Colonial Despatches

I have the honour to enclose herewith, as a document which may be of interest to Your Grace, a comparative statement of the Revenue of the Colony of British Columbia for the years 1861 and 1862.

2. The exact Revenue of1862 1862 cannot yet be ascertained with certainty, as some of the distant out Station Accounts for December have not yet been received, but the figures given I believe to be very closely approximate, and sufficiently accurate for all comparative purposes.

3. Had I possessed a more extensive command of funds to prosecute more vigorously the opening up of the communications of the Country, I feel confident that the Revenue of 1862 would have far exceeded the Estimate. As it is, it only falls short of the Estimateby by £3,500, and considering the hundreds of men that were obliged to leave the country through the dearth and famine prices of Provisions at the mines, the amount realized is beyond any anticipation when I found myself unable to continue as I had proposed those great public works, upon which the present prosperity and future greatness of the Colony so entirely depend.

4. The net increase of the Revenue in 1862 is £25,749 or a little over 42 per Cent upon the Revenue of the preceeding year. I trust Your Grace will recognize in this material fact an indisputable evidence of the substantial prosperityand and steady progression of the Colony.