it to be so,
procure witnesses to
prove
the offence
being said to have been committed 300 miles
at sea
the 6th June, while the prisoners apprehended on the 19th of the same month, and tried
the 17th July.
off.
I by no means desire it to be
understood that I find fault with the mode in which this trial has been conducted; but I certainly do think that our Courts are
very
ill-adapted to dispose of questions of this sort at all; and, it is therefore, in my opinion, incumbent on the confirming authority
no means
173
of doing so; and, on the whole, I
think the safest plan to dispose of questions of this nature, when complainant and defendants
all Chinese and unconnected with this other British Colony, would
as a general rule, be to hand the parties over to the Chinese Authorities. The measure would in my judgement afford the Prisoners as satisfactory a trial as under the Circumstances it is possible for them to obtain in this Colony; and would at once relieve the Government
of the burthen of maintaining
numerous Convicts which in time
may prove
of no inconsiderable embarrassment.
to be
a source of
to the State.
than ordinarily cautious on such occasions, before he gives his sanction to the execution
similarly situated with the Prisoners. In cases similar to the present one, in Europe, every means would have been taken both by the Government and the Public to ascertain what degree of truth was to be attached to the defence of the prisoners; in this Colony...
I have the honour to be,
With the highest respect,
Your Lordship's,
Most Obedient
Humble Servant,