K <
OP Y.
Confidential.
Sir,
Enclosure!
Supreme Court,
-8374
Hongkong, 13th July, 1909.
I have the honour to acknowledge Your Excellency's letter of 10th June enclosing a copy of a despatch from Lord Crewe, relative to the opinion I expressed with regard to the proposed new Appeal Court. In that despatch is included a letter from the Foreign Office containing adverse comments on my action, in which comments Lord Crewe informs Your Excellency that he concurs. The effect of these comments is that I allowed my personal objections to the scheme to influence the advice I gave with regard to it. I have the honour to state that I am incapable of giving dishonourable advice; I did not hesitate to express my personal objection to the scheme; at the same time I pointed out many reasons why in my opinion it could not work satisfactorily; but when Your Excellency submitted the draft Ordinance to carry into effect, I devoted considerable attention to it: it seemed to me imperfectly drafted, and I offered to co-operate in putting it into more perfect shape.
2.
It seems to me much to be regretted that the question whether the scheme would work was not submitted to me before it was allowed to go so far that the Council was informed