1
Enclosure.
Hon.A.C.S.,
30:21
REG? 17 SEP 00
I observe in Mr.Ormsby's letter" of
430
10th February that he states he had my authority to offer to put up this lot at 10 cents a square foot. Mr.Ormsby must have entirely misunderstood the result of a conversation with me, where he told me that an 01-
fer would be made by Messrs. Butterfield ans Swire
føra large area which at 10 cents & square foot "ould
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come to $150,000 or some such sum which would be a large addition to the land premium of next year. I expressed my satisfaction that so large a sum would be obtained from the land sale, but gave no instruct- ions for, or consent to any upset price. I have most distinctly directed heads of departments from the dat e
of my assumption of the Government that there as no such thing as a verbal order and all instructions: mustbe in writing, and I venture to say that the papers of the departments would be searched in vain for evi-
dence of such an order, That I should venture to give such an authority in a matter involving hundreds of thousands of dollars without thoroughly examining the facts laid before me would have been in direct oppos- ition to every act of my official life. What are the facts? Messrs Butterfield and Swire wish to acquire
a large area of land, with the only portion of the
harbour bed that remains available for a dock. The D.P W.
this did not mention to me when speaking on the subject - indeed he did not know that it was the purpose for which the site as required, but the fact that the sit- uation is the only one in the possession ofthe Gov- eriment on which a dock can be built cannot be ignored-
when considering a proposal for a lease in the neigh-
bourhood of this