No. 71

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 92
of the 16th of August, containing information with reference to a
disturbance which has arisen between rival claimants of Mining property
in the District of Cariboo, and reporting the state of affairs upon your
departure from the Country.

I have also to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 93 of
the 16th of August relating to a correspondence which has taken place
between yourself and Rear Admiral Hastings, on the subject of the
position which Her Majesty's ships would observe towards the Colonial
Authorities, in the event of an insurrection occuring in the Territory;
a copy of which has been sent to the board of Admiralty.

I approve of the steps you have taken with the object of putting an
end to these disturbances, and with reference to your despatch No. 93, I
enclose the substance of a Telegram which was sent.

Although I am not prepared to say that in circumstances such as you
describe the Colony is in no case to obtain any assistance from Her
Majesty's Military or Naval Forces in the neighbourhood, yet I wish you
and the colonists clearly to understand that in British Columbia as in
Canada and in other Colonies the duty of providing for the maintenance
of internal tranquility devolves entirely upon them.