Melbourne,
3. April 1884.
T. R. Wilson Esqr,
Under Secretary.
Sir.
In accordance with the request, made by you in memorandum 1098, I have the honor to submit the original letter, received from his Excellency Dr von Regel, Director of the botanic Garden of St Petersburg, on arrival of the Giant-Todea, sent on behalf of the Victorian Government by me to the St. Petersburg horticultural Exhibition.2 I further forward a literal translation of that letter. I regret however, that I cannot furnish a copy of the letter, in which I announced to Dr von Regel, that I had chosen a huge Todea for exemplification of the Victorian vegetable resources at the St. Petersburg Exhibition. This inability of furnishing a copy of the letter is readily explained by the fact, that none of my correspondence with great men of science since 30 years, is copied, nor do I ever get letters which have been copied from Sir Joseph Hooker, Dr von Regel or others, our correspondence counting by thousands of letters a year. But I beg to send a transcript from the Departmental letter-book of the letter of advise, which accompanied the Todea or announced its shipment to Mess. Watson & Scull, which is a full and permanent record departmentally of this sending. I add a late letter from Sir Joseph Hooker,3 by which it will be seen, that like Dr Regel's it is not copied, at least I do not think so; a passage from Sir Joseph's letter, referring to a suggestion of his in reference to the exploration of New Guinea and the New Hebrides from Australia may interest the Government here particularly.
From the letter of Dr von Regel it will be seen, that the thanks of the Russian Government to that of Victoria will be conveyed; and if this perhaps has not yet been done, it must be because, the St Petersburg horticultural Exhibition was postponed til May 1884, through the Coronation of H. M. the Czar having taken place in May 1883. That I endeavour, to give due praise to the liberality of the Victorian Government will be seen from Dr v. Regel's letter, and in further support of this I add a cut from the "Sydney Mail", in which I had lately to refer to some medical questions concerning Eucalypts.4 Finally I beg to add a memorandum, which sets forth how the whole sending of the Todea to St Petersburg arose.5
I have the honor to be,
Sir, your obedient servant
Ferd. von Mueller.6
Wilson forwarded M's letter to E. Thomas, Secretary to the Premier, on 7 April 1884.
On 30 April, the Premier, J. Service, deliberated: 'I regret to say that there are serious irregularities in this matter to which I must request the attention of the Hon. the Chief Secretary. 1. This presentation has been made by the Gov. Botanist to the Russian Govt without the slightest authorisation by the Vicn Govt. 2. The Govt has been, entirely without its consent, made a party to a mutual arrangement for the sharing of the cost between the Govt & the Baron von Mueller. I consider this an undignified position for the Govt to occupy at any rate one in which it should not have been placed without being consulted. 3. But this present, costing to the Govt £32.15.0 is acknowledged in the Despatch as the present of Baron von Mueller. Now this must either be a misapprehension, or else Baron von Mueller has presented as his own gift what was really Govt property. To settle this point I applied for a copy of the letter under which the presentation was made. The Government Botanist however is unable to produce a copy, and must therefore be held responsible for the form in which the acknowledgement is made. The circumstance that a copy of the letter making the presentation is not on record is itself confirmation — as, if the present had been made officially on behalf of this Govt, a copy of the letter should of course be on record. I would suggest to the Honorable the Chief Secretary, that the Govt Botanist should be informed that the Government entirely disapprove of his action in this matter. The incident confirms the propriety of the Circular issued in last June requesting that all official presentations should be made through the Premier.'
On 5 May 1884 Wilson informed Thomas that he had been directed to reply that: 'the attention of the Government Botanist has already been drawn to the impropriety and irregularity of the course he took in this matter'. Thomas replied on 14 May that he had been directed to state that: 'what is dealt with is merely the irregularity of incurring expenditure without authority. The subsequent correspondence has brought to light these further points, namely:— 1. Presenting to the Russian Govt, the property of the Victorian Govt without any authority. 2. Presenting it as his own gift notwithstanding that it was paid for out of Govt Funds. 3. Communicating with the Russian Govt otherwise than through the Head of his own Govt. 4. Making the Govt a party, without its consent, to a mutual arrangement by which the Govt is put in quite a subordinate position to himself. As however the Premier's Circular on the subject of Presentations will probably prevent such a transaction in future, Mr Service does not desire to pursue this matter further if the Hon. the Chief Secretary thinks it better not to do so.'
The Chief Secretary, G. Berry, added to Wilson: 'Request the Govt Botanist to call on me say Monday next between 10am & noon'. Wilson duly noted that M saw Berry on 17 May. (P84/1152, unit 22, VPRS 1163/P1, PROV).
Please cite as “FVM-84-04-03,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on 26 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/84-04-03