542
DEAR SIR,
THE A.D.C. TO HON. T. H. WHITEHEAD.
Government House, Hongkong, 29th July, 1893.
(Private)
I am directed by His Excellency the Governor, in reply to your letter of this date, to say that His Excellency regrets that he cannot accept your suggestion as to the appointment of a lay member to the Retrenchment Committee: the Chief Justice has already informed His Excellency that he must decline to accept a position by which he would be bereft of all influence, and the only alternative seems to be the appointment of four members as suggested in my note of the 28th.
If you do not feel that you can serve on such a Committee, the Governor is afraid that he can take no further action in the matter, having already done everything he could to get together a Committee on the lines suggested by the Secretary of State, and failed.
To the Honourable T. H. WHITEHEAD, M.L.C.
I remain,
Yours very truly,
J. T. STERLING, A.D.C.
by him, and he was unable to persuade that majority by argument, he would, I presume, as Chairman, give effect to the wishes of the majority, and record his own views if he thought it necessary. Is it not perhaps possible that the words used by His Honour the Chief Justice may have been misunderstood?
I am afraid that a Committee composed of four, as indicated in your note of 28th ultimo, would not accomplish the purpose for which it was asked by the unofficial members of Council and by the public, and granted by the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, viz., a searching investigation into the Colonial expenditure generally, with a view to ultimate retrenchment. In the face of the declared opposition of His Excellency the Governor, and of the Honourable the Colonial Secretary, to such a Commission and investigation, the Committee should, I still think, consist mainly of persons unconnected with the Government; and what objection there can possibly be to a Committee so composed I am not able to conceive, as they can only report and recommend—nothing more.
If His Excellency cannot see his way to the appointment of such a Commission as was unanimously asked for by the unofficial members, I am very sorry that I feel prevented from taking part in the proceedings of a Committee so composed that while barring the way to a more effective enquiry in the future, it cannot hope to accomplish much in the present. I foresee that I may be held responsible for the failure of the appointment of a Retrenchment Committee, and as it may be necessary for me to address the Secretary of State on the subject, I desire you to inform the Governor that I may have to ask His Excellency's permission to publish your notes of 28th and 29th ultimo, and my replies, if it should become desirable, which I feel sure His Excellency will not refuse.
F
HON. T. H. WHITEHEAD TO THE A.D.C.
Hongkong, 2nd August, 1893.
Captain J. T. STERLING, A.D.C.,
Government House.
DEAR SIR,
I remain,
Yours very truly,
T. H. WHITEHEAD.
I have carefully considered your note of the 29th ultimo in which you inform me, by direction of His Excellency, that he cannot accept my suggestion to appoint a lay member on the Retrenchment Committee, that the Chief Justice has already intimated a desire to decline an appointment where he would be "bereft of all influence," and that the only alternatives seem to be a Commission of four members, or the abandonment of the enquiry altogether.
May I be permitted in the first place to point out that His Excellency appears to have lost sight of my respectful suggestion that he might kindly wire to the Secretary of State informing His Lordship of the position, and requesting authority to appoint on the Commission others than members of the Council, if a third unofficial member is not willing to serve. Until this is done I think it can scarcely be said that everything has been done to comply with His Lordship's wishes.
In the second place may I be allowed to say that I do not understand the meaning of the expression used by the Chief Justice, as described in your note. With a Commission composed of Mr. May, Mr. Chater, another unofficial member of Council, or some lay member, and myself, the Chief Justice would have all the influence due to his position, to his known impartiality, fairness, independence, and strong common sense, and would probably in all matters on which there was a difference of opinion among the members carry the majority with him; but if there were a decided majority against the view taken
SIR,
THE A.D.C. TO HON. T. H. WHITEHEAD.
Craigieburn, August 5th, 1893.
The Governor desires me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 2nd inst. in reply to mine of the 29th ult. in respect to the constitution of the Retrenchment Committee.
2. Your letter contains several points on which you appear to His Excellency to be in error; but with a view to the avoidance of further delay in the settlement of the practical question whether or no the Retrenchment Committee appointed by him is to commence its enquiry, he refrains for the present from entering into any discussion of them.
3. H.E. directs me to inform you that he is unable to adopt your suggestion that he should telegraph to the Secretary of State for permission to add Mr. Ede's name to those of the existing members; it is not for a moment likely that the Secretary of State would act on a telegram of such a nature without the fullest explanation as to why any difficulty had occurred in giving effect to his instructions: the Governor desires me therefore to ask you to be so good as to state finally whether or no you will serve on a Committee consisting of the Chief Justice, as Chairman, Hon. C. P. Chater, yourself, and Mr. May. Such a Committee would be within the letter and spirit of the Secretary of State's instructions.