CO129-322 - Acting Governor May - 1904 [1-5] — Page 290

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further. I will only remark that this Goverment maintains

and is supported in its contention by the best legal opinions

in the Colony (those of Sir William Goodman and Mr. H. E. Pol-

lock, K.C., given as Attorney-General and Acting Attorney-

General respectively) that Crown Land reserved for a specific

Military purpose (in this case the keeping clear of buildings

of an area to be swept by rifle fire) should revert uncondition-

ally to the Colony when the reasons for which it was reserved

cease to exist. I cannot therefore admit that it is equi table

to value the land devoted to a Public Park as building land.

Paragraph 6. I am not sure that I under-

12.

stand the remarks in this paragraph. As far as I am aware the

War Department would raise the strongest objections to the

area which it is proposed to devote to the Park being utilised

for building purposes.

13.

Paragraph 7. The explanation is that in

paragraph 4 of Sir Henry Blake's Despatch No. 297 of the 18th.

June, 1903, the valuation of the remainder of the Military

Reserve Land at Kowloon coloured blue on plan X not required

for Barrack Extension" (see schedule A/2 in Mr. Chamberlain's

Despatch No. 169 of 18th. June, 1902) was referred to. The

area of that land which includes the portion to be devoted to

building and to the Park was at the time estimated to be 123.40

acres and worth $2,015,082.

14.

Paragraph 10. The object of the stipula-

tion that the War Department should pay the compensation was

to avoid a cash transaction which is likely to assume consider-

able proportions if the Colonial Government and not the War

Department has to find the money. There are considerable

private