OUTWARD TELEGRAM
Page 193
FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES
TO HONG KONG (Sir R. Black)
Simplex
DEF.75/51/02
Sent 15th April, 1958.
15.00 hrs.
PRIORITY
TOP SECRET
No.335
Following personal from Melville.
Begins.
Your telegrams Nos. 262, 270 and 322.
Garrison.
Secretary of State was most grateful for your fresh thoughts for the payment of the 1957/58 defence contribution, and for your willingness to make this delicate approach to Finance Committee.
He asked us to
discuss proposals in paragraph 4 of your telegram No.262 with officials before taking them to colleagues. Following points have been raised in official talks.
2.
On your condition (c) we have since seen an
extract from a telegram from FARELF to the War Office which says that your Colonial Secretary has explained the intention of condition (c) as follows.
Begins.
"(a) If the War Department give up WD Lot No.5 the
Government will reprovision buildings elsewhere for us free of all charge and will not (repeat not) offset against additional contribution.
(b) If the War Department claim compensation for
betterment of reclaimed portion of WD Lot No.5 or for value of any portion we may have bought in the past such compensation would be offset against any annual payments of additional contribution due after agreement of transfer of land reached,"
· Sale
End 8.
We should be glad to have confirmation and some elaboration of point (b).
3.
War Office, who place a provisional value of £3 million on WD Lot 5 (a) and (b),would like an agreement to your providing facilities to an agreed money value of the land itself à la Murray Barracks negotiations.
Are you convinced that that course would not be acceptable to your unofficials?
4.
Would you be willing to leave all the Admiralty lands out of this calculation and to confine it to the parts
In of the dockyard to which the War Office has claims?
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