Colonial Despatches
The colonial despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871
Despatch to London
Douglas, Sir James to Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle Henry Pelham Fiennes 23 November 1861, CO 60:11, no. 1161, 157.
Abstract
Despatch to London.
Minutes (2), Other documents (2).
Douglas writes to Newcastle to report the payment of the Royal Engineers in British Columbia, for which Douglas authorizes the Treasurer to obtain £3,000. Douglas then speculates that the Tartar's recent coin delivery must be “treated as irrespective of the aid granted by Parliament,”
earlier.
In the minutes, Elliot finds Douglas's despatch “unanswerable” and denies that the coin sent on the Tartar is an addition to the parliament-approved sum.
The first of the two documents included in the file is a draft letter from Elliot to Hamilton, which forwards a copy of Douglas's despatch and states that the coin recently sent to BC is not an additional gift to the amount approved previously; the second is a draft
letter from Newcastle to Douglas, which, essentially, reiterates Elliot's letter to the Treasury.
No. 72, Military
23 November 1861
Money being required for payment of the Colonial pay &ca
of the Royal Engineers, I have the honor to acquaint Your Grace
that I have authorized the Treasurer to obtain, when circumstances
will permit, the Sum of Three Thousand pounds in the usual manner
byBills
Bills upon Her Majesty's Paymaster General, and I trust Your
Grace will cause the necessary authority to be issued for the
acceptance of the Bills, drawn on this Account, upon their presentation.
Bills upon Her Majesty's Paymaster General, and I trust Your
Grace will cause the necessary authority to be issued for the
acceptance of the Bills, drawn on this Account, upon their presentation.
2. The sum of Six Thousand pounds is all that has been as
yet drawn this year. The Parliamentary Vote for British Columbia
ending 31 March 1862 is Eleven Thousand pounds for "Colonial Pay of Royal Engineers," exclusive of the
Salary of the Chief
Commissioner of Lands and Works (in command of Royal Engineers).
Therefore if theCoin
Coin sent out by the "Tartar," be not considered
in the Parliamentary grant, there is still a sum of Two Thousand
pounds available before the 31st March 1862, and this sum
will, I believe, just meet our requirements on account of Colonial
Pay &ca of the Royal Engineers to that date. I therefore trust
that the Coin sent out by the "Tartar", and which was issued from
the Treasury in October 1860, may be treated as irrespective of the aid granted by Parliament for 1861-62, for as I have before
explainedto
to Your Grace the remote and almost inaccessible part
of the Country in which the recent rich gold fields have been
opened demand immediate heavy expenditure in improving the
communications &ca and so numerous and so pressing are the
calls made upon me, that, although not able to meet a tithe of
them, I am, nevertheless, just now more straitened for means
than at almost any other period since the creation of the Colony.
Coin sent out by the "Tartar," be not considered
in the Parliamentary grant, there is still a sum of Two Thousand
pounds available before the 31st March 1862, and this sum
will, I believe, just meet our requirements on account of Colonial
Pay &ca of the Royal Engineers to that date. I therefore trust
that the Coin sent out by the "Tartar", and which was issued from
the Treasury in October 1860, may be treated as irrespective of the aid granted by Parliament for 1861-62, for as I have before
explainedto
to Your Grace the remote and almost inaccessible part
of the Country in which the recent rich gold fields have been
opened demand immediate heavy expenditure in improving the
communications &ca and so numerous and so pressing are the
calls made upon me, that, although not able to meet a tithe of
them, I am, nevertheless, just now more straitened for means
than at almost any other period since the creation of the Colony.
Minutes by CO staff
Mr Elliot
This is for the Treasury, but paragraph 2 of the Governor's desph seems to require the expression of some opinion on the part of the S. of State.
This is for the Treasury, but paragraph 2 of the Governor's desph seems to require the expression of some opinion on the part of the S. of State.
ABd
3 Feb
The Governor's application is quite unanswerable. Parlt voted
a certain sum for the service of B. Columbia: the fact that part
of it has been sent out in Coin cannot afford the most remote
reason why it should be treated as a present in addition to the
vote. Inform the T-y that we cannot support the Governor's application?
Other documents included in the file
Draft, Elliot to G.A. Hamilton, Treasury, 10 February 1862,
forwarding copy of the despatch and stating Newcastle did not feel
the coin sent out to the colony should be treated as a gift
in addition to the vote.
