CO129-591-7 Estimates for 1946-1947 12-12-1945 - 14-3-1947 — Page 36

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In his minute or the 26th December,

Mr. J.B. Williams expresses agreement with this view.

I rind it therefore difficult to believe that his

endorsement of the procedure suggested in the third paragraph of your minute of the 12th December was intented to rule out a later overall approach to the Treasury,if and when we find that the burden of any of these territories is beyond its capacity to bear

without a grant from the

Treasury.

Moreover, at the time when Sir T. Lloyd was

considering this paper, he discussed the Malayan

position with me and indicated that he thought the time was approaching when we ought to be asking the Malayan Union and Singapore Governments to review these

war time financial burdens in which they had become involved (even though pending the assessment of the War Damage Claims Commission, we cannot arrive at final figures) with a view (on the basis of the best estimates they can now make) to forming some preliminary

conclusion on the question whether these burdens are

likely to be beyond their capacity to bear.

In other words, I clearly understood that it was not Sir T. Lloyd's view that we had abandoned the intention (at the appropriate time) of trying to get

grants from the Treasury for these Far Eastern

Colonies. In order therefore to crstalize the issue

I suggest, if you agree, that Mr. Palmer should now prepare a draft letter to the Governor (for Treasury concurrence on the lines that until we are in a position

to know precisely the extent of the financial burdens

in which Hong Kong has become involved as

the war, i.e. until we are in a position to estimate to

what extent it will be possible for Hong Kong to bear

these burdens without the assistance of a grant

a result of

/from