and the latter having it in their power to occupy their leisure how they might suit their inclination and try interests, a privilege of which it is now proposed to deprive them.
I am aware that a public notification in the year 1844 intimated that no Government Officer should engage in any work or receive any remuneration other than their official emoluments, but that certificate solely applied to official duties for which fees might be demanded, or cantile transactions, or such final work as would necessarily be performed during office hours; and not to interfere with the occupation of their leisure.
Had the intentions of the notification been to disallow all private practice amongst Government Servants, all employment of any private nature, whether professional, literary, or otherwise, which might bring emolument, would have been stopped at the time; but on the contrary, such a question was never raised, and from that period to the present, I have continued with the sanction of my superiors, viz., Messrs. Davis, Bonham, and others, to enjoy the privilege of any private practice.
It is to be borne in mind that in a Colony where frequently unexampled or arduous tasks have happened to be executed, my occasional labour has been essential not only to the Europeans and Chinese builders who could not have designed and executed them, but as tending to the improvement of the Colony, and in this respect beneficial to the Crown; but in no case have such private works been attended to by me during Office hours without the sanction of the Governor.
In cases where such works involved both public and private time, special reference was made to the Governor, and leave was granted under certain circumstances. For example, services are placed at the disposal...