原忠順宛鍋島直彬書翰 / A letter from Nabeshima Naoyoshi to Hara Tadayuki

A letter from Nabeshima Naoyoshi to Hara Tadayuki sent in 1881. Nabeshima who had been appointed to the first Prefectural Governor of Okinawa hired a lot of ex-retainer of Hizenkashima clan (Saga Prefecture, present-day) for the personnel of the prefectural government, in addition to Hara Tadayuki who was appointed to a Junior Secretary. This deployment of talent provoked the disapproval of the Meiji Government, and they criticized the Nabeshima's prefectural administration. Nabeshima reacted against this criticism, and he submitted a confidential report (It is a written counterargument against the criticism toward Nabeshima's prefectural administration. Please refer to No.HA026 of Hara Tadayuki collection.) to both the Minister of the Home Affairs and
the Minister of the Finance under the joint signature of Hara Tadayuki on January 21st, 1881.
The Meiji Government ordered Nabeshima to come up to Tokyo once they received the report. This letter was sent from Nabeshima to Hara during his stay in Tokyo after Nabeshima had gone up to Tokyo following the order. Nabeshima wrote that he would prove that the criticism toward Nabeshima’s prefectural administration was wrong in front of key government officials directly, and also that he would demand that Hara Tadayuki would be appointed to the next Prefectural Governor of Okinawa as his successor.
(Reference: Kinjō Seitoku, An Introduction to Sources Relating to Nabeshima Naoyoshi, Okinawa's First Prefectural Governor, Bulletin of Historiographical Institute in Okinawa Prefectural Library Vol.29, 2004)