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rule, be a Military Officer, fit to take the personal command of the Force if called out to suppress an internal disturbance, and to co-operate efficiently with the Officers of the Garrison, in the event of foreign attack.
3. It has been often and truly observed that it can never be foreseen how any Public Officer, from the Governor downwards, will succeed in a Colony until he has been actually tried. From the peculiar situation of Hongkong on the verge of the vast Empire of China; from the great numbers of men-of-war and merchant ships of all nations that visit the harbour; from the constant danger to the handful of European residents from the overwhelming Chinese population, and from a host of special circumstances referred to in my previous despatches, the position of the Head of the Police is at once more difficult and more important here than in most other British Dependencies. It is, therefore, highly desirable