Amended lopen
2.
35
TELEGRAM from the Governor of Hong Kong to the
Secretary of State for the Colonies.
Dated 2nd March Received at 9.43 a.m. on 2nd March, 1940.
No.96.
CONFIDENTIAL.
Your telegram No. 45.
Discussions have now
reached the stage at which I am assured that the Legislative
Council will next Thursday approve unanimously the motion
that war revenue taxation: measures be introduced and passed
as quickly as possible with effect from 1st April.
(2) Estimated Revenue from taxes may be put at
6 million dollars per annum and assuming two years period there would be 12 million dollars for disposal. Subject to your covering approval, proposals for appropriations which have
the complete support of the Naval Commander in Chief and General
Officer Commanding are as follows, all figures being on two years
basis of civil charges. (a) Cost of collection of 800,000 dollars
(b) Abnormal local defence expenditure due to current war 4 million
dollars.
Naval Craft (c) Two mine
sweepers 4,500,00 dollars.
(d) Four Harbour Defence vessels 1,400,00 dollars.
Army requirements (e) Two ferry tenders 300,000
dollars. (f) Balance of 1 million dollars against short collection
or upward variation of estimates. It will be appreciated that these estimates are quite tentative and that the proposals may have to be varied if tenders render the present scheme
impracticable.
(3)
Regarding the foregoing, (a) Salaries of officers
seconded to new departments not chargeable there to except for the cost of replacement if any.
(d) Local Naval Authorities do not consider that
the vessels suggested in your telegram under reference sufficiently
larg
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