Dowsett to Under-Secretary of State

As Agent in London to Captain Houghton late of H.M. Army, now a
settler in British Columbia I have the honor to request the
consideration of his Grace the Secretary of State to the following.

Captain Houghton resigned the Army bonâ fide for the purpose
of settling in British Columbia and left England in July last for
that Colony in consideration of a Colonial proclamation circulated to
Officers of the Army offering a certain Scale of remissions on the
purchase price of land sold by the Government of British Columbia to
officers leaving the army and settling there which proclamation was
the law when Captain Houghton left England but on arrival in the
Colony he found the proclamation just altered by a new one virtually
reducing the Encouragement to British Officers by
Four Fifths.

*

Captain Houghton when informed of the new proclamation on
arrival in the Colony appealed to the Governor stating the
circumstances of his case but the Governor refused redress on the
grounds that he had issued the proclamation in British Columbia
previous to the time Captain Houghton left H.M. Service entirely
ignoring the fact that Captain Houghton could not possibly have known
of the detrimental proclamation at the time he left the army even
before he left England for the Horse Guards circular promulgating the
new proclamation was not issued until the 31st day of August 1863.

As Captain Houghton bonâ fide resigned the Army on the faith
of receiving certain advantages guaranteed by her Majesty's circulars
to the army he claims to be dealt with in justice and to receive
the amount of remission in the purchase of land in British Columbia
which was promised to him or any officer of his rank at the time he
resigned the Army to settle in that colony and which promise had not
been withdrawn by any notification in England up to the time of his
departure from Great Britain for British Columbia.

Captain Houghton left England via Panama last July sending
forward his first purchase of goods to the amount of several hundred
pounds via Cape Horn for the Up-Country of British Columbia previous
to the arrival of which in the Colony Captain Houghton & party
travelled into the interior and finally settled at the junction of the
Oregon, Kamloops and Hope trails and subsequently on arrival of the
goods—provisions, tools, farming implements and materials for
building purposes—commenced establishing stores at his settlement.

I beg to apologize for trespassing on your valuable time by
these details but I mention them to show that Captain Houghton left
the army with the bonâ fide intention of settling in British
Columbia and the inducement held out to him to adopt that course was
the grant of land promised him by the proclamation referred to.

In conclusion permit me to direct the attention of his Grace the
Duke of Newcastle to the discouraging influence on Military
Settlement of the proclamation referred to. The boon held out for
all other colonies is now in British Columbia reduced to
one-fifth and I can state from personal experience in British
Columbia and other Colonies that in no British Colony can I conceive
it to be of equal importance to encourage Military settlement the
population of British Columbia being already too foreign and being
the most distant of English colonies more powerful inducements are
required to get Englishmen out there.

Begging that this matter may have the earliest convenient
consideration of his Grace the Secretary of State for the Colonies.