Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies on the subject. My position is fully explained in this correspondence. I have no doubt His Excellency will forward it in entirety to the Right Honourable the Marquess of Ripon, and the publication of it in the columns of the local newspapers, and in pamphlet shape, will, I venture to hope, justify the prominent part I have taken in the eyes of the public.
I have, as you point out, taken a very prominent part in the movement in favour of Retrenchment and in urging the appointment of a Committee of Enquiry, but I deny in the simplest and most straightforward manner that I have ever, at any time, given public assurances with which large costs could be effected, especially in the cost of establishments, or that I have said or done anything to lead either the public or the Government to suppose that, in my opinion, my presence on a Committee of Enquiry, or my co-operation in the work, would be of any special value or importance, over that of others. You have no justification for such a statement.
I have expressed the strongest opinion as to the need for Retrenchment, and as to the possibility of great economies being effected in nearly all branches of the public service. I have strongly urged upon the Government and the public the necessity for a comprehensive Enquiry into the facts, that it might be ascertained and made clear in what departments and to what extent economies and retrenchments were possible. In my expressed opinion as to the possibility of serious retrenchments, I am happily confirmed by His Excellency the Governor.
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2. Loy