CO129-328 - Governor Nathan - 1905 [1-6] — Page 581

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work of my Department has, as I pointed out in my letter of March

30th., 1904, increased enormously and still appears to increase

daily, and in spite of the fact that the Secretary of State did

not approve of my application for an increase in order to pay

for a qualified Assistant, my partner, Mr. B. L. Dennys and 1

found it absolutely necessary to engage such an Assistant, and

in November last Mr. G. E. Morrell, a Solicitor of the Supreme

Court in England, joined my firm as Managing Clerk.

9.

In December last Mr. Morrell was chiefly

engaged in assisting me in the Cheung Sha Wan Appeal Case, but

during the present year he has relieved me of a great deal of

the routine work of my Department, such as the collection of

Crown Rents and Rates from defaulters, preparing agreements,

attending the less important cases in the Police Court and at

Criminal Sessions.

10.

and

1

I find, however, that notwithstanding this

relief the Crown work devolving upon me is increasingly heavy,

and that the time available for my private practice is seriously

contracted, owing to the large number of important questions

upon which I am required to advise the Government, and the heavy

cases and intricate negotiations which I am called upon to

conduct, whilst the most important work of drafting or revising

Ordinances (e.g., the New Territories Land Bill) and regulations

of all sorts is extremely exacting.

11.

What may be termed a new branch of work has