No. 56

The Mail bringing me Your Grace's Despatch of the 10th July No 34, relative to the withdrawal of the Royal Engineers, has just arrived, and I hasten to avail myself of the very
short interval before its departure to address Your Grace
upon one point which I consider very essential to the future
well-being of the Colony, and that is, the selection of a
fit and proper person to succeed Colonel Moody, as the Chief
Commissioner of Lands and Works.

2. Your Grace is perhaps aware that the entire Department
of Lands and Works has been conducted by the Officers and men
of the Royal Engineers, no Civilian assistance having been
called in for the discharge of the office duties, and that
therefore when the Troops are withdrawn from their Civil duties,
not one single person will remain who has any knowledge of
the Records, or of the system which has been pursued for the
transaction of business connected with the Department. Your
Grace informs me that before long you will name a Successor to
Colonel Moody. From what I have stated it is very evident
that the Successor should enter upon the duties of his Office
at the earliest possible moment, and prior to Colonel Moody
relinquishing his Civil duties; and above all it is especially
desirable that the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works should
be a man thoroughly acquainted with the character and resources
of the Country from personal knowledge and experience, and
cognizant of all the events that have transpired connected with
its development by means of the road and land systems which
have been introduced. As Your Grace may have some difficulty
in selecting a person so qualified, who may in other respects
be fitted for the responsible Office referred to, I trust I may
be pardoned for submitting to you the names of two Gentlemen
either of whom, I think, would most efficiently and satisfactorily
discharge all the duties of the head of the Department.

The first is that of Captain Henry Reynolds Luard, now
serving with the Detachment of Royal Engineers. Captain Luard
is a gentleman who since his residence in the Colony has gained
the good will and esteem of all; and he is, I believe, a person
of good professional standing, and from my own knowledge, I
can safely say, of excellent business habits. He has almost
from the first had charge of all the office details of Colonel
Moody's Department, and from the moment of his taking charge a
great increase in order, method and correctness was perceptible.
He is thoroughly versed in every matter of detail, and has a
perfect general knowledge of all that has transpired since the
erection of the Colony. I could have no better officer than
Captain Luard to fill the position of Surveyor General or Chief
Commissioner of Lands and Works.

3. Should however any Military difficulty arise which
would prevent Captain Luard from being appointed to the office
in question—even were Your Grace inclined to confer it upon
him, I would take the liberty of placing before you the name
of Mr Joseph William Trutch, a Civilian, now and for the
past five years resident in the Colony. Mr Trutch is a Civil Engineer by profession, and has contracted for many of the
works undertaken by the Government, always executing his
Contracts in the most thorough and satisfactory manner. From
the experience I have had of him I believe his general
professional knowledge, the more especially as adapted to the
peculiar requirements of a new country where precedent and
rule cannot always be followed, to be equal to any in the
Country. He is a gentleman of good social standing, and he
bears a character in the place of the highest integrity. I
believe him also to be a man of thorough business habits;
methodical but at the same time quick and accurate, and
from the close personal knowledge I have had of him I believe
there are not many men who would better discharge the duties
of Surveyor General in a new Colony. Mr Trutch was
introduced to me by Your Grace's predecessor, Sir Edward Lytton,
and I annex a copy of a private letter which I received from
him in addition to the official letter of introduction of the
29th October 1858. Nearly five years experience of Mr Trutch
has shown that the favorable mention of Sir Edward Lytton was
not undeserved.

4. With reference to the last paragraph of Your Grace's
Despatch now under reply, I would beg to observe that I do not
anticipate any difficulty in finding suitable persons to
fulfill the Surveying and Engineering duties hitherto performed
by the Royal Engineers. The difficulty which presents itself
is in immediately providing a head to carry on in the current
work of the Department—a difficulty which I could have met
by a provisional appointment, but I fear now to take any such
step lest I might unintentionally interfere with Your Graces
arrangements. I will, however, Your Grace may rest assured
make the best provision I can under the circumstances for
relieving Colonel Moody and his staff of their Civil duties.

5. I trust Your Grace will pardon this hurried Despatch,
written to save the outgoing Mail, but I am so sensible of
the up-hill task it would be for any person personally unacquainted
with the Country to enter upon the duties of the office and
hinderance that would arise in the transaction of business
and the execution of public works, that I desired not to lose
an instant in submitting these circumstances to Your Grace.