32
REPORT ON
as exemplified by the Americans and other missionaries, who, after establishing themselves on the island, and building commodious chapels and dwellings, have now all, in despair, quitted Hong Kong,
7th. Hong Kong is therefore useless to England.--(1) It can never be a colony; (2) it is not a commercial emporium; (3) it can- not be a fortress; (4) it is not required as a military or naval station; (5) it is politically injurious; (6) and religiously ineffective.
These points I am prepared to prove in detail.
London, Nov. 28, 1845.
RESPECTING CHUSAN.
R. M. MARTIN.
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No. II.-To his Excellency J. F. Davis, Governor of Hong Kong.
Sir,
August 30, 1844,
DURING my recent visit to Chusan, on sick certificate, I deemed it On board « Alligator," off Formosa. my duty, as a servant of the Crown, to collect all the information in my power respecting that island; and believing that the information thus collected would not be unacceptable to Her Majesty's Govern- ment, I have framed it into a report, which I have the honour herewith to lay before your Excellency.
As this report, and the conclusions thence arising, are, in my humble judgment, deserving the early and serious attention of Her Majesty's Ministers, I respectfully request that you will do me the favour of transmitting the document to Lord Stanley by an opportune conveyance.
The infirm state of my health while preparing the report will, I trust, be some apology for its imperfections.
I have, &c.,
R. M. MARTIN,
CHUSAN.
No. III.-To C. E. Trevelyan, Esq., Assistant Secretary to the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury.
Sir,
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H. M. Treasury, Hong Kong, September 20, 1844. I RECENTLY did myself the honour of transmitting to you, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, a copy of a report on the island of Hong Kong, which I laid before Mr. Davis, the Governor, and which has been transmitted to Lord Stanley by his Excellency.
Having been ordered for the restoration of my health to proceed to the north-east coast of China, I availed myself of the opportunity to visit the island of Chusan, and some of the adjacent places on the main land.
Although suffering from extreme debility and a nearly fatal disease, I deemed it my duty, as a servant of the Crown, to collect all the information in my power, on Chusan, previous to our evacuation of the island in December, 1845.
Believing that this information would not be unacceptable to Her Majesty's Ministers, I have framed it into a report for the Governor of Hong Kong, with a respectful solicitation that his Excellency would have the goodness to forward the documents to Lord Stanley.
As the future pecuniary drain on Her Majesty's Treasury in London, for Hong Kong, and the expenditure on our Consulate estab- lishments in China, may probably be influenced by the course of pro- ceedings adopted by Her Majesty's Government with regard to Chusan, I beg to forward herewith, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, a copy of my report on the island of Chusan, as laid before the Governor of Hong Kong.
With great respect, but with deep solicitude, I venture to entreat the early attention of their Lordships to this document, as, in my humble judgment, the retention or evacuation of the island of Chusan involves questions of great urgency, and which are of vital importance to British interests in China.
I have, &c.,
R. M. MARTIN.