514

declared it to be both.

and undesirable,

and

essary

affect myself, I attached no importance

to them

book as

being calculated to

as I had

moreover by your direction stated

the economies which alone were considered

by you to be practicable, it appeared to

me probable that, if I were to preside,

I might in certain quarters be regarded

as

of

the Committee

coming to the work

with a biased and prejudiced mind.

These considerations were doubtless

not present to the Secretary of State when His Lordship suggested that I

might preside.

They

did not constitute

any personal objection

on my part

to presiding - for in so

far

as

they

might be supposed to personally

complicate the question, they seemed

because

those who follow

to me to have

some weight,

Mr Whitehead and

he would be more

likely

to be

satisfied if the Chairman were

a

person who had previously taken no

part in the matter, than

if

he were

one who had previously expressed

decided opinions about it.

The reasons of

related to

my

personal character

incapacitation owing

climatic influences of Hongkong.

As I have stated them in the Memorial

applying for an early transfer to

affect

another

Share This Page