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may be made, and the result reported to the Government of India, with a view to ascertain whether a body of 100 picked Punjabees can, with the permission of His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor, be found willing to accept the service offered by Sir R. MacDonnell, and proceed to Hong-Kong under Mr. Creagh.
2. No further steps, however, are to be taken until the precise terms of the service shall have been received from the Government of Hong-Kong and accepted by the men.
P. S-Since the above was written, His Excellency the Governor General has received demi-official intimation that the Hong-Kong Government is willing to pay every ordinary Sikli policeman at the rate of rupees 20 per month, so far as mere pay is concerned. His Excellency anticipates that picked men may be willing to enlist for service in Hong-Kong on these terms.
From His Excellency Sir R. G. McDonnell, Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Hong-Kong, to His Excellency the Right Hon'ble Sir John Lawrence, G. C. B., K. §. I., Governor General of India, fo, &c., fc.,—No. 651, dated the 30th November 1866.
I have the honor to invite your Excellency's attention to the following facts :- A very great difficulty has for some years been experienced in procuring an adequate number of efficient police for the duties of this city and Island. It has not been found possible in summer to carry on the service with Europeans only; whilst, on the other hand, the men hitherto procured from Bombay and other parts of India, having had no previous police training, have not proved efficient.
A number of these men who had entered for a limited period will be leaving next March; and though I hope to be able to detain them, if needful, for a couple of months longer, it is highly necessary to take early measures for replacing them.
Knowing the liberality of the Indian Government on other and not dissimilar occasions, I have thought it advisable to communicate whith your Excellency, and inquire whether you cannot spare 100 of the Seikh police; and, if they be so inclined, allow them to volunteer for service in Hong-Kong.
I have hitherto found it so difficult to prevent corruption and bribe-taking amongst the class of Inspectors whom I have hitherto been able to secure, that I am specially anxious that the Seikh Contingent in question should have at its head some person who is a gentle- man by birth and education,-it being my belief that in no other way can the Government be secured against corrupt practices.
Having heard that a young gentleman, member of an old county family with which I have been for years acquainted, was in the Punjab, and had been appointed an Assistant District Inspector, after passing a very creditable examination, I wrote to him last August, inquiring whether he would like to take service here, and whether he could procure 100 trained policemen to accompany him.
Mr. Creagh has informed me, in reply, that he has reason to believe the Local Government would not object. Ile also tells me that, supposing he could find trained and good men willing to accompany him, they would have to give two months' notice, whilst he also is naturally diffident as to the propriety of inducing men to leave the service.
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I need scarcely inform your Excellency that I have no wish or intention of doing, or inducing others to do, anything within the British Indian dominious without the full privity and consent of the Authorities there.
I am, however, in a very embarrassing position at this moment, as the necessity of procuring additional and trustworthy police is extremely urgent; therefore, in the interest of the Queen's Government, I apply to your Excellency for aid so far as to give Mr. Creaghi leave to transfer his services to this Government without prejudice to his position in the Indian service, a favor accorded to other Indian employés in similar circumstances; and secondly, I am extremely desirous that Mr. Creagh should have permission to eulist at once 100 of the Seikh police for duty here, without requiring from the men the usual two months" notice.
It is not improbable that even if Mr. Creagh cannot be permitted to retain his position in the Punjab Police, or be allowed to count his service here, he will nevertheless consent to come to Hong-Kong. I fear, however, that he will do this under an erroneous impression of my having it in my power hereafter to do more for him than I can, and I am therefore, very reluctant to interfere with his future prospects in the Indian Service.
I trust your Excellency may find yourself able to take a favorable view of the request herein preferred, and to issue early the necessary directions for that purpose. Not knowing any other suitable channel through which to make this communication, I have been obliged to trouble your Excellency with these details.
From E. C. Bayley Esquire, Secretary to the Government of India, to the Hon'ble the Colonial Secretary, Hong-Kong,-No. 126, dated the 7th January 1867.
I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of His Excellency Sir R. G. MacDonnell's letter of the 30th November 1866, No. 651, to the address of His Excellency the Governor General, requesting the aid of the Government of India in procuring, for immediate service in Hong-Kong, a body of 100 Sikh Police under Mr. Creagh, who is now serving as an Assistant District Superintendent of police in the Punjab.
2. In reply, I am to state that the Government of India is anxious to afford His Excel- lency all the assistance practicable, so far as is consistent with the circumstances of the case and the well-being of the men who may be employed; but I am to express the regret of the Governor General in Council that he did not receive earlier intimation of His Excellency's wishes, so, that full time might have been available to consult the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab on the subject, and to ascertain whether the necessary number of picked men from the Punjab would volunteer for the service.
3. Before, however, any material steps can be taken towards furnishing His Excellency with these men, it is desirable that the Government of India should be made acquainted with his views on many points of great importance connected with the terms of It would the service, which are not mentioned in the letter under acknowledgment.
be well to know, for instance, whether the service would be permanent, or for a term of years; and, if the latter, for what period; what the amount of pay would be: the proportion of superior Native Officers of each grade to ordinary Policemen : whether, in the event of death, the familes of the deceased men would be entitled to any
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