CO129-307 - Governor Sir Blake - 1901 [10-12] — Page 826

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It separates the two colonies of Hung Hom and Yaumati, and if troops are required on the Kowloon peninsula at all, this site is in all respects the best for them.

12.

In the scheme for the housing of the troops which I have already submitted to you, I show how the land on the Reserve will be occupied, leaving a small Reserve for future expansion. It is submitted that we have a right to use this Reserve for our own purposes.

13.

If His Excellency considers that he can govern what will soon be a million Chinese, without troops, by all means let them be withdrawn. But if they are considered necessary, let them by all means be placed in the best position for them to act, and let them be given every necessary comfort and convenience within reason.

14.

If it were desired to make a present to a struggling Colony, the payment to it for land already in the possession of the Imperial Government, would be a good method of veiling the transaction from the British taxpayer. But Hong Kong is no longer a struggling Colony, nor does the nationality of the Colonists render such a present in the least desirable.

15.