Colonial Despatches
The colonial despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871
Public Offices document
Peel, Frederick to Rogers, Frederic 27 February 1862, CO 60:14, no. 2116, 153.
Abstract
Public Offices document.
Minutes (5), Enclosures (untranscribed) (1), Other documents (4), Marginalia (1).
Peel informs Rogers that the Treasury shares Newcastle's concerns with regards to Douglas's spending. Peel outlines unauthorized expenditures totalling £26,958.9s10d.,
exclusive of the claim of £6,900 for the Silver Coins which were sent to British Columbia in October 1860,and warns that the Treasury's budget for the colony will not have sufficient funds remaining to pay Colonel Moody's salary
after the 31 March next.Peel recommends a repayment schedule that Elliot minutes will
reduce the Colony to bankruptcy.Elliot adds that
any further proceedings to be taken on the present letter from the Treasury will require much care and deliberation.Fortescue minutes that
whatever we may think of the tone & temper of the Try, they have disclosed to us conduct on the part of the Govr, most insubordinate and unfair to the Sec. of State.
Peel to Rogers (Permanent Under-Secretary)
Treasury Chambers
27 February 1862
With reference to your letter of the 21st Inst. I am
directed by the Lords Commissoners of Her Majesty's Treasury
to acquaint you that My Lords concur in the terms of the Despatch
which the Duke of Newcastle proposes to address to the Governor
of British Columbia in reply to his Despatch, No 74, of 13 November last on the subject of the Estimates ofRevenue
Revenue and Expenditure
of that Colony for the year 1862, conveying to him instructions to
curtail some of the different services proposed in those Estimates,
so as to admit of the payment, during the year 1862, from the Colonial
Revenue, of a moiety of the expense of the Royal Engineers;
Revenue and Expenditure
of that Colony for the year 1862, conveying to him instructions to
curtail some of the different services proposed in those Estimates,
so as to admit of the payment, during the year 1862, from the Colonial
Revenue, of a moiety of the expense of the Royal Engineers;
Their Lordships will not object to that part of the other
Draft Despatch to the Governor which undertakes to discharge out of
Imperial Funds theother
other moiety of the cost of maintaining during
the year 1862/3 the Detachment of Royal Engineers serving in the
Colony, amounting to £11,000, of which the sum of £7200 is to be
provided by a Parliamentary Grant, the remainder, viz £3800, being
already borne on the Army Estimates.
other moiety of the cost of maintaining during
the year 1862/3 the Detachment of Royal Engineers serving in the
Colony, amounting to £11,000, of which the sum of £7200 is to be
provided by a Parliamentary Grant, the remainder, viz £3800, being
already borne on the Army Estimates.
My Lords will not object to provision being made, in the Civil
Service Estimates for the same year, for the Salary of the Governor
to the end of that year—the Salary after thatdate
date to be paid from
the Colonial Revenue.
date to be paid from
the Colonial Revenue.
With reference, however, to the past expenditure from Imperial
Funds, Their Lordships desire to draw His Grace's attention to the
Returns transmitted in Governor Douglas' Despatch No 56, of 16 September 1861, enclosed in Mr Elliot's letter of 7 November last, of the bills drawn upon the Paymaster General, and of the Expenditure of the sums
drawn on account of the Detachment of
Royal Engineers forthe
the years 1859 and 1860.
the years 1859 and 1860.
For the service of the year 1859 The Governor has drawn Bills
to the extent of £39,320—viz
For Colonial Pay £15189. 8.6
other Expenses £24130.11.6
£39320. 0.0
against the sum of £27,000 which was provided in the Parliamentary Estimates—viz
Estimate 1859/60 For Colonial Pay £11000
Do To meet Bills drawn for
current service in 1859 £16000
£27 000
Thus
Thus involving an excess of payments beyond sums voted, for
the service of the year 1859 of £12,320—viz
Colonial Pay £ 4 189. 8.6
Other Expenses £ 8 130.11.6
£12,320. 0.0
For Colonial Pay £15189. 8.6
other Expenses £24130.11.6
£39320. 0.0
against the sum of £27,000 which was provided in the Parliamentary Estimates—viz
Estimate 1859/60 For Colonial Pay £11000
Do To meet Bills drawn for
current service in 1859 £16000
£27 000
Thus
Thus involving an excess of payments beyond sums voted, for
the service of the year 1859 of £12,320—viz
Colonial Pay £ 4 189. 8.6
Other Expenses £ 8 130.11.6
£12,320. 0.0
For the year 1860 the Governor has drawn for £22,856.6.4—viz
For Colonial Pay £11,929. 8. 2
Other Expenses £10 926.18. 2
£22,856. 6. 4
against the sum voted for 1860/1viz
viz £11,000 for Colonial Pay
only—thus involving an excess of payments beyonds the sum voted for
1860/1 of £11,856.6.4
viz Colonial Pay £ 929. 8. 2
other Expenses £10,926.18. 2
£11,856. 6. 4
For Colonial Pay £11,929. 8. 2
Other Expenses £10 926.18. 2
£22,856. 6. 4
against the sum voted for 1860/1viz
viz £11,000 for Colonial Pay
only—thus involving an excess of payments beyonds the sum voted for
1860/1 of £11,856.6.4
viz Colonial Pay £ 929. 8. 2
other Expenses £10,926.18. 2
£11,856. 6. 4
Payments have also been made in this country in excess of the sums
provided on account of the expenses of the Royal Engineers prior to
their arrival in British Columbia, as well as on account of the Salaries ofthe
the Governor and Commissioner of Duties.
the Governor and Commissioner of Duties.
I am to enclose a statement which has been prepared in this
Department, showing the particulars of the several payments, and
exhibiting an amount unprovided for, to the extent of
£26,958.9s10d.
This is exclusive of the claim of £6,900 for the Silver Coins which
were sent to British Columbia in October 1860, and though the Governor
was told that that claim wouldbe
be settled out of the grant, and that
he must instruct his Treasurer to diminish his Drafts accordingly,
he has continued to draw Bills as if no such claim existed.
be settled out of the grant, and that
he must instruct his Treasurer to diminish his Drafts accordingly,
he has continued to draw Bills as if no such claim existed.
My Lords request that the attention of the Governor may be drawn
to the large amount of expenditure from Imperial Funds on his
Requisitions in excess of the sums provided by Parliament, and that
he may be called upon to furnish the fullestexplanations
explanations in his power
of his proceedings in the matter.
explanations in his power
of his proceedings in the matter.
Their Lordships request also that His Grace's attention may be
called to the subject—with a view to some prompt arrangement being
made for the repayment of the whole excess from the Funds of the Colony.
My Lords would further observe, with reference to the Governor's
Despatch, No 72, of 23 November last relating to the above-mentioned
sum of £6900 supplied in specie in 1860, that he has already
authorized the Treasurer to draw Bills on account of the year
1861/2 to the extent of £9000 against the grant of £11000
for the Colonial Pay of the Royal Engineers, and he remarks that,
if the Coin is not to be deducted from the grant, there will remain
a sum of £2000 available before the 31 March 1862 for that service.
sum of £6900 supplied in specie in 1860, that he has already
authorized the Treasurer to draw Bills on account of the year
1861/2 to the extent of £9000 against the grant of £11000
for the Colonial Pay of the Royal Engineers, and he remarks that,
if the Coin is not to be deducted from the grant, there will remain
a sum of £2000 available before the 31 March 1862 for that service.
My Lords apprehend that the Despatch informing him thatHer
Her
Majesty's Government must be repaid the value of that specie
will not arrive in time to prevent the drawing for the sum of £2000.
Her
Majesty's Government must be repaid the value of that specie
will not arrive in time to prevent the drawing for the sum of £2000.
The sum of £6900, for the specie, will be chargeable to the
grant His Grace proposes to limit to £7,200.
Not so, I think.
According to this arrangement the sum remaining to be drawn
against the grant for 1862/3 will amount to £300 only;
My Lords would furtherobserve
observe that the Salary of £1200 a
year, of the Commanding Officer of the Royal Engineers, Colonel Moody, has been hitherto paid in this country.
observe that the Salary of £1200 a
year, of the Commanding Officer of the Royal Engineers, Colonel Moody, has been hitherto paid in this country.
After the 31 March next there will be no funds, except the sum of £300 above mentioned, to meet the
Salary in England and
Their Lordships will, therefore, be unable to direct any further
issues on that account beyondthe
the 31 March next.
the 31 March next.
Minutes by CO staff
Mr Fortescue
The present letter has arrived this afternoon: the Columbia Mail goes tomorrow. In the draft despatch which has already been settled, the Treasury express their concurrence, and therefore that despatch at all events can be sent if thought proper.
The present letter has arrived this afternoon: the Columbia Mail goes tomorrow. In the draft despatch which has already been settled, the Treasury express their concurrence, and therefore that despatch at all events can be sent if thought proper.
But you will
find, I suspect, that any further proceedings
to be taken on the present letter from the Treasury will require
much care and deliberation. What I should have thought expedient
would have been summed up in the old stock phrase of "indemnity
for the past and security for the future". The Treasury however
in this letter want to treat the over-supply of specie as a set-off
against the amount which is about to be voted by Parliament for
the current year, a course which would obviously enough, as the
Treasury themselves point out with some satisfaction, reduce the
Colony to bankruptcy. With all respect, I cannot but think this
more petulant than statesmanlike. In fact, to say the truth,
instead of upholding the cause of regularity, it would be a sort
of fraud upon Parliament, for we should be asking them to vote
money for the pay of the Engineers and of the Governor, and then
applying it to repay old debts. If the Treasury can really be
supposed to be earnest, and not merely writing in a moment of
heat, the true course would be to ask Parliament to vote a certain
amount for refunding the cost of specie, and to announceat
at the
same time that neither the Governor nor the Royal Engineers serving
in the Colony are to have any provision made for their pay. Whether
such a course be possible, it is not for me to judge.
find, I suspect, that any further proceedings
to be taken on the present letter from the Treasury will require
much care and deliberation. What I should have thought expedient
would have been summed up in the old stock phrase of "indemnity
for the past and security for the future". The Treasury however
in this letter want to treat the over-supply of specie as a set-off
against the amount which is about to be voted by Parliament for
the current year, a course which would obviously enough, as the
Treasury themselves point out with some satisfaction, reduce the
Colony to bankruptcy. With all respect, I cannot but think this
more petulant than statesmanlike. In fact, to say the truth,
instead of upholding the cause of regularity, it would be a sort
of fraud upon Parliament, for we should be asking them to vote
money for the pay of the Engineers and of the Governor, and then
applying it to repay old debts. If the Treasury can really be
supposed to be earnest, and not merely writing in a moment of
heat, the true course would be to ask Parliament to vote a certain
amount for refunding the cost of specie, and to announceat
at the
same time that neither the Governor nor the Royal Engineers serving
in the Colony are to have any provision made for their pay. Whether
such a course be possible, it is not for me to judge.
TFE
27 Feby
Duke of Newcastle
I have added a P.S. to the draft to Govr Douglas, wh. I wd. propose, in [tenorun?] and as a preparation for any course wh. you may think it right to take. Whatever we may think of the tone & temper of the Try, they have disclosed to us conduct on the part of the Govr, most insubordinate and unfair to the Sec. of State.
I have added a P.S. to the draft to Govr Douglas, wh. I wd. propose, in [tenorun?] and as a preparation for any course wh. you may think it right to take. Whatever we may think of the tone & temper of the Try, they have disclosed to us conduct on the part of the Govr, most insubordinate and unfair to the Sec. of State.
CF
28
I approve of they P.S. to the despatch for tonights Mail.
N
28
Other documents included in the file
Draft, Elliot to Peel, 22 April 1862,
requesting consideration of measures proposed by Newcastle
to settle the financial affairs of British Columbia.
Draft reply, Newcastle to Douglas, No. 123, 13 May 1862, admonishing Douglas for spending without authorization and outlining
the measures which have occurred to me for the settlement of the financial affairs of British Columbia.
Minutes by CO staff
This draft is proposed, as I hear that the Treasury will like to see our despatches. The recent one from Gov Douglas will, I
think, go better in a separate letter, which I am about to prepare.
TFE
12 June
Documents enclosed with the main document (not transcribed)
Statement of accounts for British Columbia.