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To The
Subscribers to the Dear Sirs, At the request of the General Committee of the The scheme was first suggested formally at a committee
meeting, on At the request of the committee Mr. J. Stewart Black
kindly undertook to ascertain whether the Siamese Government would give their
permission to sell the present site and grant a new site for a church, the
Government having, in 1861, given the present site to the Protestant
community. Mr. Black reported that he had reason to believe that if a formal
request were presented to H.M.The King it would be favourably considered. A petition embodying the above
request was then sent to His Majesty the King, signed by the whole of the
members of the committee. His Majesty, with his usual desire to further every good cause
in his kingdom calculated to benefit his own people or foreign residents,
gave the committee the permission asked and presented for church purposes a
block of land comprising 2,000 square wah on the
junction of Klong Sathorn
and the road in front of the Nursing Home. This was accepted by the committee
on behalf of the Protestant community. The ground we now have contains 729 square wah, and at the request of the Government some land
adjoining consisting of 231 square wah will be
included in the sale and the proceeds handed over to the Government. The committee, on the 14th August 1903, decided to convene
a meeting of subscribers to the church to acquaint them with what had been
done, and to ask their approval, or otherwise, of the scheme. Some delay ensued
in connection with the title deeds. Meanwhile our chairman, Mr. Paget, ascertained that the British Government
who had contributed £400 to the present church building under certain
conditions, had no objection to the sale of the church provided the proceeds
of sale were used in the erection of another church. A meeting of subscribers was held in the British Court
House on for his generous
gift, and that the committee be empowered to take steps to find out what the
present site and buildings would realize, so that it might be known if a new
church could be built from the proceeds, and report to another General
Meeting. At the next committee meeting (January 21st) a sub-committee
was appointed consisting of the Hon. Forbes Sempill,
Dr. Highet and Mr. Mackay, to further the scheme by
endeavouring to arrive at some definite conclusion
as to what sum could be obtained by the sale of the present site and
building. We advertised in the local papers for offers for the
purchase of the property, and received only one offer. This was from the
Borneo Co. Ltd. The price offered by them is Tcs.70,000
-- for our property and the adjoining Government land comprising altogether
960 square wah. Our share of this offer will be
Tcs.58,064 -- and the government portion Tcs.12,936.
Two other likely buyers enquired for particulars but did not make an offer
owing to the fact that no public or independent road-way existed forming a
means of access to the property from the main road. A narrow lane forming a
public right of way did exist for many years, from the main road to the
river, the river end of which terminated alongside the church property, and
which end still exists. The lane, however, has been closed, from the church
East boundary to the main road, for some years, and we have received no
encouragement from the Government in reply to our enquiries as to whether it
would be possible for us to re-establish this right of way. We are told that
to raise the question would mean long and expensive litigation, the result of
which is very doubtful. Even if the narrow right of way were established it
would not meet the wants of the parties referred to, as they require a
road-way wide enough for carriage traffic. The Protestant community is now indebted to the kindness
of the Borneo Company for allowing access to the church through the Company's
private grounds. With reference to the offer now made for the property we
are of the opinion, taking all circumstances into consideration, that it is a
very fair one. Undoubtedly the situation is a valuable one, but the area is
too limited to permit of the erection of a mill or factory, while the noise
caused by the neighbouring workshops would
interfere greatly with office work. As the property can only be reached by
river without trespassing on other property the price of Tcs.56 per square wah seems reasonable. It appears to be of value only to
the land - holders on either side who possess means of access to the main
road. We are aware that land adjoining has been recently secured at the rate
of Tcs.60 per square wah but the block referred to
is much more valuable as it extends from the river to the main road, whereas
our block may be termed "isolated". If the offer of the Borneo Company is accepted they will
allow us the use of the present building till the new church is ready, and we
can draw on the Company for building purposes as required. As before stated the property has been put on the
market publicly. This is the only offer received and we have no hope of
receiving another. A design of the proposed new church has not yet been adopted but we
have ascertained that with the money available (Tcs.57,000)
the scheme can very well be carried out. We can build a larger and much
better church than the one we now have, form the necessary road, bridges,
gates and fencing. The land is already raised and drained. The situation is
one of the healthiest, coolest, and quietest in Some may think that the new site is too far from
town and not as centrally situated as could be desired. The site, however,
has not been chosen by us and we would point out that residents on the river
and in town are gradually removing in the direction of the new site. It is
much nearer the residential quarters of Sapatoom
than the present site, hence the new site will be found as central and
convenient as any other in this scattered community. The present church was built forty years ago when
the site was no doubt considered a convenient and suitable one. Roads were then
very few and people came to church in boats. The river at that time was the
highway, and access to the road was of little account. The position then was
central as, with the exception of a very few Government officials, the
European population resided between Messrs. Markwald
& Co's. premises and Bangkolem point. Noise could not be complained of, as a
large property existed between the church and the Dock Company's works. This
property has since been acquired by the Dock Co. with the consequent result that
hammering and other noises are brought alongside the church, causing much
inconvenience at the week-day services. Again, mills were few, and a steam
launch on the river a rarity, annoyance from steam whistles could therefore
not be complained of. All this has now changed, and to meet the change
we propose to remove the church. The munificent grant made by his Majesty
enables us to carry out the scheme efficiently, and we consider it would be
folly to postpone indefinitely the realization of the scheme with the chance
of getting a larger sum for the property than that now offered. His Majesty's grant and the Borneo Company's
offer, on which our scheme entirely depends, may be cancelled if not
immediately accepted, we therefore advise the subscribers to adopt the
proposals of the general committee and authorize them to proceed with the
scheme. We are, dear Sirs, Your
obedient servants, J. MACKAY,
H. R. A. FORBES
SEMPILL. |