There can be no doubt, it certainly does appear very desirable that some alterations should be introduced; and the question is, whether the object intended, namely a cheap distribution of captured Property of small value, cannot be obtained, without as it were dividing the decision of these cases between the Court of Sessions, the Stipendiary Magistrate, and the Vice Admiralty Court, a proceeding which would be attended with some inconvenience, and which might possibly lead to a conflict of jurisdiction between the Courts, where the value of the property was near the limit of £50. The present practice of the Vice Admiralty Court is, there can be no doubt, better suited to cases, where the property captured is of large value; but I see no reason why the proceedings should not be simplified and the fees to the Officers and Practitioners materially reduced in cases, in which the property is below a certain value; and why, in fact, the procedure of the Vice Admiralty Court might not be made as summary and inexpensive as before the Court of Sessions, or a Stipendiary Magistrate. This, it appears to me, would be the best and most effectual method of obviating the inconvenience complained of.
For this purpose, however, additional Rules and Regulations and a new Table of Fees must be prepared, which it appears to me could be done better by the Colonial authorities at Hong Kong, who are fully cognizant of all the facts, than it could be in this Country. And should their Lordships concur in these suggestions, it would be proper that...