12 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE RESIGNATION
OF MR. M. MARTIN, TREASURER OF HONG KONG,
430
No. 9-
R. Montgomery Martin, Esq., to Lord Stanley. 8 July 1845.
Nos. 1 to 6.
No. 1, of 18 June 1845. Vide p. 7.
No. 2, of 19 June 1845. Vide p. 7.
Nos. 3 & 4, of 24 June 1845. Vide pp. 8, 13.
No. 5, of 8 July 1845. Vide p. 10.
- No. 9.
COPY of a LETTER from R. Montgomery Martin, Esq., to Lord Stanley.
My Lord,
Colonial Treasury, Hong Kong, 8 July 1845.
I HAVE the honour to solicit your Lordship's perusal of the enclosed correspondence with Governor Davis, and a consideration of the following statement.
Soon after my arrival in this Island I observed that there had been a large and unnecessary expenditure of the public money here, which expenditure had been greatly facilitated by the power of arresting portions of the Chinese Indemnity Money, in its transit to the Home Exchequer.
Perceiving that this disbursement was daily augmenting, I felt it to be my duty, even at the hazard of losing what I much covet—the confidence and support of your Lordship—to state openly my opinions to my superiors, and to substantiate them by facts relative to the true nature and value of Hong Kong, and to its necessary concomitant, the British position and prospects in China.
The reports, minutes and papers, written in support of these opinions, were transmitted either to your Lordship, to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, or to the Lords of the Treasury; and, as I understood, they were producing some effect at home, by suggesting various inquiries, and by causing a check to be put upon the expenditure here; I resolved, although my health and constitution have been much impaired by this climate, to await the result of those inquiries, and the correction of errors which time and circumstances generally induce.
Having, however, recently ascertained that Governor Davis is proposing for your Lordship's sanction a further expenditure of half a million dollars for civil works here, irrespective of the unnecessary extent of outlay incurred and projected in the Military and Ordnance Departments, believing that Her Majesty's Government must be under great misapprehension relative to the value of Hong Kong, and to the present state of our affairs in China, and understanding that it is intended to evacuate Chusan in February or March next, without any attempt or negotiation for the retention of that most valuable and important island (worthy of being an Anglo-Chinese colony), I applied to Governor Davis for six months' leave of absence on public grounds in order that I might bring the whole subject under a complete and unbiassed investigation, and thus, if possible, timely correct what are deemed primary errors of national importance. That the question might be placed above personal considerations, I offered to give up all my salary, to defray my own expenses to England; to continue my bonds of pecuniary security to the Crown, and to forfeit my commission in Her Majesty's service, should my application for leave of absence be disapproved of at home. The Governor refused the leave sought on the plea that I was not dying, and requiring change of climate, a decision as shown in the accompanying correspondence, contrary to the obvious meaning of the Government Instructions (ch. 4, p. 25), and which, if thus interpreted, would make every colonial servant of the Crown an exile for life, or subject to the caprice, favouritism or vindictiveness of any colonial governor.
The yet unsettled state of the British affairs in China; the very short time intervening for their imperatively required better arrangement, previous to the contemplated evacuation of Chusan, when our expenditure of every description ought to undergo the most careful revision and retrenchment; the desire to prevent an intended expenditure of half a million dollars for civil works, and other unnecessary projected outlays; a conscientious belief, that as a sworn servant of the Crown, I am bound to lay all the information I have collected before Her Majesty's Ministers, and that I can only effectually do so, without further loss of time in person, have compelled me to adopt the only alternative in my power; namely, to place in the hands of Governor Davis my conditional resignation as Her Majesty's Treasurer for the Colonial and Diplomatic service in China, in order that I may at once bring the whole matter under the full and fair consideration of your Lordship, and be on the spot in case of necessity for reference.
I will not advert to myself personally, to any treatment which I have experienced, or to any misinterpretation or misrepresentation of motives and conduct; these are points of comparatively little moment.
But I do confidently hope that the newness and vast importance of our position in China, the still partial blending of colonial, diplomatic and commercial affairs here, the possible imperfections of individual judgment arising from various interests and from natural causes, and the advantages consequently derivable to the state from a minute examination and exposition of our affairs in the most distant, most complex, and yet least understood settlement and relations of the British Crown, may induce your Lordship to grant, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, and on public grounds, a court of inquiry previous to the acceptance by my Sovereign of the responsible commission with which Her Majesty was graciously pleased to invest me.
I have, &c.
(signed) Robert M. Martin,
Enclosure 1, in No. 9.
Copy of a LETTER from R. M. Martin, Esq., to Governor Davis, dated Colonial Treasury, Hong Kong, 18 June 1845:-Printed at page 7.
Enclosure 2, in No. 9.
Copy of a LETTER from the Colonial Secretary to R. M. Martin, Esq., dated Victoria, Hong Kong, 19 June 1845:-Printed at page 7.
Enclosure 3, in No. 9.
Copy of a LETTER from R. M. Martin, Esq., to the Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong, dated Colonial Treasury, Hong Kong, 24 June 1845:-Printed at page 8.
Enclosure 4, in No. 9.
Colonial Office, Victoria, Hong Kong, 24 June 1845.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of to-day's date, which has been duly laid before his Excellency the Governor for his consideration.
In reply, I am directed by his Excellency to refer you to his decision upon the subject conveyed in my letter of the 19th instant.
R. M. Martin, Esq.
&c. &c. &c.
I have, &c. (signed) Frederick W. A. Bruce, Colonial Secretary.
Enclosure 5, in No. 9.
Copy of a LETTER from R. M. Martin, Esq., to the Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong, dated Colonial Treasury, Hong Kong, 8 July 1845-Printed at page 10.
Enclosure 6, in No. 9.
Colonial Treasury, Hong Kong, 8 July 1845-
I HAVE the honour to solicit that your Excellency will be pleased to transmit the accompanying letter and its enclosures to the Right honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, at your earliest convenience.
His Excellency John Francis Davis, Esq., Governor of Hong Kong.
I have, &c. (signed) Robert M. Martin.
743.
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12 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE RESIGNATION
OF MR. M. MARTIN, TREASURER OF HONG KONG,
430
No. 9-
R. Montgomery
Martin, Esq., to
Lord Stanley. 8 July 1845.
Nos. 1 to 6.
No. 1, of 18 June 1845.
Fide p. 7.
No. 2, of 19 June 1845.
~Fide p. 7.
Nos, 3 & 4,
of 24 June 1845. Vide pp. 8, 13.
No. 5, of 8 July 1845. Vide p. 10.
- No. 9.
COPY of a LETTER from R. Montgomery Martin, Esq., to Lord Stanley.
My Lord,
Colonial Treasury, Hong Kong, 8 July 1845.
I HAVE the honour to solicit your Lordship's persual of the enclosed correspondence with Governor Davis, and a consideration of the following
statement.
Soon after my arrival in this Island I observed that there had been a large and unnecessary expenditure of the public money here, which expenditure had been greatly facilitated by the power of arresting portions of the Chinese Indemnity Money, in its transit to the Home Exchequer.
Perceiving that this disbursement was daily augmenting, I felt it to be my duty, even at the hazard of losing what I much covet-the confidence and support of your Lordship-to state openly my opinions to my superiors, and to substantiate them by facts relative to the true nature and value of Hong Kong, and to its necessary concomitant, the British position and prospects in China.
The reports, minutes and papers, written in support of these opinions, were transmitted either to your Lordship, to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, or to the Lords of the Treasury; and, as I understood, they were pro- ducing some effect at home, by suggesting various inquiries, and by causing a check to be put upon the expenditure here; I resolved, although my health and constitution has been much impaired by this climate, to await the result of those inquiries, and the correction of errors which time and circumstances generally induce.
Having, however, recently ascertained that Governor Davis is proposing for your Lordship's sanction a further expenditure of half a million of dollars for civil works here, irrespective of the unnecessary extent of outlay incurred and projected in the Military and Ordnance Departments, believing that Her Majesty's Government must be under great misapprehension relative to the value of Hong Kong, and to the present state of our affairs in China, and understanding that it is intended to evacuate Chusan in February or March next, without any attempt or negotiation for the retention of that most valuable and important island (worthy of being an Anglo-Chinese colony), I applied to Governor Davis for six months' leave of absence on public grounds in order that I might bring the whole subject under a complete and unbiassed investi- gation, and thus, if possible, timely correct what are deemed primary errors of national importance. That the question might be placed above personal con- siderations, I offered to give up all my salary, to defray my own expenses to England; to continue my bonds of pecuniary security to the Crown, and to forfeit my commission in Her Majesty's service, should my application for leave of absence be disapproved of at home. The Governor refused the leave sought on the plea that I was not dying, and requiring change of climate, a decision as shown in the accompanying correspondence, contrary to the obvious meaning of the Government Instructions (ch. 4, p. 25), and which, if thus inter- preted, would make every colonial servant of the Crown an exile for life, or subject to the caprice, favouritism or vindictiveness of any colonial governor.
The yet unsettled state of the British affairs in China; the very short time intervening for their imperatively required better arrangement, previous to the contemplated evacation of Chusan, when our expenditure of every description ought to undergo the most careful revision and retrenchment; the desire to prevent an intended expenditure of half a million dollars for civil works, and other unnecessary projected outlays; a conscientious belief, that as a sworn servant of the Crown, I am bound to lay all the information I have collected before Her Majesty's Ministers, and that I can only effectually do so, without further loss of time in person, have compelled me to adopt the only alterna- tive in my power; namely, to place in the hands of Governor Davis my conditional resignation as Her Majesty's Treasurer for the Colonial and Diplomatic service in China, in order that I may at once bring the whole matter under the full and fair consideration of your Lordship, and be on the spot in case of necessity for reference.
13
I will not advert to myself personally, to any treatment which I have experienced, or to any misinterpretation or misrepresentation of motives
my and conduct; these are points of comparatively little moment.
But I do confidently hope that the newness and vast importance of our position in China, the still partial blending of colonial, diplomatic and com- mmercial affairs here, the possible imperfections of individual judgment arising from various interests and from natural causes, and the advantages conse- quently derivable to the state from a minute examination and exposition of our affairs in the most distant, most complex, and yet least understood settlement and relations of the British Crown, may induce your Lordship to grant, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, and on public grounds, a court of inquiry previous to the acceptance by my Sovereign of the responsible com- mission with which Her Majesty was graciously pleased to invest me.
I have, &c.
Robert M. Martin,
(signed)
Enclosure 1, in No. 9.
Copy of a LETTER from R. M. Martin, Esq., to Governor Davis, dated Colonial Treasury, Eucl. 1, in No. 9.
Hong Kong, 18 June 1845 :-Printed at page 7.
Enclosure 2, in No. 9.
Copy of a LETTER from the Colonial Secretary to R. M. Martin, Esq., dated Victoria, Encl. 2, in No. 9.
Hong Kong, 19 June 1845:-Printed at page 7.
Enclosure 3, in No. 9.
Copy of a LETTER from R. M. Martin, Esq., to the Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong, Encl. 3, in No. 9.
dated Colonial Treasury, Hong Kong, 24 June 1845 :-Printed at page 8.
Sir,
Enclosure 4, in No. 9.
Colonial Office, Victoria, Hong Kong,
24 June 1845.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of to-day's date, which has been duly laid before his Excellency the Governor for his consideration.
In reply, I am directed by his Excellency to refer you to his decision upon the subject conveyed in my letter of the 19th instant.
R. M. Martin, Esq.
&c. &c. &c.
I have, &c. (signed)
Frederick W. A. Bruce,
Colonial Secretary.
Enclosure 5, in No. 9.
Encl, 4, in No. 9.
Copy of a LETTER from R. M. Martin, Esq., to the Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong, Encl. 5, in No. 9.
dated Colonial Treasury, Hong Kong, 8 July 1845 -Printed at page 10.
Sir,
Enclosure 6, in No. 9.
Colonial Treasury, Hong Kong, 8 July 1845- I HAVE the bonour to solicit that your Excellency will be pleased to transmit the accompanying letter and its enclosures to the Right honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, at your earliest convenience.
His Excellency John Francis Davis, Esq., Governor of Hong Kong.
I have, &c. (signed) Robert M. Martin.
Encl. 6, in No. 9.
I will
743.
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