3
34
A valuation of the lands under discussion was made by Sir J.H. Oakley who was sent out to the Colony by the
War Department. The total value of the lands then in question was put at nearly $17,000,000, and in accordance with the usual principles of the Military Lands Account as set out above the Colonial Government would have assumed
responsibility for reprovisioning up to that figure. It was in fact anticipated that the immediate requirements for
reprovisioning would have cost less than that, but the
balance would have remained a liability in the Military
Lands Account which could have been called upon at any time
by the War Department. It was also contemplated that the
construction of alternative accommodation would take anything
from five to ten years and a long period would, therefore,
have lapsed before the lands were transferred and the
Colonial Government received any return for its outlay.
transfer of the lands on the basis of the Oakley award was
nevertheless approved, somewhat reluctantly, by the
Legislative Council in 1924. It was not in fact carried
into effect because the Colonial Government had to request
postponement of the provision of the necessary funds owing
to the strike and boycott of 1925, and subsequently both
military and civil authorities changed their views as to
the wisdom of transferring the troops from the island of
Hong Kong to the mainland, which was an essential feature
of the plan as then envisaged. Sir Cecil Clementi's
confidential (2) despatch of 13th July, 1927, finally
recorded the definite abandonment of that scheme.
The
4. The present proposal is much more favourable to
Colonial Government than that which was accepted in
Government will not be liable for the full 1924, since the
the
value of the land and buildings surrendered, but only for the immediate costs of re-provisioning, subject to a maximum not yet finally agreed but not expected to exceed $5,000,000.
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Private notes are available after approval.