No. 8
10 March 1858
1. I have the honor of transmitting for your information copies of several Ordinances and other Documents which were laid before the House of Assembly on the 27th of May in pursuance of an address from that body, and which ought to have been forwarded with my Despatch No 20 of the 30th of June last; my reason for not forwarding them at that time, beinganManuscript image an impression that they were not required, as copies of all those papers had been previously transmitted with the Minutes, as they passed and were approved of by the Council.
2. I beg also to communicate for your information that the Act which passed the Assembly on the 1st of June last to "Enfranchise the Town of Victoria", has not yet received the assent of Council, and will probably undergo some alteration before it passes into a Law.
3. I have also the honor of transmitting herewith a copy of my correspondence with the House of Assembly up to the 19th day of December last inclusive. The report of the Committee of enquiry into the state of the PublicSchoolsManuscript image Schools will be forwarded by the next mail, as for want of clerical assistance it cannot be copied in time for the present conveyance.
4. The Assembly have not met for the despatch of public business since Christmas and I have therefore nothing further of any importance to report on this occasion respecting the proceedings of that body.
I have etc.
Minutes by CO staff
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Put by—for reference.
ABd 25 Oct
Documents enclosed with the main document (not transcribed)
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Returns to a requisition from the House of Assembly dated 18 May 1857, for "copies of all Laws enacted by the Council at present in force in the Colony," including extracts of Council Minutes relative to Ordinances 1 through 7, 1853, and 8 through 10, 1856, and an "Abstract of the Income and Expenditure of Vancouver's Island—for the years ending respectively 31st October 1855 and 1856" (ten pages).
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Returns to requisitions from the House of Assembly dated 18 and 28 May 1857, for "copies of all Laws enacted by the council at present in force in this Colony" and for "information relative to the Inferior Court of Civil Justice" (eight pages).
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Copies of correspondence between Douglas and the House of Assembly during the period from 25 June to 19 December 1857 (14 entries, ten pages).