to which these Proclamations refer,
subjects of these stipulations.
So long
A0
the
Island of Hong Kong shall remain in the possession of H.M's. forces in the exercise of belligerent rights, Lord Stanley apprehends that no well-founded objection could be raised as to the title on which Lieutenant Pettinger may exercise the delegated prerogatives of the Crown. But from the moment when the Island shall become a permanent part of the British Dominions by the mutual ratification of the Treaty by the respective Sovereigns, it will, as Lord Stanley
apprehends
23
apprehend be necessary
that the proclamation of the local Govt should rest on a basis of
greater solemnity than a mere dispatch,
from one of His principal Secretaries of State. It will therefore, in his opinion, be proper that
a Commission under the Great Seal for the future Govt of Hong Kong should be issued
with as little
delay
as
may
be practicable,
inasmuch as there is no sufficient
reason to doubt that
the Treaty will be ratified by the Emperor of China.
Lord Stanley observes
that