And your Lordship's humble Petitioner respectfully, but earnestly solicits your Lordship to take into consideration the detail of his long services, as set forth in his letter to your Lordship in August 1847, and he feels confident that your Lordship will not sanction an act of injustice to one of Her Majesty's most faithful servants, who presently stands virtually dismissed from a responsible office, without a single moment's warning, and without that compensation which it is usual to allow to the incumbents of offices, which, for the economy of the Public Service, it may be deemed expedient to abolish.
Your Lordship's humble Petitioner, relying on that impartiality and wish to do justice to the humblest individual, which every one ascribes to be your Lordship's characteristic, humbly trusts that some situation may be provided for him in the Colonial Service of this Colony or elsewhere, and that he may be thus enabled to counteract the opinion of the public, who, as a matter of course, will look upon his abrupt dismissal from the Public Service, as an act in which your Lordship concurs, and as arising out of the criminal charges to which your Petitioner has been subjected through the simple performance of an imperative act of duty.
And your Lordship's humble Petitioner as in duty bound shall ever pray.
In conclusion
Victoria, Hongkong, 22nd June, 1849.
Victoria, Hongkong, 27th December, 1849,
SIR. On the 26th ultimo I was honoured with information from the Colonial Office, that, to the prayer of my Memorial (for a re-instatement in Her Majesty's Service, and for pay for the period that I waited to know the pleasure of Her Majesty's Government, as to my suspension from the Office of Registrar of Deeds &c. in this Colony,) The Right Honourable The EARL GREY could not accede.
The decision thus communicated to me is fraught with consequences of so ruinous a nature, that, unless averted, I shall be constrained to appeal to Her Most Gracious Majesty in Council or to Parliament.
But, as this course may be offensive to his Lordship (who, through a misunderstanding of my case or want of time to look into it, has neglected to accord to me the justice which is my due) I deem it my duty thus to address you, Sir, to beg that you will intercede with his Lordship to order me the pay which I have solicited; and, as I cannot be further employed, that compensation may be awarded to me for an abrupt dismissal from the public service of this Colony I take this opportunity to forward attested copies of correspondence had during the past month having relation to the case out of which my suspension arose, as, in the event of further communication on this subject, there may be a necessity for reference to them.
I have, &c.,
To HERMAN MERIVALE, Esq., AM, Under Secretary of State for the Colonies.
SIR,
CORRESPONDENCE REFERRED TO IN ABOVE LETTER.
Hongkong, Saturday Evening, 8th December, 1849.
In claiming your Excellency's attention to the case of The QUEEN VS TARRANT and others, which was dismissed in consequence of the absence of Lo-keen-teen, alias Lo-yuen-suy, alias Lo-chong, Comprador lately in the employment of the Honorable Major William Caine, Colonial Secretary, I have now the honor to inform you that the said individual is at present residing with Loo-A-king, otherwise Aqui, in the Lower Bazaar in this Town, and as my client Mr. Tarrant informs me, that Major Caine has stated to your Excellency his opinion that the said person was client's character in the habit of extorting moneys in his name from the Lessee of the Central Market, I trust that as my client's character is at stake through the aspersions cast upon him by the Colonial Secretary, and which were not cleared up, in consequence of the alleged absence of the individual referred to, that your Excellency will be pleased to cause such proceedings to be adopted against the said Lo-keen-teen as to your Excellency in your discretion shall seem fit.
I have, &c.,
To His Excellency, S. G. BONHAM, Esq., C.B.,
&c., &c., &c.
(Signed)
WM. GASKELL.
P. S. I have to apologise for intruding upon your Excellency's attention at this late hour on the evening of Saturday, but must be permitted to plead as my excuse, that the information above referred to, has only just come to my hands.
W. G.
COLONIAL SECRETARY'S Office, Victoria, Hongkong, 10th December, 1849.
SIR,
I am directed to acknowledge your letter of the 8th instant, to the address of His Excellency The Governor, which reached him on Saturday evening at half past eight o'clock, and to acquaint you that the prosecution entered against Mr. Tarrant by the late Acting Attorney General, having been withdrawn by that Officer, it is not His Excellency's intention to take any further steps in this matter.
I am further directed to add that Major Caine never stated to the Governor that in his opinion Lo-keen-teen was in the habit of extorting moneys in his name from the Lessee of the Central Market"
I have, &c.
To WM. GASKELL, Esq.
(Signed) W. CAINE,
Colonial Secretary.
MY LORD,
VICTORIA, HONGKONG, 22nd JULY, 1848.
Presuming that the despatches of the late Governor would give all the information necessary in enabling you to judge if there existed any necessity for my being suspended from employment under this Government, (as appealed against in my letter to your Lordship's address of the 19th of August last) I have up to the present time patiently refrained from further intrusion on your Lordship's attention.
Several months having however elapsed since the Sessions Report of December 1847 will have reached England, wherein the charge of Conspiracy brought against me is stated as "proclaimed discharged," I trust that the anxiety which I naturally feel to learn your Lordship's pleasure, amounting (on account of the peculiar circumstances in which I am situated) to an urgent necessity, will plead as sufficient apology for my presuming to solicit the favor of your Lordship's decision as early as may be possibly convenient.
When before addressing your Lordship, my knowledge as to the reality of the then alleged extortions on the part of the Chinese was comparatively small; Indeed it must appear evident to every one, that it was neither my intention nor wish to prove that any extortions had been in reality effected the whole tenor of my action (impelled by a sense of duty) being, to check Chow-Aoan the Treasury Comprador in the attempts which he so audaciously made before my eyes, and to bring down, if merited, a punishment on those who so freely alleged that the Honourable Major Caine participated in the Monies which his Compradors dishonestly obtained.
Dreading however, that as despite all the grave charges made by me against this man (Chow-Aoan), (borne out as those charges were by the united testimony of Wei-Afoon and Tam-Achoey) I had been committed as a Criminal almost solely on the false assertions which it was apparent that he made with a view of screening himself, it became necessary for me in preparing my defence, to search out the reality and existence, if any, of the extortions alleged, when if other such false evidence was brought against me, I might possibly be prepared to plead justification and necessity; for conscious of the utter impossibility of its being honestly proved that I had tried to injure the reputation of the Honourable Major Caine, or that the course which I had deemed it proper to pursue, had injured or was calculated to injure that gentleman's character, I should otherwise have been disposed to sit down and let the charges brought against me take their course.
But owing to the extreme difficulty of eliciting truthful statements from Chinese where their fears or their personal interests are in any way concerned, it has only been very lately, (and not until after going to the expense of purchasing at Auction the equity of redemption of the Central Market Leasehold, and placing myself in a position to command whatever of truth could be arrived at) that I have succeeded in obtaining what I believe to be the whole facts of one of these cases, with which it appears to me necessary your Lordship should be acquainted, and I beg leave to detail them in as brief a manner as possible.
In a Chinese Document, bearing every evidence of being genuine, dated the 3d day of the 6th month of the 25th year of the reign of Taoukwang, answering to the 12th day of June, 1845, it is stated, that in reply to a petition from one Wei-Aqui, the Governor (Sir John F. Davis) and Major Caine Chief Magistrate, had promised him the Lease of a piece of ground to build a Market, but that being short of funds to carry out his plans, he had requested his brother Wei-Afoon, and one Chun-tae-sing to advance monies and enter into partnership with him, which Partnership was certified by the Document in question, whereby Wei-Afoon and Chun-tae-sing agreed to bring the sum of $7000, the amount estimated as necessary for the building and establishment of the Market: and it was stipulated that all the profits arising should accumulate without being touched by either of the parties until the $7000 was made up and returned into their hands, and that then the profits should be divided into thirteen shares of which Wei-Afoon and Chun-tae-sing were each to have five shares, and the remaining three given to Wei-Aqui.
The Lease of the Market was issued to Wei-Acqui solely, on the 17th of July subsequent to the execution of this document, and the houses and Market stalls were speedily erected: In the account Books of the Market for the first and second months of the Market's establishment appear the following entries
THE EARL GREY,
Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies.
Page 116
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B
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