to carry out the work without any fee provided
that his out-of-pocket expenses were fully covered.
His reason was that he desired to regard the work
as his personal contribution in war time.
(3) He desired that the responsibility for
making a report should rest with him, and that the
engineer selected to accompany him should be
regarded as his assistant. He thought it undesirable
that the report should be a joint production.
(4) I inquired whether he had any suggestion
to make as to the engineer to be nominated, and as
I expected, he said that he would like to suggest
Mr. A. Binns, M. I. C. E., 17 Morden Road, Blackheath,
S.E.3. Mr. Binns was engineer to the Port of London
and served in that capacity under Sir David Owen.
He retired about two years ago. I explained to
Sir David that we were consulting the Crown Agents
and that, as in his own case, a consultation with the
Governor would be necessary with reference to the
engineer to be appointed.
In conclusion, it was agreed between us
that Sir David Owen should think the matter over
and discuss it with his wife. He undertook,
however, the let me have his decision in
at
two or three days' time, and he left me with little
doubt