ation might not be more fairly distributed to the relief of the rate-payers. Attention was lately drawn by the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and by a question in Council of the Honourable Mr. WHITEHEAD, to the supposed necessity of a Harbour Board, chiefly on account of the fact that in former years the funds raised for Light Dues had been more than sufficient for the maintenance of the lights, and because on the completion of the Gap Rock Lighthouse this would probably occur again; and it is evident that the President of the Chamber of Commerce (from the point of view of what I may call the non-local shipowners) would like the cost of Lights as well as all Harbour expenses to be paid from the rates. But as regards the alleged surplus revenue from Lights, it seems to be forgotten that besides Lighthouses there are other costly services, such as the Harbour Master's Establishment, Harbour Launches, Harbour Police, and the Observatory, involving an aggregate expenditure of some $80,000 per annum, which are maintained for the benefit of the shipping, and which are principally maintained out of the ordinary taxation of the Colony. If the above view is correct as to the improbability of shipping being driven away by the small tax that would be necessary for the purpose, I think it to be well worth consideration whether it should not be imposed to the relief of other forms of taxation. If, on a principle which I understand is in force at Shanghai, vessels should be exempted from payment more than once in three months, I apprehend that the new tax would fall lightly or not at all on the local vessels which contribute proportionately by far the larger benefit to the Colony, and would be felt as little or nothing by the people of this community. I throw out this as possibly a useful suggestion for the future, and I may add that any advantage which might otherwise accrue from a Harbour Board, would be increased if it were empowered and required to raise from ships all the funds which have to be expended for their benefit.
And now having touched on all the points of this question which appear to demand attention, I commend these remarks to the careful consideration of the Council and the Community, with the sincere expression of my pleasure that I am able on the eve of my departure from the Colony to take, as I venture to think on very sufficient grounds, so favourable a view of its condition and prospects.
11988 Enclosure 4
593
(The Daily Press of 29th April, 1891.)
THE GOVERNOR AND THE
UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS.
The following is the shorthand writer's report of the interview which took place on Monday between His Excellency the Governor and the unofficial members of the Legislative Council:—
HIS EXCELLENCY--Gentlemen, I have asked you to be good enough to come here this morning with reference to a remarkable letter which I have received from you, a letter which I need scarcely say caused me much surprise. After giving the matter careful consideration I have been forced to the conclusion, which I sincerely trust is correct, that you have signed this in haste, and possibly with reluctance, in the short interval of engrossing private business, and that you have thus given insufficient consideration to this letter and have thus failed to appreciate its taste, its tone, its matter and its effect. I cannot think this can be otherwise than the case with men with whom I have hitherto been on friendly relations, from some of whom I have received kindness, and as to one of whom I shall always gratefully recall the words he used in public when I was leaving the Colony a year ago. It is only because I am of opinion that this letter was signed hastily that I have asked you to come here to-day to give you an opportunity of reconsidering your position after you have heard in detail the view which I take of this letter, a view which after this letter has been read carefully and the whole circumstances have become known, will, I venture to say, be taken by all those outside for whose judgment I have the least value. I have asked His Excellency the General to be present here because he is about to succeed me temporarily in the administration of the Government, and I have also caused a reporter to be present in order that for all parties concerned there may be an accurate report of what occurs. I will now proceed to make such comments as occur to me on this letter. I must rather reverse the order of things by beginning with the last paragraph, which really should have appeared first in the letter you have sent me, because it evidently had some influence on the letter and some effect on its tone. I mean the paragraph in which you say, "In conclusion the unofficial members submit for your Excellency's consideration if the Acting Colonial Secretary is the proper channel of communication between your Excellency and the unofficial members of your Council." I presume you mean that I should have written to you myself and that writing through the Colonial Secretary was derogatory to your dignity. The Colonial Secretary is the highest and the only officer here through whom I could properly address you, and I happen to be able to give you the view the Secretary of State takes in this matter. I know that in more than one instance the right to address the Governor directly has been claimed, and I know that occasionally the practice has grown up in certain Colonies with regard to certain offices, and that for certain reasons it has been allowed to continue; but the rule is that all correspondence with the Governor on official subjects comes through the Colonial Secretary, and when on one occasion a Chief Justice complained to the Secretary of State of his having been addressed through the Colonial Secretary the answer was as follows: "It is an ordinary rule in Crown Colonies that "official correspondence should pass through the "Colonial Secretary's office where the official papers of the Colony are recorded. The convenience of this course is obvious, nor do I "consider that it implies anything derogatory "to the dignity of the Chief Justice. If such "a rule had been observed in the present "instance, it would doubtless have moderated
to
"the tone of some of those letters which "emanated from the Chief Justice, and I "desire that this rule be followed in future." In this matter, then, I followed a principle which I know from long experience to be a good one, that where correspondence which contains matter in the least degree, I will not say impassioned, but which tends to be so, it is far better that it pass through a third person. I need not say that there was not the slightest intention of derogating from your dignity. It indeed never occurred to me that in addressing you through the Colonial Secretary, who is next in precedence to the Governor so far as the people of the Colony are concerned, that there was anything derogatory to your dignity, but since the matter is referred to I may say that I feel that I was right in doing so on the high authority I have just read to you.
I will now proceed to deal with the other portions of the letter. The first paragraph says:--
"Sir—The unofficial members of Council "have the honour to acknowledge receipt from "the 21st instant, in which in reply to theirs of "the 14th instant they are informed, by direction of your Excellency, that, for the reasons "there given, you have not seen fit to comply "with their request to telegraph to the Secretary "of State to withhold temporarily and until he "can be memorialized his approval of the proposed increase of official salaries in the Colony."
You then go on to say:
"The unofficial members regret extremely "that your Excellency should, apparently with "out any sufficient reason, have delayed your "reply to their communication for a week, and "should have, again without reason assigned, "refrained from holding any meetings of Council "for so long an interval. They regret this "the more as your Excellency's approaching "departure will evidently prevent the possibility "of the discussion in Council of any statement "you may be preparing on the subject now under consideration."
Let me ask you to consider the position. At the last meeting of Council Hon. Mr. Whitehead attacked at length on a large number of points the present condition of the Colony. He attacked not only the position of the Colony, but I venture to say that he attacked its credit. Now, I need hardly say that a serious attack of this kind coming from so responsible a quarter requires the most careful consideration, attention, and respect. Most careful enquiries had to be made to discover whether the facts mentioned by the hon. gentleman were correct or not. I had to get returns from a number of quarters, and it has taken time and labour to prepare them. I had to go over these with the most careful attention to see whether the hon. member's statements were true or not, and if they were true to come forward and tell you, however much we might regret it, that such was the condition of the Colony. I need hardly tell you that it required very careful consideration and a very long time to prepare the statement to lay before the public and the Council in a way they have a right to expect.
Now the work of this Colony has of late years enormously increased, and a conscientious Governor has to give many hours a day of close attention to the mere administrative business, and it is only because my failing strength has rendered it impossible to give, besides this necessary time, the additional time required for dispatches and legislative business, as well as for taking a satisfactory part in the social life of the Colony--- it is, I say, only on this very account that I have felt and most reluctantly felt it my duty to give up my position here. Now, considering that most of you knew, for it was commonly known in the Colony, what was my present condition, and considering that I am about to depart from an honourable position two years before the proper time for bringing my administration to a close, and at the same time to end a career which I might reasonably have hoped at