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be given up.
There seems to be no power in the Treaty to give up deserters who have made their escape to this Colony from Macao, and even if there had been such a Treaty Provision tenable, that it would require a local Ordinance or Imperial Act to invest this Government with legal power to carry it out.
My own opinion is that, whatever precedents may exist to the contrary, I can only order deserters who have obtained admission to Government service to be discharged.
I don't even believe that without our enabling Statute, or local Ordinance, I could give up deserters from vessels in harbor. There are Ordinances enabling me to do so far, but I know of none authorizing me to go further than the Treaty, and give up deserters from Macao.
I am quite willing to dismiss them from Government employment, as that is a matter of Prerogative and would be a fair demand under the Treaty.
Refer to Attorney General