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TUTT

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference

C.O.

885

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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members, though called Honourables, as are the members of the Council where there is a House of Assembly, have not the same duration of office as that possessed by the members of Council. The scat alone gives them distinction; that lost, they sink their title.

The College of Kiezers, who have the nomination of the members of the Court of Policy, consists of seven persons; the senior member is called Vice-President. They are elected by the voters having elective franchise of the whole province. This might be a popular institution, but individual votes are swamped by the overwhelming influence of proxy votes, in the hands of attorneys, executors, guardians, administrators, &c., some of whom possess twenty, thirty, and even sixty votes. The inembers of this College hold office for life, or so long as they are residing in the Colony. They are independent of all control, and qualification is not considered.

The most powerful body here is that composed of six persons called Financial Repre- sentatives, who are elected by the mass of voters possessing the franchise and by proxy voters, which at once make the apparent popular election a delusion. The Financial Representatives are elected for two years only, with eligibility for re-election; no qualifi. cation is necessary.

The Representatives are assembled once a-year by proclamation of the Governor to meet the Court of Policy, in combined Court, for the purpose of raising the supplies; an estimate of what is necessary for the current year having been previously framed in the Court of Policy, is presented to them, with the accounts of the passed year, which are examined by the financial members. These added to the five of the Colonial section of the Court of Policy, form a majority on every question, and since the final settlement of a civil list in 1836, have the power of rejecting or diminishing every item not on the civil list, and of stopping the supplies, which course they have often pursued.

At the conclusion of the combined session, the Combined Court ceases its functions, and the Financial Representatives have no ostensible existence till reassembled by the Governor's proclamation, to meet in Combined Court in the following year.

With such fluctuating bodies it would be difficult to select persons on whom chivalric distinctions could be conferred, even were their position in society suited to the dignity.

I find among the despatches of my predecessor, Sir James Carmichael Smythe, one dated 31st May, 1837, No. 330, containing proposals to the then Secretary of State for the establishment of a Colonial Order of Knighthood.

In that despatch there is allusion to the discontent universally prevailing even amongst the most wealthy and successful colonists." "It is impossible to deny the fact of the existence of a querulous and even angry spirit amongst the colonists who have returned to Europe. Whether they have been toiling in the East or West Indies, the feeling is the same. That feeling is communicated by them to their friends and corre- spondents in the Colonies from which they have retired, and is productive of the worst effects. It damps and checks the affection to the mother-country, and in the West Indies it encourages a predilection for the laws and customs of the United States,-a sentiment which may hereafter cause incalculable mischief,"

I will not combat this opinion, which may formerly have been correct. The Euro- peans are dependent on the mother-country for existence; capital is only to be obtained thence; in vain would it be sought in the United States. We have their squirearchy, amongst which is included every person who is not enrolled amongst hawkers and hucksters, which I believe is the case all over the West Indies; the mass without these pretensions are loyal to a man.

Sir Carmichael Smythe, after some dissertation, which it is unnecessary to lay before your Lordship, develops his plan of Knighthood.

"First Class, Grand Crosses, to be conferred on Secretaries of State holding, or who have held, the seals of office; on Governors who have carried on the Governments of their respective Colonies for five years, with perfect approbation of the Government at home.

"Second Class, or Knights, to be conferred on Chief Justices, who have held office for five years, and all Members of Council, whether official or non-official, who have served five years to the satisfaction of the Crown; and in this class might also be included such Flag and General Officers as may have had the good fortune to have performed good and useful service in the Colonies.

"Third Class, or Companions, might be bestowed on Puisne Judges, Attorney- Generals, Magistrates, and Members of Assembly. Receivers of Her Majesty's Revenues, Chief of the Customs, Field Officers of the Colonial Militia, and other public function- aries, who have served five years, and are still serving in their respective services, with

the approbation of Her Majesty's Government. In this class Officers of the Army and Navy, not being Flag or General Officers, but who have the rank of Commander or Field Officer, might be included.”.

This embraces a much wider sphere than that of St. Michael and St. George, which allows of fifteen Grand Crosses, twenty Second Class, and twenty-five Third Class.

In every island in the West Indies there is a Chief Justice; there are at least ten Members of Council of each, and from seventeen to thirty members of each Island Assembly, except that of Tortola and the Virgin Islands, which, in 1837, was, at my recommenda- tion, reduced to nine. I have given your Lordship the enumeration of eligible persons British Guiana.

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Such a numerous body would soon exhaust the limits of the model Order of St. Michael and St. George.

Very partial distinctions might be advantageous, but the selection will be difficult; and the Order of whatever grade it may be, will not, when conferred, always secure support to the Government of the Colony.

In this Colony one of the members of the Court of Policy (not official), is changed, or may be changed, every year, or at the most at the expiry of two; and if rank or distinction is to be the sequel to a five years' service, Government supporters would be kept out of the Colonial section by the College of Keizers, for the purpose of securing to! their own party the honours of Knighthood.

If I conclude rightly, your Lordship will again communicate with me on the question now mooted; you will be able to judge how my information bears on that afforded by the Governors of the Windward and Leeward Islands, and in the end some plan may be devised for giving effect to the proposal by the Secretary of State, without throwing discredit on chivalric distinctions, and what must be peculiarly advised, without causing jealousy and ill-will on the part of those who, in the first instance, may not be admitted into the rank which the new Colonial Order will create.

I have, &c.

(Private.) My Lord,

(Signed) HENRY LIGHT, Governor of British Guiana.

Inclosure 3 in No. 4.

Sir C. Fitz Roy to the Earl of Elgin.

Leeward Islands, Government House, Antigua, May 11, 1844,

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I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, marked “ Private," of the 19th ultimo, referring to a despatch addressed to your Lordship by Lord Stanley, copy of which was forwarded to me from the Colonial Office, on the subject of the institu- tion of Local Orders of distinction in the Colonies, to enable Her Majesty to confer some mark of her Royal favour, and her approval of meritorious services rendered by colonists; and desiring to obtain the opinions of the Governors of the West India Colonies, on the probable effects of the institution of an Order, similar to that of St. Michael and St. George, for the whole of these Colonies, possibly including Mauritius.

That the institution of an Order of Merit, either generally for the whole British Colonies, or of separate Local Orders for different groups, would be productive of much advantage to the Colonies, and strengthen their connexion with the mother-country, by holding out legitimate objects of ambition to public officers and resident gentry, who may be distinguished by zeal or talent, or by station, length of service, or other meritorious conduct, cannot, in my opinion, admit of a doubt; but to make an Order of this nature valuable, I apprehend that it shonld be limited in numbers, so as to prevent it being too easily obtained, and conferred upon any individual, without due consideration as to his merits or services.

The state of society in the West Indies, undoubtedly presents many points of contrast to that of the Ionian Islands, and in none more than in the absence, generally speaking, of resident families of old standing and hereditary influence. It would, however, I conceive, be desirable that any Order that may be instituted for these Colonies, should be divided into three classes or ranks; and in this respect the Statutes of the Order of St. Michael and St. George might furnish an eligible precedent.

Assuming that Her Majesty may think proper to decree that an Order of Merit for the West Indies, shall be established upon the principle of that of St. Michael and St. George, the next consideration would be the fitting qualifications, the numbers, and the general distribution. In offering any opinion on these details, I consider it my duty

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