I regret that the explanation which it is my duty to furnish as regards items 1+3 will be far from satisfactory.
2. As regards the ground which I can discover for the payment of the full salary of Mr. Harvey for the month of August, it was the authority of the then Acting Governor conveyed in the then Colonial Secretary's letter in answer to Mr. Harvey's application, copy of which letter I have the honor to enclose.
3. From that letter taken in connection with the letter to which it is an answer, dated 21 October 1865, it would appear that the destitute condition of the applicant was the sole reason for granting him full salary for the month of August. An argument scarcely tenable in the case of even a meritorious public servant, but which in the case of a person who had broken his engagement and put the Government to inconvenience would seem to require further explanation. I am however unable to afford it as Mr. Mercer and Mr. Alexander are both absent in England.
4. The amount nevertheless is but small and seems now irrecoverable, Mr. Harvey having left the colony. I therefore trust Your Grace will accept this statement as a practical settlement of the question.
5. I am unable to explain why it was not reported that Mr. Harvey received the half salary to which he was entitled, the same having been unappropriated since the death of his predecessor, M. Sherman.