Fraser to Buckingham
33 St James Square
16 August 1867
My Lord Duke,
I beg to acknowledge receipt of
Mr Elliots Letter of the
13th, the contents of which I have communicated to the other
Gentlemen who addressed Your Grace on the
26th ultimo, as well as
to
Sir Edmund Head and the Gentlemen who joined in the Memorial of
that date.
2. I have also informed
Mr Graves the Member for Liverpool
and the other Gentlemen who intended to form a Deputation that their
Services will not be required.
3.
Mr Elliot remarks that it is impossible for Your Grace to
adopt any conclusion on the subject until a Report on the question at
issue shall have been
recieved received from the Governor.
4. This resolution is both reasonable and proper and my only
object in adverting to it, is to state that neither myself nor any of
the Gentlemen moving in the matter desired or expected that Your
Grace should decide the question until full information had been
received from
Governor Seymour.
5. Influenced by these Statements, the Gentlemen who forwarded
the Memorial desire me to suggest that your Grace would have the
goodness to afford the Memorialists an opportunity of perusing
Governor Seymour's Report and of Commenting upon it, if necessary,
before it shall have been acted upon—should Your Grace consider such
a course proper.
6. I, therefore, beg leave, with great respect, to submit this
suggestion
for for your Grace's kind consideration.
I have the honour to be,
with respect
Your Grace's most obedient humble Serv
t
D. Fraser
Minutes by CO staff
The request on page 2 is singularly unreasonable, although
doubtless only proceeding from want of knowledge and experience.
I should ackge the letter & with reference to that request I
should state that it would be entirely contrary to the practise of
the public service to refer reports made by the Governors of Colonies
officially to the Secretary of State for the comments of private
persons.
Other documents included in the file
Elliot to
Fraser,
21 August 1867, declining his request to see
the papers, with explanation.