Colonial Despatches
The colonial despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871
Despatch to London
Douglas, Sir James to Lytton, Sir Edward George Earle Bulwer 30 December 1858, CO 60:1, no. 2142, 561.
Abstract
Despatch to London.
Minutes (6), Enclosures (untranscribed) (1), Other documents (1).
Douglas informs Lytton that he instituted his gold regulations to “accustom [foreign miners] to the restraints
of lawful authority” and to eliminate any of their “own attempts at legislation.”
He reports that “no serious objection” has been issued by the population.
The minutes observe “how easy it is to theorise in England & how difficult it is sometimes
to give effect to those theories in a new Colony.” The CO concedes that “the Governor
must know best.”
No. 63
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch,
marked Confidential, of the 14th of October
last;
1
in which you have been pleased to favor me with the impressions derivedfrom
from the perusal of the Regulations framed for the management of the
Gold Fields in British Columbia, and it is not without reason that
I now express the deepest sense of obligation for the searching
investigation which you have given to that subject.
from the perusal of the Regulations framed for the management of the
Gold Fields in British Columbia, and it is not without reason that
I now express the deepest sense of obligation for the searching
investigation which you have given to that subject.
2. I was sensible from the outset, of the arduous nature
of the task of framing regulations so perfectly adapted for a
comparatively unknowncountry
country, as to be unobjectionable,
especially for a country situated as is British Columbia, in the
close vicinity of a powerful state whose inhabitants would for
a time at least form the great bulk of the population.
country, as to be unobjectionable,
especially for a country situated as is British Columbia, in the
close vicinity of a powerful state whose inhabitants would for
a time at least form the great bulk of the population.
3. It was to establish a legal control over the adventurers
who were rushing, from all sides, into the country, to anticipate their
ownattempts
attempts at legislation and to accustom them to the restraints of
lawful authority, that I prepared and issued the gold regulations.
I am therefore not wedded to the established system, as I hardly
ventured to hope, that it would be found in all respects so well
adapted to the people and the country, as to form the permanent mining
code of British Columbia.
attempts at legislation and to accustom them to the restraints of
lawful authority, that I prepared and issued the gold regulations.
I am therefore not wedded to the established system, as I hardly
ventured to hope, that it would be found in all respects so well
adapted to the people and the country, as to form the permanent mining
code of British Columbia.
4. No seriousobjection
objection has been offered by the miners to that
section of the Law, which regulates the size of mining claims, but
there has been, and I fear always will exist a strong dislike to the
payment of a monthly licence fee, and the enforcement of that system
might ultimately lead as it did in Australia to fatal interruptions,
of the public Peace.
objection has been offered by the miners to that
section of the Law, which regulates the size of mining claims, but
there has been, and I fear always will exist a strong dislike to the
payment of a monthly licence fee, and the enforcement of that system
might ultimately lead as it did in Australia to fatal interruptions,
of the public Peace.
5. There are several other objections to the monthly licence fee,
considered as a source of revenue, such asthe
the cost of collection,
its equal pressure upon the prosperous and unsuccessful Miner, and its
frequent evasion—objections which apply with peculiar force to
the extensive and hardly accessible Gold Districts of British Columbia.
the cost of collection,
its equal pressure upon the prosperous and unsuccessful Miner, and its
frequent evasion—objections which apply with peculiar force to
the extensive and hardly accessible Gold Districts of British Columbia.
6. I shall not fail to consider with care your suggestions, and
to revise the Law as it respects the extraction of Gold by means of
machinery from Quartz rocks and other classes ofmining
mining requiring
the large investment of capital.
mining requiring
the large investment of capital.
7. My attention was in fact closely devoted to a revision of
the Gold regulations, when your Despatch on the subject was received.
The expediency of abolishing the monthly licence Fee, in
consequence of its obnoxious features, and of introducing the system
which has been found to work with such happy effects in Victoria,
was an ideanaturally
naturally suggested by the consideration of the subject
and we should not have hesitated in adopting that system with perhaps
some modification in details, but for the difficulty of dealing with the
export duty on gold, which has proved so prolific a source of revenue
in Victoria as more than to compensate for the surrender of the
monthly licence fees.
naturally suggested by the consideration of the subject
and we should not have hesitated in adopting that system with perhaps
some modification in details, but for the difficulty of dealing with the
export duty on gold, which has proved so prolific a source of revenue
in Victoria as more than to compensate for the surrender of the
monthly licence fees.
8. The imposition of a duty at present onthe
the export of Gold in
British Columbia, would it is feared be comparatively unproductive of
revenue, besides having the effect of diverting the course of trade,
which it has been the hitherto successful object of all our legislation
to retain within our own possessions, to
Samiamoo
2
and other American frontier Towns. The miners returning with their gains
to California,would
would naturally seek to evade the payment of the duty,
cross over the frontier, and take the road to those places; instead of
coming direct to Victoria which is now enriched by their visits.
the export of Gold in
British Columbia, would it is feared be comparatively unproductive of
revenue, besides having the effect of diverting the course of trade,
which it has been the hitherto successful object of all our legislation
to retain within our own possessions, to
Samiamoo
2
and other American frontier Towns. The miners returning with their gains
to California,would
would naturally seek to evade the payment of the duty,
cross over the frontier, and take the road to those places; instead of
coming direct to Victoria which is now enriched by their visits.
9. We have as yet found no solution of this difficulty, but I am
of opinion that it will nevertheless be advisable at once to abolish
the monthly licence fees, and to replace them by an annualpayment
payment—probably exceeding the payment annually levied on miners in
the Colony of
Victoria.
3
payment—probably exceeding the payment annually levied on miners in
the Colony of
Victoria.
3
10. It may also be advisable to adopt the other features of the
Victorian system—a subject which will have my early and anxious
consideration, with the aid and advice of my executive Council, which
will be composed of Lieutenant Governor Moody and the other officers who
have lately arrived fromEngland
England
4
England
4
11. It will be our study to frame such regulations as will give
satisfaction to the people at large, and to create a public revenue, with
the smallest possible amount of pressure on the trade and resources of
the Country.
Minutes by CO staff
Mr Merivale
Lord Carnarvon has given much of his attention to this subject. See the draft which he wrote on the 14 Oct. 5
Lord Carnarvon has given much of his attention to this subject. See the draft which he wrote on the 14 Oct. 5
ABd
28 Feby
Lord Carnarvon
I am afraid the subject presents only a choice of difficulties. I should have hoped that
the export duty would have been
comparatively easy of collection, owing to the very difficult
character of the exits & entrances of the Colony except at
Fort Langley. But the Governor must know best.
I am afraid the subject presents only a choice of difficulties. I should have hoped that
the export duty would have been
comparatively easy of collection, owing to the very difficult
character of the exits & entrances of the Colony except at
Fort Langley. But the Governor must know best.
HM
Mh 2
This desp. shows how easy it is to theorise in England & how
difficult it is sometimes to give effect to those theories
in a new Colony. I hardly understand how the Govr can make
a yearly license fee a sufficient substitute for the monthly
one, wh he admits to be generally objectionable; but
I do not think that we are in a position to give instructions
or even definite advice on the subject. The export duty
may under present circumstances be useless or mischievous
but whenever a bank is established at Victoria, a certain
revenue might, I sd think, be obtained by undertaking
the
conveyance & the escort of the gold to the Coast; and
then perhaps some moderate export duty wd be practicable.
conveyance & the escort of the gold to the Coast; and
then perhaps some moderate export duty wd be practicable.
C
Mh 3
I see no reason to alter my former opinions & believe the
Export Duty will prove lucrative. Print for Parlt.
EBL
M 4
Documents enclosed with the main document (not transcribed)
Minutes by CO staff
This copy of Mr Brew's letter has been enclosed—owing
to the pressure of time—in a private letter from Govr Douglas.
6
It can now be registered & minuted.
C
Jany 15
Mr Merivale
The request of Mr Brew to be relieved from the payment of a portion of the amount advanced to him has been so far anticipated that by a Despatch dated the 11 Novr 7 Govr Douglas was informed that the £100 advanced by the Nova Scotia Govt could be repaid by this Country. He likewise received an advance of £150 before his departure on account of salary.
The request of Mr Brew to be relieved from the payment of a portion of the amount advanced to him has been so far anticipated that by a Despatch dated the 11 Novr 7 Govr Douglas was informed that the £100 advanced by the Nova Scotia Govt could be repaid by this Country. He likewise received an advance of £150 before his departure on account of salary.
Footnotes
- = Lytton to Douglas, 14 October 1858, CO 398/1, p. 107, Conf.
- = wrong reference?? Samiamoo (Semiahmoo) was located on Semiahmoo Bay, just south of the 49th parallel. Gazette, 13 August 1858.
- = abolish monthly licenses The initial license fee in Victoria, Australia, was £1 per month, which was replaced, first, by an annual fee of £1, plus a £10 per acre on alluvial soil, and third by an export tax of 2 shillings 6 pence per ounce of gold. See Lytton to Douglas, 14 October 1858, CO 398/1, p. 107.
- = Executive Council An Executive Council was not formally authorized until 1863. Douglas began shortly to meet with Moody and Begbie, encouraged to do so, no doubt, by Lytton's suggestion that he form such a "council of advice" to assist him in his duties. (Lytton to Douglas, 31 July 1858, CO 410/1, p. 147.) He provisionally appointed Moody and Begbie to the "Council" of British Columbia on 1 March 1859, but it is unlikely that this body ever formally met. For further information, see James E. Hendrickson, Introduction, Journals of the Colonial Legislatures of the Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, 1851-1871, 5 vols. (Victoria: Provincial Archives of British Columbia, 1980), pp. xl-xli.
- = Carnarvon draft; see footnote in Douglas to Lytton, 30 August 1858, 10344, CO 60/1, p. 134, Conf.
- = to CO Only Brew's enclosure was apparently registered, not Douglas's letter. FIND ??
- = £100 compensation for Brew. See Lytton to Douglas, 11 November 1858, CO 398/1, p. 143.