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of notoriously bad character had organised themselves into a body with the object of inducing the Government to legalise gambling and to obtain the monopoly thereof through the intervention and the influence of Caldwell.
I have a strong belief that this body is identical with those whom Governor Robinson pronounced in his despatch of 15th December 186... as recipients of fees for gambling, in which vocation at all events some piratical associate of Caldwell was sustained by that officer. I was made cognisant of a tempting offer which Caldwell made through his coadjutor Dr. Bridges to Governor Bowring and...
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such specious arguments were used in favor of the legalisation of the vice that the Governor was induced to entertain the offer and to advise the Secretary of State that it should be accepted, and subsequently to Mr. Caldwell's dismissal, I became aware that the same offer was being forced on Governor Robinson, through Caldwell Pollard (now acting Attorney General) but when I became aware that Sir Hercules Robinson had entertained Caldwell's proposal, I need not say how much I was astonished. The police were allowed to receive bribes from the gambling houses unchecked, and many of the officers of that force lived openly in a style which it would take many times their pay to maintain. I assert unequivocally that this system of corruption was winked at by the Government of Hong Kong to the end that a pretext for legalising gambling might be made available.
It was no secret that I stood in the way of the accomplishment of the design. Pollard and myself perfectly understood each other, and he several times attempted to induce me to take his view of the matter.
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He did not even deny that he was to have a douceur if he could induce the Governor to accede to the proposal, and he fully admitted that he was acting for Mr. Caldwell. I must however do Mr. Pollard the justice to say that he always maintained the innocence of Caldwell and strongly advocated the legalisation of gambling.
When I left China in April 1867, I was fully aware that Pollard was still bent on carrying his object with Governor MacDonnell. The bankruptcy of the Colonial Treasury induced his Excellency to entertain the... proposal. The editor whom I had appointed to conduct my paper was won over, and the design was achieved within a few months after my departure. There was a pretence of inviting tenders for the privilege of the gambling monopoly, but the association who employed Caldwell were accorded the prize at a figure far below what others offered, the pretext for the preference being the advantage of Caldwell's services as a detective and as a medium of communication between the Government and the Gambling licensees.
11.-
On the 24th January last, M. W. W. Holworthy of the military store department was found murdered on the high road at a little distance from Hong Kong.
The local government offered a reward of $500 for the apprehension of the murderer, the gambling licensees adding something to the sum. Mr. Caldwell's services were put into active requisition, and he was formally deputed to the neighbouring Portuguese settlement of Macao, where an arrest was effected. On the 5th February, three men were charged by Caldwell before the Chief Magistrate (the same Mr. May whose name has been already mentioned) with this murder, and Mr. Caldwell went into the witness box and, after describing himself as sworn interpreter of the Supreme Court of the Colony, stated that he had arrested the prisoners.