50
r (The & has now been fixed at 2/4 and contribution is paid at that rate of exchange)
also agreed that contribution should be calculated
in dollars, the local currency, and paid at the current
rate of exchange.
X
In 1898 in order to avoid correspondence and friction the percentage was raised to 20% of revenue, deducting land sales, and the liability of the Colony for capital expenditure on lands etc. was removed.
This percentage calculated on what the Colony had paid in the past and could afford to pay had remained unaltered up to the present day: though there have been minor modifications e.g. it was agreed that only he net
revenue from productive undertakings such as railways and telephones should be assessable for the military contribution.
This percentage does not represent the total cost of the garrison, but it is all, or more than all, the Colony can afford to pay.
II FONG KONG.
Hong Kong was ceded in 1841, and cost the Imperial Government £273,000 for civil administration in its
first 14 years, exclusive of military expenditure. In 1865 in spite of strenuous local opposition, the Colony was made to pay £20,000 towards the cost of its
garrison, which in 1863 was estimated as £100,000.
The proportion of contribution to revenue was about 16 % (The arrangement was to be revised after
5 years but the question was overlooked and nothing happened till 1888).
In
!
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.