No. 18, Military

With reference to my Despatch No 12 of the 7th Instant,
transmitting the Estimates of the Civil Expenditure of the
Colony of British Columbia, I have the honor to forward herewith
Estimates of the Expenditure necessary on behalf of the Royal
Engineers employed in this Colony, amounting in the aggregate
to the sum of Sixteen Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty pounds, which is the very lowest at which the annual cost of the Royal
Engineers can be calculated.

2. From this Your Grace can readily comprehend how
impossible it is for this Colony to defray the expenditure
from her own resources unless the whole, or greater part, of
the public works so imperatively demanded be brought to a stand
still, and the progress of the Colony most disastrously retarded,
and I therefore most earnestly trust Your Grace will be able to
continue the helping hand of the Mother Country in defraying the
expenses of this body of men, who in reality are of more value
to British Columbia on Imperial than on Colonial account.