76.
(Doc. D
To the Magistrate of the District of
Major M.Caine, Chief Magistrate of
the Island of Hong Kong
communication.
te to makes this
On the 14th instant, an officer of the
Police of the District of Macao, appeared before
me, presenting, for
my
inspection, a Warrant, duly issued to them, wherein
they were directed to apprehend certain culprits residing in the Bay of Hong Kong,
within the precincts of Hong Kong....
Now it was
agreed, I find,
between
Her Britannic Majesty's Plenipotentiary, and the High Commissioner, fully empowered of His Imperial Majesty, whilst at Canton,
last year,
that
Hong Kong
should be surrendered
and to the British Crown. By the supplementary arrangements
now
pending, it has been
proposed, indeed, to introduce an article,
stipulating, that culprits of both nations, shall
be
mutually delivered over, for punishment by the officer of their own nation. But the search after, and apprehension of culprits, must rest in the hands of the officer holding charge of the place, in which they are. It will not be denied, that
persons well
grounded suspicion,
of crimes wherewith they may
be charged. It can never
be admitted,
that
the officer of the one
country, should range to search for, and seize offenders within the Territory of the other. It was scarcely proper therefore, for a Warrant to be drawn out
by
is your jurisdiction. At the same time, I admit that it arose, from the erroneous cause of these arrangements being of a
nature, and not yet specifically defined, so that they could not be fully known to you.
I therefore
sent
my
Police officers, in company yours, to the spot to apprehend the
parties
stipulating