(No. 97.)
1841-1886
No. 4.
23
No. 4.
Governor Sir J. F. Davis.
Copy of a DESPATCH from Lord Stanley to Governor Sir J. F. Davis, Bart.
Lord Stanley to Sir J. F. Davis
Sir,
Downing-street, 25 March 1845.
WITH reference to my despatch of the 17th December last, No. 66, I transmit to you herewith, the copy of a further communication addressed to my Under-secretary of State by Mr. Montgomery Martin, repeating in very strong terms his arguments against the retention of Hong Kong as a British colony. I have to request you to report to me your opinion of the accuracy of Mr. Martin's facts, and the inferences which he draws from them; I must also request you to inform Mr. Martin, that it will be impossible for me hereafter to take cognizance of any communications from him, unless sent according to the official regulation, through yourself; and that I regret that it is not in my power to hold out to him the prospect of employment in any other part of Her Majesty's dominions.
I have, &c. (signed)
Stanley.
Enclosure in No. 4.
Dear Sir,
Hong Kong, 20 November 1844.
SINCE I had the honour of addressing you in July, I have been severely afflicted with fever and diarrhoea, and nearly at the point of death. It has pleased an ever-merciful Providence to spare my life, and I returned to Hong Kong from Chusan and the N. E. coast in the beginning of September, with my health somewhat improved, but my frame very debilitated, and I fear my constitution much impaired, at least for a continued residence in a tropical climate. The sickness here this season has been very great, but excepting the numerous deaths among the troops, the mortality has not been so extensive as last year.
The Governor was unwell before he went to Chusan, in September; the Chief Justice was given over, and is now but slowly recovering; his oldest daughter is dead, and his son is going home an invalid. The Colonial Secretary, Mr. Bruce, was almost despaired of, and is still a convalescent on board Her Majesty's ship "Castor." The Auditor, Mr. Shelley, has had fever twice, and is now on sick certificate at Macao. The Surveyor-general is absent on sick leave; his assistant is nearly as ill as his chief; and the Civil Engineer has had fever twice, and obliged to go to Macao for his health.
I have had two chief clerks since my arrival, one is dead, the other dying, and I was unable to get continuous work for a week out of either. The official accounts and official correspondence of all the departments are in arrear, in consequence of the incapability of the clerks to stand the effects of the climate, which sooner or later undermines the most robust frame, and after a severe illness renders a man utterly unfit for a longer residence in Hong Kong, if mental or bodily labour be required. The troops have suffered and are still suffering (although cold weather has set in) dreadfully. The returns to the Horse Guards, and the letters of the commanding officer, Major-general D'Aguilar, present a melancholy picture; General D'Aguilar reports, that three years' residence in Hong Kong suffice to destroy, by death, an entire European regiment.
For some time the deaths in Her Majesty's 98th regiment have averaged one man every day; last week six deaths occurred in 24 hours; the strength of the men not in hospital is so reduced, that they are unable to wear a knapsack on parade, and at guard-mounting, the General does not require the troops on the ground to stand with shouldered arms. I have been in the most sickly countries, but never felt anything equal to the depressing influence of the climate of Hong Kong, whose unhealthiness is proverbial to the Chinese on the adjacent mainland.
When Lord Stanley honoured me with the offer of treasurer of this colony, I was unwilling to appear even ungrateful of his kindness, and resolved under any risk to fulfil the duty assigned me, and to the best of my ability to place his Lordship in possession of such information as might be useful to Her Majesty's Government. With this object in view I prepared (with perfect disinterestedness) a "Report on Hong Kong," and a "Report on Chusan," which I laid before Mr. Davis, with a respectful request that he would transmit these reports to Lord Stanley. Mr. Davis has transmitted the "Report on Hong Kong," to Lord Stanley, and the "Report on Chusan," to the Earl of Aberdeen.
I pray your early and serious consideration of those reports; I beg your oblivion as to who the writer may be, and that you will view the facts and reasonings therein contained with the comprehensive and far-seeing eye that you possess. Whatever of public reputation...
* Lord Stanley's Despatch of the 17th December 1844, No. 66, acknowledges Sir J. F. Davis's Despatch, enclosing a Report by Mr. M. Martin upon the Island of Hong Kong, and the expediency, in a political and commercial point of view, of its retention by Great Britain.
743.
A 2