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March 6, 1905.]
NEW MEMBER OF COMMITTEE, The Chairman welcomed Mr. E. 8. Whealler on taking his seat for the first time on the Committee:
QUARANTINE REGULATIONS AGAINST
HNGKONG,
Read correspondence courte usly forwarded by the Hon. Colonial Secretary relating to the declarations of the Governments of Madras, Burma, and Netherlands India under which arrivals from Hongkong were to be quarantined. ACCOUNTS FOR 1904. Statements of Income and Expenditure and Balance Sheet at 31st December last audited by Hon. Mr. Gershom Stewart and Mr. Frank Smyth were read and considered satisfactory.
ANNUAL MEETING AND REPORT.
The draft report of the Commit'es on its proceedings during 1904 was considered and pass d, and the date of the Aunul General Meeting of members fixed for Tuesday 28th February, 1905.
SUPREME COURT.
Friday, 24th February.
IN CRIMINAL JURISDICTION,
BEFORE SIB H. S. BERKELEY (CHIEF JUSTICE).
ARMED ROBBERY BY AMERICANS,
A. Joiner, G. W. Terrell, F. Dalton and B. A. J. Burke were charged with armed robbery at a Chinese Club (No. 106, Jervois Street) on the 13th inst, terrorising the inmates with a revolver, and robbing one of them of $32.
Hon. Mr. E. H. Sharp, K.C. (Attorney General), instructed by Mr. G. F. Morrell (of the Crown Solicitor's office), prosecuted. The prisoners were not legally defended.
In answer to the charge Joiner said: -I am guilty to the extent that I was with the crowd. but was not where the money was taken;
I was in another part of the bouse. That was not our intention; our intention was to play detectives, and get the Chinamen to give us money to go out. I am not guilty of the charge.
His Lordship-The charge is that you, with others, made an assault on these people, put them in bodily fear and danger of their lives, and robbed them of money.
" not!
Joiner-I did not do that; I was in the house at the time, but that was not the intention. His Lordship-I advise you to plead guilty": you all to plead not guilty. Enter ing a house to rob is a very serious offence in both this country and in your own America.
Terrell-Yes, My Lord.
llis. Lordship-If you are proved guilty of the full charge it. is a very serious offence. The prisoners pleaded not guilty and the following jury was empanelled:-Messrs. C. F. G. Grimble. J. H. Maclaren, A. J. Williams, W. H. Purcell, P. Plage, J. D. Kinnaird and G. White. The name of J. Ramsay was also called but met with no res- ponse; and a Parsee gentleman was challenged The Attorney General said;-Gentlemen of the Jury. These four prisoners are charged with acting together in a gang and raiding and robbing a Chinese Club in Jervois Street, in this City, Of the four men, Joiner, Terrell and Dalton are Americans, and the fourth prisoner, Burke, is probably already known to some of you as a professional boxer, who has already been some time in this Colony. The circumstances are that these four people are what is termed beachcombers, but the question is not whether
they are beachcombers or not but whether they did what they are charged with doing. The prisoners were all known to one another before the date of the occurrence. On the 13th of this month, during the after- noon, Joiner, Dalton and Burke gathered, as appears to have been their habit, in an opium den. It appears to have been their custom to smoke opium, and this is where the plot was conceived. Burke appears to have been the one of three who took the lead in the scheme to raid a Chinese Club frequented by Chinese with money, where gambling, as in all Chinese Clubs, was carried on. The scheme was to "hold up the club and its inmates, and take what money they could. One idea was that they should pretend to be detectives and
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CHINA ÖVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
raid the club as detectives, and take money; but they had no aathority, and what they did was pure and simple robbery. They met at this opium den. The second prisoner Terrell was not present as far as we know when the matter joined the gang. It was finally arranged that was first discussed, but he met them later and Burke should go in first and see when the right people to rob and Terrell were to come in after as detectives, were present. Joiner but they seem to have forgot en their parts as detectives and openly acted as robbers. The stairs leading up. At eleven o'clock or there- other prisoner Dalton was to keep guard of the about, all the details being arranged, Burke accompanied by one of the others went around to the Victoria Hotel to see a friend whom he thought had a revolver. When the police got this it was loaded, and the inference is that it was loaded then, but it is immaterial whether it was
or was not. It had the same effect on the minds of the Chinese on whom it was used. Having got this revolver all these men went along Queen's Road together in a westerly direction, toward Jervois Street, and Bu ke gave the revolver to Terrell. At about 11.3 they arrived in the neighbourhood of the Club they had resolved to raid, and Burke went in, as one of the prisoners puts it. "to see how strong the bank was." He seems to have sat down; and it was pre-arranged that he was to give a signal, to go on to the verandah and cough. He gave that alarm, but it was not noticed, and he used went out and gave the signal which was very strong language. An hour later he again heard, aud the raid was made. As pre-arranged Dalton kept guard outside the door, and guard inside the door to keep people from Jo'n r went inside and scems to have kept e-caping. Burke and Terrell tansacked the premises. Terrell had the revolver and result tht no alarm was given. terrorised several of the inmates with the Sam was assau'ted and robbed, money was Wong taken from him against his will, and the revolver pointed at him. What money he had on him. $32, was taken away by the prisoners and apparently, as part of the play they had arranged, they took down the names of the Chinese. A servant, during the time of the raid, escaped, and brought an English constable. Unfortunately the constable did not speak Chinese and the servant did not speak English. As he came he met third prisoner who said that friend had been cheated, had had a little this story and the third prisoner went away. trouble and gone away. The constable accepted The constable went up-stairs and an interpreter came up; explanations followed. The firs. second and fourth men escaped to the opium den and counted their spoil, found to be very poor. The prisoners male long statements, and in these statements admitted the plot to hold up the club. They had no intention to injure robbed the inmates. anyone, they said, but held up the Club and
Evidence for the prosecution was led.
for the prosecution, prisoner Joiner repeated The Attorney General having closed the case that they only wont to the club to play the part of det ctives. He did not think there was going to be any holding up business or taking money away from anyone. They would play detective and get the Chinese to give them some money. They wore all destitute, and Terrell and he had been in the Colony seeking employment without success till they even had to go and ask Americans for money. He pleaded guilty of being at the club.
Do you not know that it is robbery to play His Lordship-That is robbery, you know. detective and thus get men to give you money! Terrell pleaded the same as Joiner did. He did not point the revolver at anyone, though he three Hongkong one dollar bills and drew it once; and they did not get $32, bat American one dollar bill.
one
Joiner-I throw myself on the mercy of the court and hope you will deal leniently with me as it is my first offence.
Dalton did not know that we had the revolver. Terrell-And on me also. I can say that
Joiner-No, I do not think Dalton knew about the revolver.
that the third prisoner was not aware of the The Attorney General-We accept that view
revolver.
149
through the South African campaign and it Dalton made a long statement. He had been was in South Africa that he first met Burke, during the War, and was subsequently an inmate He had been severely wounded sixteen times
but spent it. He was in very desperate straits of Notley Hospital wheu ho met Burke in Hongkong, and Burke He received compensation,
gave him half of his last $5. He was paralysed condition, lying out in the cold would have on one side from his wounds, and in his present killed him soon. getting money by false pretences, an off-nce He thought the offence they were about to commit was simply a case of
prisonment for
man would get about six months' im- knew there was going to be any pistol business,
in America. He
or he would have kept out of it. tive Hanson wanted him to turn informer on Chief Detec- the others, but he was not aware of the extent of their offence and it would have been against his honour as an American and a Southerner. He would not do so though the American Consul advised him to. After the War he went back to South Africa but was unable to get employment, so he went to South America on the cattle camps, where, again, he was unable to compete with the Italians.
8
never
Burke said that he had been all through the South African campaign; and he came here from the Philippines when the Chu Kong was obliged to come to Hongkong-at the time the Americaus passed a law forbidding any but American ships to trade around the Islands. finestships afloat." He had walked the deck of some of the
make 2.
are
His ordship, addressing the jury, said :—On the admission of the prisoners you cannot but find a verdict of guilty to the charge, and they are all equally guilty, for the law is clear: -It several persons join together to commit a crime, such as the prisoners had in contemplation, all are responsible for what each one does; they that they planned to impersonate detectives, cannot split the responsibility. Now they admit and scare Chinamen at a club. These men in the dock are all guilty of robbery of a most serious character. Suppose men come into a house where a and request money "pretending to be police
party of friends and saying they come to and, producing a revolver, take your money, that is robbery with violence. The crime is raid,
regarded exactly the same in America. It is not necessary to prove that the prisoners actually did terrify, anyone. you hold him up instead with a revolver, that Suppose & man comes to hold you up with a revolver, and does not make his offence any the less. Whatever purpose, and I am inclined to believe they went to "bluff," the effect is the same. It is very dreadful that these men should be out of employment, but it is more dreadful that people should have their houses raided and robbed. The fact that they were extremely hungry is no reason for committing a robbery with threats. No possible state of society could exist if that were tolerated The evidence as to whether or not they knew that the revolver was loaded is evidence wanted for myself. It would not make any difference to you. It affects the punish- ment to be enforced. It is important to discover whether it was intended the revolver should be loaded, and I am inclined to believe that it was not. I should like the jury to express an opinion as to whether the prisoners intended the revolver to be loaded or unloaded. The jury formally returned a verdict of guilty, but said that they did not think the prisoners intended the revolver to be loaded.
I
His Lordship-Prisoners, you have been convicted of a very serious crime. Exouse it as you may, it was as serious a crime as you could.
very
well commit to impersonate a policeman and enforce people to part with property. I think that what you have said is true, that the revolver you intended to use was not loaded. Two of you, Burke and Terrell took the most active part in searching boxes and the persons of those who were in the club, but it was with the assistance of Joiner. And Dalton, you did outpost duty. I think it very
fortunate that you have been stopped early in your career. You will have an opportunity your present state is so entirely due to misfor- to turn over a new loaf. I do not think
tane; the misfortune is due to your faults.
4.