Hunt to Under-Secretary of State
Treasury Chambers
5th December 1867
Sir,
I am directed by the Lord's Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to state, for the information of the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, that My Lords have had under consideration the Report of the Auditor General of British Columbia, enclosed, with a copy of a despatch from the GovernorinManuscript image in your letter of the 12th ultmo, respecting the claims of that Government for repayment of a certain portion of the expenses incurred for the Royal Engineers in that Colony.
My Lords have only to remark that the observations in that report tend further to shew that the claim made in the Acting Governor's despatch of Nov. 27 1865 was based on a misunderstanding of the intention of the arrangement for apportioning the expenses of the Engineers between theImperialManuscript image Imperial Government and the Colony.
With regard to the 8th paragraph of the report, referring to a General Account purporting to shew that up to 1862 there was a sum of £5454-9-4 undrawn or due to the Colony, My Lords observe that no copy of the account is annexed to the Report, to enable them to form an opinion on this point.
Even assuming thataccordingManuscript image according to the views of the Colonial authorities such a sum was really due to the Colony, the claim will have been satisfied by the payment of £6714-14-11 made to the Agents in behalf of the Colony in July 1866.
Under these circumstances My Lords are of opinion that there is no occasion for pursuing further the correspondence on this subject.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
George Ward Hunt
Minutes by CO staff
Manuscript image
Sir F. Rogers
See sep: minute.
CC 6 Dec
Manuscript image
Sir F. Rogers
Mr Elliot's memo with 1944 will shew you the history of this disputed matter of account. As the Account between the Colony and the Treasury has been settled you probably will agree with the letter that there is no necessity for pursuing the correspondence further—& we are not in a position to say the Colonial Auditor was right.
CC 6 Dec
Manuscript image
This has come back to me having been mixed up with some N. American Papers. A copy of the missing amount has since beenManuscript image recd & I have attached it to the despatch 10838. Send it to the Treasury as having been now sent home, & if they do not move further, put all the papers by?
CC 14/12
Manuscript image
I think so.
FR 14/12
CBA 16/12
B&C 30/12
Other documents included in the file
Manuscript image
Elliot to Secretary to the Treasury, 6 January 1868, forwarding copy of the general account recently received from the colony relating to the marines on San Juan Island.