CO129-072 - Indviduals - 1858 — Page 113

Appendix B

$10478755

112

SIR,

Victoria, 3rd July, 1847.

I deem it my duty to inform you that reports have been current for some time past, that some Chinese servants of the Government are in the habit of extorting money from their Countrymen on false pretences, in fact it may be said that these practices are the topic of common conversation, coupled with insinuations that they are known and winked at by those whose duty it is to check them: In particular I beg to draw your attention to the allegations of Wei-Afoon, Overseer of the Government Central Market, who stated yesterday in your presence, "that monthly he pays the sum of One Hundred Dollars to the Honorable Major Caine's Comprador, and also stated that Chowh Avan your Treasure Comprador acts as a go-between in the matter, holding over him various threats, latterly insinuating that unless he agrees to pay at one time the sum of Seven Hundred Dollars out of monies which he, Afoon, will have to receive on his Contract at Aberdeen that the Honorable Major Caine will enforce the payment of a fine for non-completion to time, together with other threats doubtless equally as base, and without the shadow of a foundation.

I trust therefore that you will lay this letter before the Honorable Colonial Secretary for strict investigation of the circumstances, feeling convinced that the character of that Gentleman (and of the public service generally) is now laying under imputations which it is highly necessary should be dispersed without delay.

CHAS. ST. GEO. CLEVERLY, Esq., Surveyor General and Acting Colonial Treasurer.

I have, &c.

MY LORD,

Victoria, Hongkong, 19th August, 1847.

I respectfully crave permission to be allowed to address your Lordship, and to detail for your Lordship's consideration the circumstances proceeding out of which His Excellency the Governor in Council has resolved on suspending me from my Office pending the pleasure of Her Majesty's Government.

The humble position which I hold in Her Majesty's Service, and the degree of credence which I wish to obtain in the opinion of your Lordship, render it incumbent on me in the first place to lay before you a statement of my past services, and I greatly deplore the necessity which exists in my having thus to intrude on your Lordship's time and attention.

When in the early part of the year 1842 I entered the employ of the Government as Clerk in the Land Office, owing to the sickness and inability of those preceding me there, the Books and Accounts of the Office were in great confusion, so much so, that the Secretary and Treasurer to Her Majesty's Superintendents of Trade (the late Mr. John Robert Morrison) failing them, could not close up the Accounts with the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury. My diligence in bringing the accounts into tangibility gained me the good-will of that gentleman, through whose recommendation I was removed into the Office of the Deputy Superintendent charged with the Government of the Island, where I remained, the sole Clerk employed, until the final return of His Excellency Sir Henry Pottinger from the north, with the remaining Office Establishment. In November 1842, in conjunction with my duties on the Superintendents' Establishment I was appointed to the Office of Land and Road Inspector, and early in 1843 was gazetted as Assistant to Mr. Gordon (the late Surveyor General) in the Offices of Land Officer, Surveyor and Inspector of Roads, the trying nature of my duties and continued exposure to the climate, brought on me in the Mid-summer of 1843, in its worst form, the Epidemic Fever which then raged, and for several months my life was despaired of (as certified by the late Colonial Surgeon, vide enclosure herewith). From the severe effects of the Dysentery which succeeded the Fever, I have not up to the present hour wholly recovered from the shock which my constitution then received.

In consideration of my illness having been brought on whilst in the zealous performance of my duties to the Government, His Excellency Sir Henry Pottinger directed that my future employment should be confined to indoor work, and in 1844, I was made Clerk of the Office for the Registry of Deeds, under local Ordinance No 3 of that year, and Keeper of the Leases and Records.

With what ability I have up to the present time performed the novel and responsible duties required of me, I would beg to refer your Lordship to the annual reports of the Surveyor General; under my supervision upwards of Five Hundred Leases have been prepared and executed; the Books and Indices of the Deed Registry requiring much care and forethought have been formed and established, and in the performance of these services where the committal of an error might have been of irremediable consequence, in no instance have I received ought but the unqualified approval of the head of my Department. In the early part of 1845, in the absence of professional men, my services were rendered available in acting in the Supreme Court as Attorney and Solicitor for the Crown, in cases both at law and in equity. In June of that year, in conjunction with Mr. Pope, Colonial Engineer, I was appointed to the intricate duty of valuing house property in Victoria, for the purpose of Police Assessment, and also of collecting the first year's rates levied thereon, a duty which at the commencement entailed much obloquy from the Community, who were opposed generally to any system of direct taxation.

I earnestly trust that this brief retrospect of my services will not be deemed intrusive of your Lordship's attention, and that it will have succeeded in obtaining for me from your Lordship, that degree of consideration, which to my extreme pain I humbly consider is withheld from me by His Excellency the Governor in Council.

I will now proceed to detail to your Lordship the circumstances alluded to in the commencement of this letter.

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