mauritius. [A 250.] -
20th December, 1894. With reference to the War Office letter of the 27th July, 1893, Hong Kong 2, wherein a scheme was put forward showing a list of services
4568 which it was proposed to adopt for joint execution by the War Department and the Colony during the following eight years, leaving further services to he dealt with later on, I am directed by the Secretary of State for War to acquaint you, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, that representations have been received from the station to the effect that the hospital ship "Meanee" is in an insanitary state, and that its continued occupation is injurious to the health of the patients.
2. The medical authorities at the station have recently made strong representations in the matter; contending that the time has now come when diseases can no longer be properly treated in such a structure, especially at sea, and in such a climate as that of Hong Kong, where the temperature and other conditions are so variable.
3. It is also necessary that separate wards should be provided for the treatment of infectious diseases, and for the itch, as well as for the reception
of lunatics.
4. At present cases of small-pox, scarlet fever and diphtheria have to be treated as best they can, no official accommodation having been provided for the isolation of patients suffering from these diseases.
5. The provision of a hospital on shore, to which special allusion is made in the 10th paragraph of the War Office letter before quoted, has, therefore, now become a service of pressing urgency, and Mr. Secretary Campbell- Bannerman finds it necessary to add this to the list previously put forward.
† No. %.
* Enclosure in No. 15.
E
Hong
Kong 2
4690
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