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Secretary of State and the Governor should be of opinion that the change would be for the benefit of the work. They point out however that they have no knowledge of what may be the experience of the Director of Public Works in connection with Railway undertakings, and we see on reference to the record of Mr Chatham's services in the Colonial Office List that he has apparently had no experience whatever in connection with Railway works. In these circumstances it appears to us that it would be very doubtful policy to place the construction of the Kowloon Railway under the Director of Public Works and that the result of such an arrangement would be to shift much of the responsibility which now attaches to the Consulting Engineers from them to the Colonial Government.
9. In his telegram of the 18th of February Sir M. Nathan speaks of the system which he advocates as having been successful in the construction of other large works in the Colony, and we conclude that he refers to the water and drainage works which have been carried out in the Colony. These however are works of a nature of which the Director of Works of a Colony has presumably had some experience before receiving his appointment, but a large Railway undertaking should in our opinion be under the charge of a man of special knowledge and qualifications, and there would appear to be no advantage in interposing a man of the class of a Colonial Director of Public Works between a specially qualified Resident Engineer and the Consulting Engineers, as the result of doing so would, as I have before suggested, be to weaken the responsibility of the Consulting Engineers.
10. The experience of the Colonial Office in the past has been that it is not desirable to entrust works of a large and special ...
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Secretary of State and the Governor should be of opinion that the change would be for the benefit of the work. They point out however that they have no knowledge of what may be the experience of the Director of Public Works in connection with Railway undertakings, and we see on reference to the record of Mr Chatham's services in the Colonial Office List that he has apparently had no experience whatever in connection with Railway works. In these circumstances it appears to us that it would be very doubtful policy to place the construction of the Kowloon Railway under the Director of Public Works and that the result of such an arrangement would be to shift much of the responsibility which now attaches to the Consulting Engineers from them to the Colonial Government.
9. In his telegram of the 18th of February Sir M.Nathan speaks of the system which he advocates as having been successful in the construction of other large works in the
Colony, and we conclude that he refers to the water and drainage works which have been carried out in the Colony. The se however are works of a nature of which the Director of Works of a Colony has presumably had some experience before receiving his appointment, but a large Railway undertaking should in our opinion be under the charge of a man of special knowledge and qualifications, and there would appear to be no advantage in interposing a man of the class of a Colonial Director of Public Works between, specially qualified Resident Engineer and the Consulting Engineers, as the result of doing so would, as I have before suggested,be to weaken the responsibility of the Consulting Engineers.
10.
a
The experience of the Colonial Office in the past has been that it is not desirable to entrust works of a large and
special
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