PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
EPEREC.O. 882
5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON,
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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No. 97.
ADMINISTRATOr Major-General W. H. HAWLEY to the RIGHT HON. SIR H. T. HOLLAND, Bart., G.C.M.G., M.P. (Received May 27, 1887.) (No. 216.)
Government House, Mauritius, SIB,
May 5, 1887.
REFERRING to your despatch, No. 6 of the 27th of January, and to my reply No. 122 of the 10th of March,* I have the honour to transmit berewith a copy of a minutet in which I laid before the Council of Government papers respecting the payment of the half salary of Sir John Pope Hennessy from the date of the suspension of his Commis- sion until a final decision should be taken upon his case.
2. I also transmit a copy of the adopted report † of the Finance Committee thereon voting the necessary amount.
I have, &o. (Signed) W. H. HAWLEY,
Major-General.
The Right Hon. Sir Henry T. Holland, Bart, G.C.M.G.,
&c.
&c.
No. 98.
&c.
The RIGHT HON. SIR H. T. HOLLAND, BART., G.O. M.G., M.P., to the RIGHT HON. SIR HERCULES ROBINSON, G.C.M.G.
SIR,
Downing Street, May 28, 1887. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 31st March last, respecting certain objections raised by Sir J. P. Hennessy to your appointment to conduct the inquiry into the affairs of Mauritius.
This despatch, together with Sir J. P. Hennessy's letter, to which it refers, will be published with the other papers relating to the inquiry,
I have, &c.
Sir II. Robinson.
No. 99.
(Signed) H. T. HOLLAND.
The RIGHT HON. SIR H. T. HOLLAND, BART., G.C.M.G., M.P., to ADMINISTRATOR
FLEMING.
TELEGRAPHIC.
July 9-Proceedings of Sir H. Robinson, including temporary suspension of Governor, approved, but after prolonged consideration have decided circumstances not sufficient to justify his permanent removal. He returns shortly. Despatch goes next post. Any public domonstration of feeling to be deprecated. Publish this at once and despatch when received.
No. 100.
The RIGHT HON. SIB H. T. HOLLAND, BART., G.C.M.G., M.P., to ADMINISTRATOR FLEMING.
Downing Street, July 12, 1887.
(No. 211.) SIR,
HAVING heard at length the defence of Sir John Pope Hennessy in reply to the oharges brought against him and his administration, and having given careful con- sideration to the Report of Sir Hercules Robinson and the evidence produced at the inquiry held in Mauritius, I am now in a position to state the conclusion at which I have arrived in this painful and difficult case, and the grounds upon which I have
‡ No. 90.
Nos. 47 and 83.
↑ Not printed.
187
decided, though not without considerable hesitation, that sufficient cause has not been shown to justify the removal of Sir John Pope Hennessy from the office of Governor of Mauritius.
2. The reasons which induced my predecessor to issue a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the affairs of the Colony of Mauritius are fully set out in his despatch to Sir Hercules Robinson of the 29th September 1886,* and I need not further refer to them; but I desire at the outset to express my sense both of the readiness with which Sir Hercules Robinson undertook the painful and disagreeable task then pressed upon him by Her Majesty's Government, and of the ability and impartiality with which he performed it. I may also remark here that, in my opinion, he was fully justified in acting upon the authority vested in him by the second Commission issued to him by my předecessor, by which in certain circumstances he was empowered to assume the Government and suspend the Commission of the Governor. That course was, in my judgment, best calculated to secure the peace and good order of the Colony until the case had been laid before the Secretary of State.
3. I may observe in passing that some objectiong have been raised as to the legality of this proceeding, and of certain steps taken during the course of, and in the conduct of, the inquiry; but as I am advised that there is no good ground for these objections, I think it unnecessary to do more than thus briefly to refer to them.
and
4. Turning, then, to the inquiry itself, I must, in the first place, observe that, although Sir John Pope Hennessy was consulted as to the manner in which the inquiry should be conducted, and fully concurred in the arrangements which were made, it is now apparent that the Royal Commissioner would have done well to insist upon the regular attendance of Sir John Pope Hennessy during the examination of the witnesses, upon his cross-examining them then and there. Much of the difficulty in deciding this case would thus have been removed; and it appears to me that such a course would have been more fair and just to all parties concerned, inasmuch as alleged error and mis-statements of witnesses, whether of importance or of a comparatively trivial character, could at once have been tested and set right, and such correction would not have been left to be made, as has been unfortunately the case, after the inquiry in the island had closed, and when there was no opportunity for the witnesses to make any reply, if reply could be made, to the corrections put forward here by Sir John Pope Hennessy.
5. As this course was not adopted, it is all the more to be regretted that Sir Hercules Robinson was compelled, on account of pressure of business at the Cape to close the inquiry before Sir John Pope Hennessy had stated his defence. But although, the difficulty in dealing with the case has been increased by this fact, I am bound to say that, looking to the length of time that was given to the inquiry; to the nature of much of the evidence that was brought forward, largely consisting as it did of hearsay evidence and belief; and, lastly, to the defence which has been stated by Sir John Pope Hennessy in this country, I am satisfied that no material evidence has been excluded.
6. No object would be gained, in my opinion, by a minute discussion of the many points-some of them of small importance-raised during the proceedings. I shall therefore confine my remarks to some of the leading points.
7. And, first, as to Mr. Clifford Lloyd's case. I have had the advantage, which Sir Hercules Robinson had not, owing to the absence, from ill-health, of Mr. Clifford Lloyd from the Colony at the time of the inquiry, of learning that gentleman's defence to the charges brought against him; but I regret to say, after carefully considering that defence, that although in some matters it offers a reasonable explanation, I am com- pelled to concur in the general impressions and conclusions arrived at by Sir Hercules Robinson.
8. Grave faults were committed on both sides; and while I cannot acquit Sir John Pope Hennessy of a want of temper and judgment, the conduct of Mr. Clifford Lloyd appears to me to have been reprehensible and inconsistent with his duty to the Governor as his superior officer.
9. It is quite clear that he could never again act cordially with Sir John Pope Hennessy, or, indeed, usefully return to Mauritius under any circumstances; and I haтO therefore felt it my duty, in the interests of the Colony, to cancel his appointment as Lieutenant-Governor and Colonial Secretary. I shall, however, on an early opportunity avail myself of his undoubted ability by transferring him to a suitable post in another Colony.
10. Secondly, as to the alleged interference at the election, and Mr. Forguson's case, I acquit Sir John Pope Hennessy of this interference, as Mr. Beyta bhad no authority
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