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August 1834. I was not then in the house of Jardine, Matheson & Co. I was informed at the time of his arrival that Mr Caldwell came from Singapore, and that he had been in some Mercantile establishment there. I knew nothing particular of Mr Caldwell beyond meeting him occasionally in the neighbourhood of Canton. He was in the employ of Mr Keating, and subsequently in that of Mr Innes. I was under the impression that he had a letter either to Mr Jardine or Mr Matheson, and that it was one or other of those gentlemen who got him the situation with Mr Keating, and with Mr Innes. During the period of which I speak, no circumstances whatever came to my knowledge reflecting in the slightest degree upon Mr Caldwell's character for honesty: he was rather gay, going amongst the boats. I do not know why he left Mr Innes or Mr Keating. I am not aware that Mr Caldwell was ever mate of a receiving ship. In July 1834 he was detained on board the Hercules, being unable to get to Canton. I cannot say whether he was in a receiving ship at Macao in 1838. I lost sight of him after he left Mr Innes's employ. Messrs Jardine, Matheson & Co. have not to my knowledge ever made any enquiry into any reports concerning Mr Caldwell's character. It was in 1841 I joined their employ, and since then nothing has come to my knowledge concerning any such enquiry. I have heard of such reports. I have no recollection of Mr Caldwell being mate of a vessel called the Isabella, used as a receiving ship at Macao. I have been connected with Insurance business since 1835, and it is my impression that there was a small vessel of that name; but I do not recollect any such vessel being used as a receiving ship, I never heard of a monthly policy on goods being determined by Messrs Dent & Co., through Mr Henry.
The ATTORNEY GENERAL. Recalled at his own request, to make a statement regarding the Pawnbroker's case.
been reduced, first from transportation imprisonment, and next from fourteen years to I believe two years or three years at the utmost. The case had been admirably got up by Mr May, members of whose force were the prosecutors; and the chief evidence of guilty knowledge against the pawnbroker consisted in the proofs obtained by Mr Jarman of the measures taken by the pawnbroker, first to suppress all trace of the transactions, and next to put the Police on a false scent by the mis-description of the watch in the ticket. The petitions to the Government for pardon were not referred to me, but I know they were referred to the Chief Justice, for His Lordship mentioned the matter in Legislative Council in an undertone to the Governor and me in May last, and asked the Governor if it was true that the pawnbroker's sentence had been mitigated; and at the same time he turned to me and said, "If this is to go on, we might as well not pass sentence at all," or "not pass proper sentence," I forget which; and he said that he had given his opinion against it. Besides the petitions mentioned by Wohang, two were presented to me by the same party, and their purport is mentioned in my letter. Those presented to the Governor, as I am informed by persons who translated them or read the translations of them, were mere copies of those presented to me, so that the Commission by reading my letter will judge whether the Governor should not have considered those very petitions as conclusive reasons for exercising the utmost rigor of the law against the culprit whom at last the Police had caught; and the rather, because another document which the Commission will do well to call for,—I mean a report presented about that very time by Mr May to the Acting Colonial Secretary, on the state of the law in regard to Pawnbrokers—entirely established the prevalence of pawnbroking frauds, to which the petition in question furnished the trace; and that report, as the Commission will see from the minute of the Acting Colonial Secretary endorsed, received the entire approbation of the Government, and was in fact made the foundation of the Ordinance No. 11 of 1858, which passed last Tuesday.
The Hon'ble Lieutenant-Colonel WILLIAM CAINE, Called and examined.
I refer the Commission to my letter of March last already before them. In addition to what is there, I would state that I have before me my own note on the March Calendar, for the sessions when the man was convicted. Mr Day was counsel for that prisoner. I had put him and another prisoner on their trial on a single count for compound larceny stealing in a dwelling house to above the amount of £5. It was for stealing the watch of Mr Perkins of the Ordnance, whose domestic servant the first prisoner Tong Asin then was. The first prisoner, a simple youth, who confessed the crime as soon as he was apprehended, gave up the pawn ticket which he had received for the watch on the same day, from the second prisoner the pawnbroker Ch'un Achong. The Chief Justice evidently quite agreed with me that the principal offender was the pawnbroker, for he said in passing sentence that "if there were no receivers, there would be no thieves," the second prisoner having been convicted as receiver and not as thief. The first prisoner was sentenced to transportation for fifteen years; which sentence I believe has not been mitigated. The second prisoner received sentence of transportation for fourteen years, and the persons mentioned by Wohang having used their influence in his favour, that sentence has been reduced...
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Cross-examined, I cannot remember Mr Caldwell bringing before me and Mr Johnston some pirates who had attacked the brig of which he had command, but I would suggest that the Magistrate's case book be examined. The Police reports of the Colony will also show, that Mr Caldwell has been constantly rendering services to the navy, and been thanked, and if I remember right rewarded, for these services.
Re-examined, I have never received any official complaints against Mr Caldwell; all the complaints I have heard have been merely idle rumour; that is what I mean when I say that I have not received any complaints on which I could place reliance. I do not remember any objection to Mr Caldwell's taking office in the first instance. Since that the only circumstance which I have heard against him was his pecuniary difficulties which caused him to resign the service. I do not remember his pecuniary difficulties being urged as grounds against his taking office. I do not remember Sir George Bonham saying or showing that he had any reluctance to let Mr Caldwell remain in Government employ. Sir George Bonham never asked me, nor in my hearing expressed an unfavourable opinion of his character, and I am not aware of his having done so.
$400 in Bank notes and $50 in Silver were paid to Shaplok two days after the sentence was lightened. The $50 was as a cumshaw to Shaplok for her trouble. I was present when this money was paid, and so were my partners Ch'o On, Low Sing-keet, and all the shopmen; it was paid at the shop. There was no receipt given at the time. Ch'o On was formerly comprador in the Government offices. Neither I nor any of my partners have received back any of the money, neither have we asked for it. I can produce account books showing the payment.
Wohang for any part of it, it belonging to the shop expenses; and I do not know if any of my partners went to Wohang to ask him to write a promissory note. I was not here when the petition was made, and do not know whether my partners signed any paper regarding the payment of the money upon condition of the man's release; they never told me of such. Ch'o On was to be responsible for the money. I do not know whether any of my partners ever went to Mr Caldwell about the affair.
Shaplok is I believe a Brothel-keeper. I do not know where she lives. I have heard that she has girls. She is about 30 years of age. I do not know whether she is now in the colony. I do not know where she was living at the time of this transaction. It was my partners who knew her; they settled the matter about the payment before I came here. Shaplok did not mention Mr Caldwell's name.
when I was not present. Mr Caldwell was made, at my recommendation either Clerk or Interpreter to the Chief Magistrate, early in 1843, I think. That was his first post in the Colonial Service. The island had very few residents when I took him into the employ. I took him from my own knowledge, seeing that he was a smart person and possessed an excellent knowledge of the language. I did not at that time know anything against him. I saw him at Chusan and here, and sailed with him over to Macao, when he was in command of the Thistle. I do not hesitate in saying that everything I saw of him induced me to recommend him for Government employ, as he would be a useful servant.
TONG KWONG-SIN, Called and examined.
I am a partner in a Pawnbroker's shop, one of the partners of which was convicted a short time ago of receiving a stolen watch. I know the woman Shaplok; I do not know what she is, but only know of her receiving the money.
CHO ON, Called and examined.
I have a small share in the Pawn-broker's establishment in which Tong Kwong-sin is a partner. I remember the trial of one of the partners for receiving a Gold Watch which had been stolen. I do not know a woman called Shaplok...