Lord Chancellor is pleased to transmit herewith a despatch from Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary in China, together with two letters from the Colonial Office, inclosing copies of a Report of the Emigration Commissioners upon the subject of "Bengal Passengers Act" and a draft of an instruction to the Governor of Hongkong which has been founded thereupon; & to request their Lordships to report upon the above-mentioned points about Enclosure No. 2, as it is expedient that instructions should be sent out to China on the subject by the next mail.
In obedience to their Lordships' commands, we have taken the papers into consideration & have the honour to report:
1. That the provisions will, in our opinion, be beneficial in checking British ships in Chinese waters for breach of provisions of the Act inasmuch as it relates to jurisdiction therein; British Consuls can exercise jurisdiction over British ships in other waters within foreign jurisdiction, excepting only on the waters of those nations in which British subjects are, by treaty or usage, exempt from jurisdiction.
2. The proper course for a Consul to take in order to bring an offender to trial before an Admiralty Court will be, in the first place, to bring him in person, & having, by himself or by some competent person, secure all the "ship's papers", & any other printed or written documents or letters of whatever nation which have any bearing on the matter. He should then identify them, & deliver them sealed up to the Court.