R
1946/47 referred to in his telegram No.450. Further special
expenditure will doubtless be required in subsequent years.
In addition there is a possible liability in respect of war
damage compensation which he suggested in paragraph 10 of his
The actual
despatch No.164 may be as high as $740,000,000.
amount of any compensation paid would no doubt be less than
His telegram No.809 has some bearing on this
that figure.
point.
Of.
3. I would also refer to my telegram No.476 regarding
expenditure in Macao and to the reply in telegram No. 534.
the total Foreign office claim of £478,629, £11,509 relates
to expenditure on pensions and salaries of Hong Kong
Government officials and I assume that there will be no
difficulty in meeting this expenditure, provided it is
satisfactorily vouched, from Hong Kong Government funds, and
that it is only in respect of that part (£467,120) of the
claim relating to relief, to which political objection may be
raised. In paragraph 3 of the Governor's telegram No. 534,
in addition to the expenditure in Macao, reference is made to
possible objections being raised to Hong Kong being charged
with expenditure on the return passages of those who were sent
to the United Kingdom and other countries after the liberation
of the Colony, and with the expenditure on the demobilisation
and pensions of the Hong Kong volunteers. This latter
question was also referred to in Sir Mark Young's savingram
No.464 of 30th December 1946. It is observed from telegram
No.589 that the expenditure on passages and on the volunteers
has been charged temporarily to a suspense account pending a
decision as to the final incidence of charge.
It is clear that in any event the total financial
liabilities with which the Colony will be faced are extremely
heavy, and in considering the various questions referred to above, it will be necessary to have a fuller appreciation than
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