No. 31[a]

With reference to my Despatch of the 8th Instant No
25

upon the subject of the appointment of Officers to civil situations in
the Colony of British Columbia, I would beg to state to you that I should
much desire, if it could be arranged, that Mr William A.G. Young, of
the Royal Navy, should be appointed to the office of Colonial Secretary.

2. Mr Young is on the spot, and is at present filling the office
of Secretary to the Commission for ascertaining the boundary between
Vancouver's Island and the Territories of the United States on the
Continent of North America, and as Mr Young was selected for this
service by the Admiralty, and appointed thereto by the Foreign Office,
the consent of their Lordships and of the Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs must necessarily be obtained before he could be removed from it.

3. Mr Young has belonged to the Royal Navy for nearly Eighteen
Years, and he has served as Secretary to several Flag Officers upon
different Foreign Stations. His last appointment as Naval Secretary was
with the "Captain of the Fleet" in the Baltic, and I forward to you
herewith a Copy of a Testimonial shewing the appreciation entertained of
his Services by that Officer. The whole of Mr Young's Testimonials
throughout his entire service are of the highest order, but I think
it unnecessary to trouble you with more than the one I enclose.

4. Mr Young has already rendered me some assistance, and I
consider him to be qualified both by ability and character for the Office
of Colonial Secretary, and I trust you may be pleased to appoint him to
it, and also to obtain the necessary permission from the Departments I
have mentioned to enable him to enter upon it, as without such permission
it would not be possible for him to accept the appointment.