CO129-514-6 Question of legality of sale of water to Tai Koo Sugar Refining Co. Ltd.- from... 6-12-1928 - 23-12-1929 — Page 43

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Now as to the pipe line, without which the reservoir

would be practically useless.

It seems to me that the construction of a pipe line,

or of some form of watercourse, must have been contemplated

from the very beginning as part of the whole scheme, for

without it the reservoir would be a mere white elephant.

In a letter dated 10th April, 1894, Messrs. Butter-

field & Swire submitted a plan of the proposed pipe line,

& by a letter dated 16th April, 1894, the Government agreed

to the construction of the same, subject to two conditions,

namely a payment by the Company of $1 per annum, & a

reservation by the Government of the right to dispose of

the land across which the pipes pass, subject to a right

of entry reserved to the Company for inspecting & repairing

the pipes.

It seems to me that these two letters form a complete

agreement with regard to the pipe line & that the rights

of the parties depend thereon.

Subsequently the Government issued a document des-

cribed as a permit, which states that permission is granted

to the Company to lay a pipe line for one year. The only

available copy is dated 8th June, 1917, & it would appear

that a fresh permit was not issued every year, but that at

the end of some years a notice of extension was either

written or stamped thereon, whereas for other years there

is apparently not either a permit issued or an extension

noted. I will consider the effect of this permit later.

As to the agreement to be collected from the two

letters, it seems to me to be an agreement that the Govern-

ment will permit a pipe line to be laid as per plan for an

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