No. 5, Civil

I have the honor to acknowledge Mr Rogers' Despatch No 39 of the
4th of October, transmitting an Extract of a letter from Admiral Sir Robert L. Baynes to the Secretary of the Admiralty, and requesting me, in reference thereto, to report to Your Grace on the suggestion made by that Officer that a Magistrate should be appointed to reside on Admiral (or Salt Spring) Island.

2. I have accordingly the honor to inform Your Grace that Rear Admiral Baynes' suggestion points to an exceedingly proper and
advisable course, in perfect accordance with my own views and the
invariable practice of my Government, as is manifest from the
circumstance of there being one or more Justices of the Peace resident
in every settled District of this Colony, Salt Spring Island
excepted. I have made it a rule to select those local Magistrates
from the respectable class of Settlers, in compliment to them as well
as with the view of economising the Public Revenue, which would be
severely taxed by maintaining so many Stipendiary Magistrates at a
probable cost for each of £500 a year; while the District Justices in
performing the same duties with at least creditable efficiency,
receive only one pound a day while in session, as remuneration for
their services. None of the resident settlers on Salt Spring Island
having either the status or intelligence requisite to enable them to
serve the public with advantage in the capacity of local Justices,
no appointment was, simply for that reason, made; and there was no
urgent cause why we should depart in that instance from Established
custom, by appointing a Stipendiary Magistrate for that District.

3. It would be a mistake to suppose that the presence of a Civil
Magistrate, however useful in preserving the peace among their fellow
subjects, is an effective substitute for Military protection in the
case of Indian difficulties; or to suppose that without physical
force either the Magistrate or his authority would be respected by
the Natives.

4. Admitting, to some extent, the truth of Admiral Baynes' remarks as to the origin of quarrels between white men and Indians in other
parts of the world, I differ from him in opinion as to their
applicability to the British Possessions on this Coast, where I think
it will be found that the Indians have generally been the aggressors
in the few serious disputes that have occurred.

5. The Indian disturbance at Salt Spring Island mentioned in Admiral
Baynes' letter, was a purely accidental occurrence arising out of the
unexpected meeting of people belonging to hostile Tribes—neither
knowing the other to be there. It was the affair of a moment, an
uncontrolable ebulition of savage fury—each attacking the other with
relentless ferocity until one of the parties was entirely destroyed.
It is therefore evident that nothing short of a Military Force,
anticipating and prepared for the occasion, could have been of the
least avail in preventing the slaughter: the interference of a Civil
Magistrate, unless strongly supported, might have aggravated the
evil, by provoking, through injudicious zeal, a contest with the
Savages, which, considering the small number of settlers, might not
improbably have led to their utter destruction.

The latter though greatly alarmed, suffered no molestation whatever
from the victorious Tribe, who, before leaving the Settlement,
expressed the deepest regret for the affray, pleading in extenuation
that they could not control their feelings, and begging that their
conduct might not be represented to this Government in an unfavorable
light.

6. Your Grace may rest assured that I shall take the first
opportunity of appointing in the usual manner, a Justice of the Peace
for Salt Spring Island Settlement; and should there be an urgent
necessity for an Earlier appointment, the Legislature will, I have no
doubt, cause a sum of money to be appropriated for the support of a
Stipendiary Magistrate at that place.