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(“Daily Press” of 6th April, 1870.)
There is an amusing story told of a lawyer, who found a man stuck in the stocks,
304 for an offence for which he considered nobody should be sentenced to that punishment. On this he got into a state of righteous indignation, and declared to the sufferer that
the thing was impossible. "They can't put you in the stocks; it is absurd; they can't do it!" The unlucky individual, however, mournfully rejoined that, whether they could do it or not, there he was in the stocks sure enough. Something of the same sort seems to be taking place at the present time with respect to crime in Hongkong. There is positive proof that offences are daily being committed, which the Police are unable to trace out; that two of the most daring and atrocious crimes, ever perpetrated in the Colony, have escaped punishment during the past year while, in the course off recent trials, sufficient has come to light to prove that the Police Force is completely disorganised. But while we are wincing under the pain of the moral pillory, which the knowledge of these facts produces, we are blandly informed that the thing is quite. impossible; that the statistics show there is an enormous improvement, and that the* arguments proving this are so powerful that it is perfectly impossible that the facts can
exist.
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To show, however, that there are very good grounds for alarm on this subject, the following crimes, which have taken place during the past week, may be mentioned. certain Chinaman left his junk to give information about a piracy, and in his absence his junk was robbed. A few nights ago, a robbery took place at the Murray Barracks; the house of Mr. DA COSTA, in Old Bailey Street, was broken into and robbed, and that of Dr. WILKINS, Castle Road, was also broken into; and, finally, one of the Chinese teachers connected with the Government Schools was attacked in Forrest Street and robbed. As there is no mention in the Police reports of any of these offenders being! brought to justice, it is to be inferred that they are still at large, and probably com- mitting more crimes. Here, then, we have soune dozen serious offences known to be committed during the month of March, of which no trace can be found by the Police, and yet, be it observed, they are of such a nature that it is impossible to believe, except! on the supposition of evidence being purposely kept back, that a considerable pro- portion of them at least would not have been brought forward for investigation. The above plain facts scarcely bear out the assumption that Chinese, suffering from crimes, are certain to use their best endeavours to discover the criminals, upon which supposi- tion the whole of His Excellency's argument at the Legislative Council is based. An illustration of the manner in which Chinese are kept back from giving evidence, will be found in the Report of the Commission on the Penang Riots of 1867, at which one of the witnesses, speaking of the Ghee Hin Society, testified as follows:-"One member assaulted by another member, must bring his complaint before the headmen, and not before the Police; if he complained to the Police he would be punished. Should a member commit robbery, arson, or murder, the chiefs are bound to assist him in escaping from justice, and a chief would be punished if he refused assistance. A criminal, assisted by the Society to escape, has his passage paid, and a sum of money given him to make a new start in life." That there are in Hongkong associations, which, though not of so dangerous or so important a nature as those existing in Penang, are nevertheless of a similar character, is well known; and it is beyond a question that! every incentive will be offered to these combinations to become of a dangerous nature, if the Chinese be relied upon to give information as to Police matters, unless checked! by a thoroughly competent European detective service. It is on this account that the peculiar working of the runners of the REGISTRAR-GENERAL and Mr. CALDWELL becomes a very momentous matter; and it is mainly in view of this point that it has been considered necessary to call prominent attention to this subject, as sufficient has come to light, in connection with the Sowkewan case and perjury cases, to give serious) grounds for apprehension that, if the matter be not vigorously taken in hand, a system of secret combinations will be fostered, such as cannot but prove of the most dangerous! character.