CO129-333 - Governor Nathan - 1906 [1-4] — Page 34

جمه

Your Excellency,

C. O.

4332

32

(Red 10 FEB 06

Head Quarters,

Hongkong, 5th. January, 1906.

!

With reference to your letter No.

$820/05/0.3.0., dated 3rd, instant, paragraph 3, 1 desire to

G

point out to Your Excellency that in paragraph 15 on page E

of the "Lewis Agreement" occurs the following passage "Land not

in the table is not included in this understanding".

2.

The proposal now made being subsequent to the date of the Agreement of 15th. February, 1905, I am firmly

of opinion that it was the paramount wish of Colonel Lewis that

after the agreement had been accepted all transactions should

his Excellency

be conducted on their own merits and as it were, in the open

market; and that the whole raison d'etre of the agreement was

to end the running paper account which formed the foundation

of a superstructure of ancient disputes, difficult to follow,

the histories of, and which were unsatisfactory to all concerned.

If I am right in my view the point is, that anything not ai-

-luded to in the agreement is to be dealt with as a new proposal

and as such, dealt with as I have described; and that the pur-

-pose of the Military Authorities is to gradually wipe off the

paper debt, and not to add to it.

3.

The proposed settlement of the Lands

question, which was so strongly objected to by your predecessor,

and cut of which arose the appointment of Colonel Lewis and the

subsequent agreement of 15th. February, 1905, adjudged a cash

payment of some $500,000 to the War Department. This amount

The Governor of Hongkong.

was