be made, and the rather serious issues in the act,
which
a recent Ordinance
of this
Legislature was framed to cure,
(but which will remain without
remedy during
the interval
between the passing of the ordinance
here and its approval
and
confirmation in Downing
Street)
has been long ago
detected by the
traders in human flesh,
and will no doubt be utilised by them for the prosecution of their future designs.
To that end I devoted all
my humble industry
in the
investigation of analogous precedents,
Page 33
and I succeeded in presenting to the Chief Justice such a mass of
authority, as satisfied Mr. Hulme,
(I quote his words in
giving that judgment,) that the seizure
was lawful, that the vessel had
incurred forfeiture under the "Chinese Passengers Act", and that
there had been two distinct
and unequivocal violations of that Act by her owner, 1st in having put on
board an excess
over 300 of Chinese passengers
for Australia from this port;
and 2nd in having
cleared out
or proceeded to sea without
proper emigration papers. The Chief Justice
Page 100