573
work of my Department has, as I pointed out in my letter of March
30th., 1904, increased enormously and still appears to increase
daily, and in spite of the fact that the Secretary of State did
not approve of my application for an increase in order to pay
for a qualified Assistant, my partner, Mr. B. L. Dennys and 1
found it absolutely necessary to engage such an Assistant, and
in November last Mr. G. E. Morrell, a Solicitor of the Supreme
Court in England, joined my firm as Managing Clerk.
9.
In December last Mr. Morrell was chiefly
engaged in assisting me in the Cheung Sha Wan Appeal Case, but
during the present year he has relieved me of a great deal of
the routine work of my Department, such as the collection of
Crown Rents and Rates from defaulters, preparing agreements,
attending the less important cases in the Police Court and at
Criminal Sessions.
10.
and
1
I find, however, that notwithstanding this
relief the Crown work devolving upon me is increasingly heavy,
and that the time available for my private practice is seriously
contracted, owing to the large number of important questions
upon which I am required to advise the Government, and the heavy
cases and intricate negotiations which I am called upon to
conduct, whilst the most important work of drafting or revising
Ordinances (e.g., the New Territories Land Bill) and regulations
of all sorts is extremely exacting.
11.
What may be termed a new branch of work has