461
are r
referred to in the Report
should have been sent down to
this Colony without
any communication being made to this Government.
It is however, stated by Messrs Siempen & Co, the Owners / Charterers of the Vessel, that the
sixteen men
referred to were
placed on board
by
The Police at
Shanghai, and that $5 were paid for each Passenger "poor man."
Whether these men, therefore,
were destitute or
criminals, this
Government has no hesitation in protesting most strongly against this Colony being made the
depot to which such persons are to be forwarded from any of the Treaty Ports of China.
It
is not
within the Governor's province to
say
who is responsible
for
what
has taken place, but such an
unwarrantable and unprecedented
proceeding will necessitate his applying to the Secretary of State
with
a
view to learning whether
Her Majesty's Government approve of what has been done.
I am to add that,
coincidence,
a
series of daring
burglaries has taken place in Wongthing since the arrival
of the Steamer
in question,