With reference to the required report the possibility of combining the two Offices of Colonial Secretary and Secretary to the Superintendent, my experience of the duplex function confided to my charge, have convinced me that such a combination, would inevitably lead to a degree of confusion against which the separation of the two Secretaryships is the only safeguard.
I can illustrate the effects of their union in no better way than by the supposed amalgamation of the Colonial and Foreign Departments in England.
I was obliged to postpone, until after my interview with the Imperial Commissioner Keying, any measures as to a system of taxation to meet the expenses of the Colony; but am now prepared to enter on that task. Assisted by my Council, I shall take in review all the various available sources of Colonial revenue, for the provision of which not a single step was taken previous to my arrival, with the exception of Land Rents. I must, however, observe that some items of contingent outlay inseparable from a newly created Colony (as buildings and public Works) are beyond the provision of any revenue, and will have to be defrayed from the Chinese indemnity.
I have been led by Keying to indulge considerable hopes that the trade in Opium may be legalized by the Emperor, and the virtual connivance of the Government, even at the five ports of ...