Colonial Despatches
The colonial despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871
Despatch to London
Douglas, James to Pelham-Clinton, Henry Pelham Fiennes 13 May 1862, CO 60:13, no. 6358, 219.
Abstract
Despatch to London.
Minutes (5), Marginalia (1).
Douglas sends Newcastle a detailed argument outlining why he believes the colony of
British Columbia cannot afford to cover the £11,000 yearly cost of the Royal Engineers stationed
there. He warns of the
consequences inevitable from the congregation of starving multitudes attributing their distresses not to their own precipitancy and improvidence, but to the inaction and indifference of the Government,and again asks to be allowed to raise funds through a loan. Elliot rebuts some of Douglas's argument in a lengthy minute and proposes a way forward that involves informally loaning the colony £11,000 for one year.
No. 26
13 May 1862
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch
of the 27th February last No 104, acquainting me that it is
not possible for your Grace to comply with my solicitation for a
continuance during the year 1862-63 of the provision from Imperial
Funds necessary for the maintenanceof
of the Detachment of Royal
Engineers serving in British Columbia, but that on the contrary,
one moiety of the cost, viz. £11,000, must be defrayed from
Colonial Funds, and calling my attention to the belief existing
in the Financial Departments of the Government, that I have drawn
upon Her Majesty's Government in excess of the sums voted by
Parliament for the service of the Colony.
of the Detachment of Royal
Engineers serving in British Columbia, but that on the contrary,
one moiety of the cost, viz. £11,000, must be defrayed from
Colonial Funds, and calling my attention to the belief existing
in the Financial Departments of the Government, that I have drawn
upon Her Majesty's Government in excess of the sums voted by
Parliament for the service of the Colony.
2. The circumstance of so large a sum as £11,000 of the
ColonialRevenue
Revenue being diverted from the pressing object of
opening the communications of the country towards the maintenance
of the Royal Engineers, is so intimately connected with the present
critical state of the Colony, that it is fully discussed in another
despatch No 25 of this date, and it is therefore unnecessary for
me to enter into any repetition here, further than to observe,
that although your Grace's instructions shall be implicitly followed,
it is my positive duty plainly to represent to your Grace the
sacrifice of Colonial and
necessarily of Imperial interests that such a course must involve, unless immediate
measures be instituted
for the adoption of some expedient whereby the works I have set on
foot, as fully detailed in my despatch of 15th April last,
Separate, may be vigorously prosecuted, works that are no less
essential to the advancement and prosperity of the Colony than to
its peace, order, and good Government, works that cannot be delayed,
not alone on account of the sacrifice of interests which would be
involvedbut
but also on account of the consequences which would follow their abandonment, consequences
inevitable from the congregation of
starving multitudes attributing their distresses not to their own
precipitancy and improvidence, but to the inaction and indifference
of the Government.
Revenue being diverted from the pressing object of
opening the communications of the country towards the maintenance
of the Royal Engineers, is so intimately connected with the present
critical state of the Colony, that it is fully discussed in another
despatch No 25 of this date, and it is therefore unnecessary for
me to enter into any repetition here, further than to observe,
that although your Grace's instructions shall be implicitly followed,
it is my positive duty plainly to represent to your Grace the
sacrifice of Colonial and
necessarily of Imperial interests that such a course must involve, unless immediate
measures be instituted
for the adoption of some expedient whereby the works I have set on
foot, as fully detailed in my despatch of 15th April last,
Separate, may be vigorously prosecuted, works that are no less
essential to the advancement and prosperity of the Colony than to
its peace, order, and good Government, works that cannot be delayed,
not alone on account of the sacrifice of interests which would be
involvedbut
but also on account of the consequences which would follow their abandonment, consequences
inevitable from the congregation of
starving multitudes attributing their distresses not to their own
precipitancy and improvidence, but to the inaction and indifference
of the Government.
3. I have in previous despatches attempted so fully to place
before Your Grace the exact condition of the Country. I have reported
at such length all the information of importance in connection withthe
the extraordinary discoveries of gold in the Carribou District; I
have represented to your Grace the consequent certainty of an immense
influx in the spring, of a population not altogether the most desirable,
drawn as it principally would be from the dissatisfied of California,
and of the vital necessity which exists for pouring food into the
Country in adequate quantities, and at lessened prices, that I feel
loth to trespass upon your Grace's timeby
by any recapitulation of these
matters, and will only here state that the rush of people to the mines
has commenced, that altho' the season has not yet opened, such
impatience is manifested, such improvidence is exhibited, that
provisions destined for the Upper country are actually consumed on
the road before one third of the journey has been accomplished, and
that the stream of immigration is by latest reports actually in
advance of the means of subsistence. Your Grace cannot I am certainbut
but feel for me in the harassing and perplexing position in which I
now find myself placed, impelled to action and action of a
vigorous and indispensable character, crippled in resources and
involved in a heavy liability. To abandon that action, to break
the faith of my Government, and to leave the solution of difficulties
to the category of chances, would be a course which is almost forced
upon me; but forseeing as I do the disaster and ruin that would
follow, it is a course which Idare
dare not take, a course which Her Majesty's Government could not approve when its
fruits became
developed, and however much I may have failed in placing before
Her Majesty's Government in a sufficiently clear light the
circumstances and condition of the country, the results of any
stoppage in the work of opening roads to the Carribou District
are to me so apparent and so appalling that I am satisfied Her
Majesty's Government would consider me unworthy the sacred trust
I hold, did I for one momentstay
stay my hand with the conviction upon me of thereby bringing such results on the
Country.
the extraordinary discoveries of gold in the Carribou District; I
have represented to your Grace the consequent certainty of an immense
influx in the spring, of a population not altogether the most desirable,
drawn as it principally would be from the dissatisfied of California,
and of the vital necessity which exists for pouring food into the
Country in adequate quantities, and at lessened prices, that I feel
loth to trespass upon your Grace's timeby
by any recapitulation of these
matters, and will only here state that the rush of people to the mines
has commenced, that altho' the season has not yet opened, such
impatience is manifested, such improvidence is exhibited, that
provisions destined for the Upper country are actually consumed on
the road before one third of the journey has been accomplished, and
that the stream of immigration is by latest reports actually in
advance of the means of subsistence. Your Grace cannot I am certainbut
but feel for me in the harassing and perplexing position in which I
now find myself placed, impelled to action and action of a
vigorous and indispensable character, crippled in resources and
involved in a heavy liability. To abandon that action, to break
the faith of my Government, and to leave the solution of difficulties
to the category of chances, would be a course which is almost forced
upon me; but forseeing as I do the disaster and ruin that would
follow, it is a course which Idare
dare not take, a course which Her Majesty's Government could not approve when its
fruits became
developed, and however much I may have failed in placing before
Her Majesty's Government in a sufficiently clear light the
circumstances and condition of the country, the results of any
stoppage in the work of opening roads to the Carribou District
are to me so apparent and so appalling that I am satisfied Her
Majesty's Government would consider me unworthy the sacred trust
I hold, did I for one momentstay
stay my hand with the conviction upon me of thereby bringing such results on the
Country.
4. Although the sum of £11,000 is but about an eighth part
of the expenditure demanded by the Works in question, yet your Grace
can readily understand what a serious matter it will be to part even
with that eighth, and that if it be parted with, other means must
be instituted to replace it. If Her Majesty's Government will not
grant thismoney
money for this one year longer, I earnestly trust on
behalf of the Colony and the serious interests at stake, that Your
Grace will be pleased to obtain an arrangement whereby the Lords
of the Treasury will advance the sum as a loan, and I will make
provision in the Colonial Estimates for the ensuing year for the
repayment of such loan together with any interest that their
Lordships may think fit to settle.
money for this one year longer, I earnestly trust on
behalf of the Colony and the serious interests at stake, that Your
Grace will be pleased to obtain an arrangement whereby the Lords
of the Treasury will advance the sum as a loan, and I will make
provision in the Colonial Estimates for the ensuing year for the
repayment of such loan together with any interest that their
Lordships may think fit to settle.
5. With respect to your Grace's observations as to my overdrawingupon
upon the Imperial Treasury and more especially with regard to the
remarks contained in the Postscript of your Grace's despatch, I am
utterly at a loss to comprehend the position of affairs therein
represented, and I can in no way reconcile it from any data I can
obtain here. I have been under the firm impression all along that
my Drafts upon the Imperial Treasury were strictly confined to the
sums voted by Parliament. The only point upon which I had any doubt
was thecharge
charge of the £6900 sent out in coin, and this doubt was created in my mind from
the fact of noticing in the Printed Estimates
for the year ending 31st March 1862 Page 4, that on the 31st
December 1860 there was a Balance in the Exchequer of £10,000 in
favor of British Columbia on the vote 1860-61, while the £6900 of
coin was shipped from the Treasury in October 1860.
upon the Imperial Treasury and more especially with regard to the
remarks contained in the Postscript of your Grace's despatch, I am
utterly at a loss to comprehend the position of affairs therein
represented, and I can in no way reconcile it from any data I can
obtain here. I have been under the firm impression all along that
my Drafts upon the Imperial Treasury were strictly confined to the
sums voted by Parliament. The only point upon which I had any doubt
was thecharge
charge of the £6900 sent out in coin, and this doubt was created in my mind from
the fact of noticing in the Printed Estimates
for the year ending 31st March 1862 Page 4, that on the 31st
December 1860 there was a Balance in the Exchequer of £10,000 in
favor of British Columbia on the vote 1860-61, while the £6900 of
coin was shipped from the Treasury in October 1860.
This Balance has nothing to do with the matter. It is the
fleeting balance of the [moment when?] the Estimates are prepared.
6. I am not in possession of all the data necessary to form a
precise account, but I have collated such as I can collect and
roughly arrive at thefollowing
following result:
Voted by Parliament for service
of British Columbia 1859-60..............£42,998
Voted by Parliament for service
of British Columbia 1860-61.............. 30,000
Voted by Parliament for service
of British Columbia 1861-62.............. 17,800
Total..... £90,798
Amount drawn by Bills during 1859..........£39,320
Amount drawn by Bills during 1860......... 20,706
Amount drawn by Bills during 1861......... 9,000
Governors Salary........................... 5,400
Paid in England for stores &c
for Royal Engineers, say................ 12,000
Colonel Moody salary as Chief Commissioner
of Lands and Works............. 3,600
Total..... £90,026
722
Silver coin sent out.......................... 6,900
Balance against the Colony on 31st March 1862...... 6,128
following result:
Voted by Parliament for service
of British Columbia 1859-60..............£42,998
Voted by Parliament for service
of British Columbia 1860-61.............. 30,000
Voted by Parliament for service
of British Columbia 1861-62.............. 17,800
Total..... £90,798
Amount drawn by Bills during 1859..........£39,320
Amount drawn by Bills during 1860......... 20,706
Amount drawn by Bills during 1861......... 9,000
Governors Salary........................... 5,400
Paid in England for stores &c
for Royal Engineers, say................ 12,000
Colonel Moody salary as Chief Commissioner
of Lands and Works............. 3,600
Total..... £90,026
722
Silver coin sent out.......................... 6,900
Balance against the Colony on 31st March 1862...... 6,128
How the balance against the Colony as appearing from the
Treasury Returns should be £20,000 in excess of this sum I
am quite at a loss to explain.
7. In conclusion I deem it right again to repeat, that the
application of Imperial Funds within the Colony has been strictly
confined to the expenditure of the Royal Engineers, an expenditure
which having been arranged by Her Majesty's Government with the
Colonel Commanding and mainly left to hisdiscretion
discretion, is almost entirely beyond my control. I will bring this subject again
before your Grace in a subsequent despatch, when I have obtained
from Colonel Moody certain items of information and certain
Returns for which I have called.
discretion, is almost entirely beyond my control. I will bring this subject again
before your Grace in a subsequent despatch, when I have obtained
from Colonel Moody certain items of information and certain
Returns for which I have called.
Minutes by CO staff
Mr Elliot
I had not perused this desph when I wrote my minute on 6357. The contents of this desph add force to the opinion I have already expressed.
I had not perused this desph when I wrote my minute on 6357. The contents of this desph add force to the opinion I have already expressed.
ABd
30 June
See Minute annexed.
TFE
7 July
In 6357 the Governor regrets that the form of his Estimates
does not give satisfaction. He encloses a statement about Works
costing
£7500 and asks what more is wanted. Nothing more, but
the total of his public Works was
£31,000. When the Secretary
of State pointed out to him that he had given insufficient
particulars of a proposed expenditure of £31,000, it is no answer
to show that he has given proper details of an expenditure of
£7500. I should tell him that he ought to set forth in like manner
the names of any proposed roads and the amounts allotted to them.
In 6357 he also dwells on the extreme importance to the people
who are seeking their fortunes in British Columbia that various
objects should be cared for, and that they should not be put in
any danger of wanting food. This is very likely: it is very
important to them, but the question is why are they not to pay for
their own needs? If a number of adventurous spirits, a large
proportion of them consisting of Yankee Immigrants from California,
rush to Gold Fieldsin
in the eager desire to amass fortunes, is that
a reason why the starving cotton spinners in Lancashire should be
taxed in order to ensure these spirited young men against the
inconvenience of neglecting to provide themselves with sustenance?
If from sheer rapacity for gain, men who are otherwise in no want
think proper to rush into extreme risks, at all events they have
no right to expect to cast the burthen of taking care of them upon
the more industrious and patient inhabitants of a thickly peopled
and heavily taxed Community on the other side of the Globe. The
Governor does, in my opinion, make out a good case for a loan,
but this has now been sanctioned.
in the eager desire to amass fortunes, is that
a reason why the starving cotton spinners in Lancashire should be
taxed in order to ensure these spirited young men against the
inconvenience of neglecting to provide themselves with sustenance?
If from sheer rapacity for gain, men who are otherwise in no want
think proper to rush into extreme risks, at all events they have
no right to expect to cast the burthen of taking care of them upon
the more industrious and patient inhabitants of a thickly peopled
and heavily taxed Community on the other side of the Globe. The
Governor does, in my opinion, make out a good case for a loan,
but this has now been sanctioned.
Both in 6357 and 6358, Governor Douglas pleads for more time
before the British aid towards Engineers is reduced. But the
Parliamentary Estimates have now been passed and the question is
settled. In that case the Governor hopes (Par. 4) that the
Treasury will advance the money as a loan, and he promises to
provide in the next year's Colonial Estimates for repayment of
the amount, with interest if required. I suppose hemust
must mean
that if prior to answers to these despatches, he continues to
draw his Bills as if the charge of £11,000 had not been transferred
to the Colony, he hopes that the Treasury will pay them and let him
repay next year. I confess that I should see no serious objection
to that course, the notice to him has been rather short, and there
is no reason to doubt that the Colony could liquidate in the
following year an overdraft to this extent, if it should not be
otherwise too heavily in debt to the Treasury.
must mean
that if prior to answers to these despatches, he continues to
draw his Bills as if the charge of £11,000 had not been transferred
to the Colony, he hopes that the Treasury will pay them and let him
repay next year. I confess that I should see no serious objection
to that course, the notice to him has been rather short, and there
is no reason to doubt that the Colony could liquidate in the
following year an overdraft to this extent, if it should not be
otherwise too heavily in debt to the Treasury.
The most startling thing in 6358 is the Governor's Account in
Par. 6. He makes out that from 1859 to 31st March 1862, the
Balance against the Colony, even including the silver coin to
the value of £6900, amounts to only £6128. If that coin were
left out of account, he would positively have drawn less for the
Engineers than he was entitled to draw by the Estimates.
The manner in which he has contrived to produce this result
shows a considerable want either of intelligence or of correctness
in the treatment of account. His two first entries are as follows:
Voted in 1859... £42,998
Voted in 1860... £30,000 He
He quietly ignores the fact that the first sum comprised two
items, amounting to £27,098, which he was expressly told in a despatch
at the time were required to defray expenditure incurred in this
Country. Again the second vote of £30,000 comprized £16,000
required to repay overdrafts made by him in 1859. The money was
indeed voted by Parliament, but after, and not before, he had
spent it; it was voted in order to cover his irregularity. Still
it must be admitted that this item, having been granted, is an
asset to place against the total amount of the drafts, but of
the other sum of £27,098 this cannot be said. It is money wanted
in England, voted for England, and which he was distinctly warned
that he could not spend in British Columbia.
Voted in 1860... £30,000 He
He quietly ignores the fact that the first sum comprised two
items, amounting to £27,098, which he was expressly told in a despatch
at the time were required to defray expenditure incurred in this
Country. Again the second vote of £30,000 comprized £16,000
required to repay overdrafts made by him in 1859. The money was
indeed voted by Parliament, but after, and not before, he had
spent it; it was voted in order to cover his irregularity. Still
it must be admitted that this item, having been granted, is an
asset to place against the total amount of the drafts, but of
the other sum of £27,098 this cannot be said. It is money wanted
in England, voted for England, and which he was distinctly warned
that he could not spend in British Columbia.
I should send the two despatches to the Treasury. I should
say that the Governor asks to be relieved at least for this year,
from the charge of £11,000 for the Royal Engineers, but that as
the Parliamentary Estimate has already been voted the subject
must be considered as settled. The Governor expresses a hope
that in that casetheir
their Lordships would assist him through the
difficulties of the present year by not refusing his Bills to
the extent of this amount of £11,000, on his positively
undertaking to repay the same next year with interest if required.
This I should say would be matter for their Lordships'
consideration in case it should be found that the Governor,
pressed by the embarrassment of his position, should send home
drafts beyond the authorised amount.
their Lordships would assist him through the
difficulties of the present year by not refusing his Bills to
the extent of this amount of £11,000, on his positively
undertaking to repay the same next year with interest if required.
This I should say would be matter for their Lordships'
consideration in case it should be found that the Governor,
pressed by the embarrassment of his position, should send home
drafts beyond the authorised amount.
I should then briefly show the Treasury that we did not
overlook the fallacy which I have above pointed out in the
statement of Account at the end of despatch No 26.
When the time comes for answering the Governor, it will be
necessary to dispel the absurd illusion under which, at the end
of Par. 5, he speaks of the fleeting Balance mentioned at the
head of the Parliamentary Estimates as if it showed a really
available credit to that amount in favor of the Colony.
TFE
7 July
I agree.
CF
8
If the Govr was distinctly warned of the purpose for which the sums of £11,000 and £27,098 were
voted
it is difficult to reconcile
the statements of this despatch with perfect candour towards this Office.
it is difficult to reconcile
the statements of this despatch with perfect candour towards this Office.
Write to Treasury as proposed.
N
8