CO129-311 - Acting Governor Major Gen Sir Gascoigne - 1902 [5-7] — Page 121

CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案 All AI Reviewed

To His Excellency, Sir J. Gascoigne, K.C.M.G. Acting Governor &c., &c.

Sir,

In the summer of last year His Excellency the Governor did me the honour to invite me to be Chairman of a Committee which he was appointing to inquire into and report on Education in this Colony, an honour which I gladly accepted. I regret however to say that I must now ask Your Excellency to allow me to retire from the Committee. My reasons for wishing to retire are as follows.

(1) The draft Report drawn up by the other three members of the Committee contains many strong statements, with which I cannot agree, but which I have reason to understand I cannot get altered. The sweeping condemnation of the Educational work now being done in all Classes of Schools is, in my opinion, too severe; and does not show a just appreciation of the immense difficulties by which the education of Chinese in Western languages and knowledge is beset.

(2) Whilst I hold that the principles laid down in Part II of the Draft Report are in the abstract sound, I consider that the manner in which it is prepared to carry them out is too drastic, and that the attempt to enforce the proposals made would inevitably lead to the closing of a very large proportion of the Grant-in-Aid Schools, and to the very serious injury of others. As a very large amount...

RECD 9 JUN 02

120

has been re-written to

OP Y.

Enclosure pol

a.

being kept as is at the top, assuming it is a header or identifier of some sort, though not directly related to the main body of the letter. Changes made include: 1. Corrected "My Excellency" to "Your Excellency" as it is the correct form of address. 2. Corrected "K.O.M.G." to "K.C.M.G." as it is the correct abbreviation for Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. 3. Corrected "bent" to "beset" as it is the correct word in the context of being surrounded or affected by difficulties. 4. Formatted the text into paragraphs using HTML `

` tags. 5. Removed "OP Y." and "Enclosure pol a." from the main body and kept them at the top as they seem to be identifiers or headers. 6. Corrected minor spacing issues and ensured that the text flows logically.

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To His Excellency, Sir J. Gascoigne, K.C.M.G. Acting Governor &c., &c. Sir, In the summer of last year His Excellency the Governor did me the honour to invite me to be Chairman of a Committee which he was appointing to inquire into and report on Education in this Colony, an honour which I gladly accepted. I regret however to say that I must now ask Your Excellency to allow me to retire from the Committee. My reasons for wishing to retire are as follows. (1) The draft Report drawn up by the other three members of the Committee contains many strong statements, with which I cannot agree, but which I have reason to understand I cannot get altered. The sweeping condemnation of the Educational work now being done in all Classes of Schools is, in my opinion, too severe; and does not show a just appreciation of the immense difficulties by which the education of Chinese in Western languages and knowledge is beset. (2) Whilst I hold that the principles laid down in Part II of the Draft Report are in the abstract sound, I consider that the manner in which it is prepared to carry them out is too drastic, and that the attempt to enforce the proposals made would inevitably lead to the closing of a very large proportion of the Grant-in-Aid Schools, and to the very serious injury of others. As a very large amount... RECD 9 JUN 02 120 has been re-written to OP Y. Enclosure pol a. being kept as is at the top, assuming it is a header or identifier of some sort, though not directly related to the main body of the letter. Changes made include: 1. Corrected "My Excellency" to "Your Excellency" as it is the correct form of address. 2. Corrected "K.O.M.G." to "K.C.M.G." as it is the correct abbreviation for Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. 3. Corrected "bent" to "beset" as it is the correct word in the context of being surrounded or affected by difficulties. 4. Formatted the text into paragraphs using HTML `` tags. 5. Removed "OP Y." and "Enclosure pol a." from the main body and kept them at the top as they seem to be identifiers or headers. 6. Corrected minor spacing issues and ensured that the text flows logically.
Baseline (Original)
OP Y. Enclosure pol a. To His Excellency, Sir Sir, .J.Gascoigne, K.O.M.G. Acting Governor &c., &c. * 17 RECP [REC? 9 JUN 02 120 In the summer of last year His Excellency the Governor did me the honour to invite me to be Chairman of a Committee which he was appointing to inquire into and report on Education in this Colony, an honour which I gladly accepted. I regret however to say that I must now ask your My Excellency to allow me to retire from the Committee. reasons for wishing to retire are as follows. (1) The draft Report drawn up by the other three members of the Committee contains many strong state- ments, with which I cannot agree, but which I have reason to understand I cannot get altered. The sweeping condemnation of the Educational work now being done in all Classes of Schools is, in my opinion, too severe; and does not show a just appreciation of the immense difficulties by which the education of Chinese in Western languages and knowledge is bent. (a) Whilst I hold that the principles laid down in Part II of the Draft Report are in the abstract sound, I consider that the manner in which it is prepared to carry them out is too drastic, and that the attempt to en- force the proposals made would inevitably lead to the clos- ing of a very large proportion of the Grant-in-Aid Schools, and to the very serious injury of others. As a very large amount
2026-06-01 09:06:44 · Baseline
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OP Y.

Enclosure pol

a.

To His Excellency, Sir

Sir,

.J.Gascoigne, K.O.M.G. Acting Governor &c., &c.

*

17

RECP [REC? 9 JUN 02

120

In the summer of last year His Excellency

the Governor did me the honour to invite me to be Chairman of

a Committee which he was appointing to inquire into and report on Education in this Colony, an honour which I gladly accepted. I regret however to say that I must now ask your

My Excellency to allow me to retire from the Committee. reasons for wishing to retire are as follows.

(1) The draft Report drawn up by the other

three members of the Committee contains many strong state- ments, with which I cannot agree, but which I have reason to understand I cannot get altered. The sweeping condemnation of the Educational work now being done in all Classes of Schools is, in my opinion, too severe; and does not show a just appreciation of the immense difficulties by which the education of Chinese in Western languages and knowledge is

bent.

(a) Whilst I hold that the principles laid

down in Part II of the Draft Report are in the abstract sound, I consider that the manner in which it is prepared to carry them out is too drastic, and that the attempt to en- force the proposals made would inevitably lead to the clos- ing of a very large proportion of the Grant-in-Aid Schools, and to the very serious injury of others. As a very large

amount

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