No. 8

I find in the records of Vancouver Island a despatch No. 44
of the 5th September 1865 from Your Lordship's predecessor to
Governor Kennedy stating that a portion of the fees paid on
Marriage Licences might be devoted to charitable purposes by the
Governor but that the principal portion should go to the Crown
Revenue in aid of certain public Salaries.

2. I would venture to suggest that the system now prevailing
on the mainland and formerly prevalent on this island be reverted
to. Sir James Douglas and myself allowed these fees to accumulate
 in the hands of a Public Officer (with me the Chief Clerk in the
Colonial Secretary's Office) to be devoted to charitable purposes.
Your Lordship will believe that religious and humane objects form
a large drain on a Governor's income, when I mention that I am a
subscriber of £100 towards the erection of
one church. The Crown fund will in a few weeks cease to have a
separate existence inasmuch as under the present Legislative constitution
I can secure the voting of the Civil List by the Council and transfer
the control of the Crown lands to the Legislature.