Government. The wants, the welfare and the development of the Colony were mercilessly sacrificed to Imperial military interests which after all were soon found to be ill-served by this unrighteous appropriation. But that, in addition to the serious and permanent injury thus inflicted upon the Colony, an annual military contribution was likewise demanded, can be explained only by the assumption that Her Majesty's Government was kept in ignorance of the serious blow which the prosperity of Hongkong received by being deprived of the advantages which the civil occupation of Kowloon would have afforded. The dispute dragged on until 1864, when the Military Authorities got the lion's share and certain prescriptive rights over the remainder, which was divided between the Colony and the Navy. At a land sale, held in 1864 (July 25 to 29), some 26 marine and 39 inland lots were sold, on short leases, at a premium of $4,050 and an annual rent of $18,793 (of which sum hardly one-fourth was ever paid). The one portion which was of essential value for the Colony was retained by the Military Authorities.
In spring, 1860, a novel proposition was under discussion.. The idea was mooted of appointing a Governor-General of H.M. Insular Possessions in the East, who should combine the civil and military government of Mauritius, Ceylon, the Straits Settlements and Hongkong. Nothing further came of this amalgamation scheme, however, beyond the appointment of a Colonial Defence Commission.
The relations of the Colony with the Cantonese Authorities were, after the evacuation of Canton (October 21, 1861), under the care of H.M. Consul at Canton, subject to the control of the British Minister at Peking. Nevertheless, when any pressing case occurred, this circumlocutory process was occasionally set aside. To give but one instance, it happened in January, 1865, that a Chinese resident of Hongkong was kidnapped from a boat in the harbour and held for ransom in a village near Shamtsiin in the Sun-on District. The new Registrar General (C. C. Smith), without loss of time, obtained the use of H.M.S. Woodcock and proceeded to Deep Bay. A party of
