No. 21

I have the honor to forward to Your Lordship, with the usual
Report from the Attorney General, an authenticated copy and two
others of an Act entitled:

An Act to repeal the Customs Amendment Ordinance 1870.

2. The circumstances relating to this Act are peculiar and
require some explanation, having regard to the proposed Union
with Canada.

3. The Customs Amendment Ordinance 1870, which I transmitted in
my Despatch No 51 of 28th April 1870 made a special addition of
Half a Dollar per Gallon to the duty on Spirits for the
particular purpose of providing funds to reestablish the
Telegraph to Cariboo. This was no part of the ordinary Tariff,
and avowedly was only a temporary impost, for although the
limitation was not expressed in the Act it was understood that
this extra duty should only be levied for a year.

3. In the event of the assent of the Canadian Government to the
proposals made by the Legislative Council respecting a
modification of the present British Columbian Tariff on entering
the Union, which proposals I have communicated to Your Lordship
in my despatch No 12,

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of the 16th February, the Act which I now forward would be
useless. But if these proposals are declined then British
Columbia by the Terms of Union will enter the Dominion with "the
existing Customs Tariff," which may be fairly considered as the
permanent Tariff existing at the time when Terms were proposed
by British Columbia, and of which the Legislature regard this
extra temporary provision as forming no part. In legal
strictness, however, there may be some doubt upon this point; as
the temporary character of the additional duty does not appear
on the face of the Ordinance it is desired to repeal, although I
acknowledge that there was an understanding between the Council
and the Government that it should only be continued for a
limited period.

4. This Act has therefore been passed in order to keep faith
with the local Legislature but a suspending clause has been
added to do the same with the Canadian Government, and enable me
to explain to Lord Lisgar as well as to your Lordship the
circumstances of the case before the Act is allowed to take
effect. I think the Canadian Government can not equitably
object to the removal of this extra duty, and I shall request
Lord Lisgar if his advisers assent, to communicate that decision
to Your Lordship.