239
:
(22)
68. The Commission conclude their remarks on the reorganisation of the Pensions. Police with the subject of pensions. After much consideration they see no reason to dissent from the principles laid down in Ordinance No 8 of 1869. Should, however, the Government adopt the liberal scale of pay recommended in paragraph 44 of this report, pensions should be granted, as in the case of all other civil servants, only in the event of old age or failing health. The rank and file, especially the Europeans, are, the Commission think, more likely to be contented and zealous with such pay as will enable prudent men to save, and a comparatively remote prospect of a pension, than with smaller pay and large promises for the future. Besides, it seems a wiser course to defray such expenses as they arise, than to A liberal policy accumulate debts of an undefined amount for our successors. with respect to granting leave of absence for a few months to England to such Inspectors and Sergeants of over five years' standing as may apply for it, and giving them a reasonable assistance in the way of passage money, would probably conduce to increased zeal and vigour; and the Commission learn with pleasure that in the case of two deserving officers this course has been adopted.
CRIME.
69. The Island of Hongkong, owing to causes to be presently considered, came. is now and has always been the scene of a great amount of crime, necessitating an expenditure in gaols and police altogether incommensurate with the size of the Colony. The nature of the crime has generally been subject to considerable fluctuation. Piracy, armed attacks on land resulting in murder, wholesale robbery, kidnapping, highway robbery of various kinds, and burglary have each The remaining questions 4. and B. in turn had its day and recurrent season. are, therefore, extremely difficult to answer. The Commission have taken evidence on these points from nearly every witness examined. They have also fully consulted the Government records, and are themselves not without personal experience extending in some instances over lengthened periods. With all this, the Commission do not feel that they have sufficient data on which to found positive conclusions. On the one hand, if they attempt to generalise from various testimonies based on memory, they find themselves surrounded by opinions not only conflicting, but also in themselves formed on grounds too general to have much practical value, On the other hand, tabulated official statements must be taken as subject to so many deductions or additions, as the case may be, from the complications of the subject to which they refer, as to form no accurate guide on the question of increase or diminution of crime. As departmental records they are valuable, but for the more important purpose of this Commission they are of little worth, as they do not and cannot show the proportion at any given time between detected or convicted, and undetected or unconvicted offences.
open violence. Position
70. Of the more violent crimes which rendered life, whether indoor or abroad, Diminution in crimes of unsafe, it cannot be denied that there has been within the last few years a marked of Colony. diminution, although every now and again their alarming recurrence shews that they have not been entirely stamped out, but that there is still much necessity for precautionary measures. Unfortunately, Hongkong lies on the confines of the Kwang-tung Province, which, with its contiguous Province of Kwang-sai has been for centuries perhaps the most misgoverned and turbulent portion of the Chinese Empire. It seems to be densely inhabited by a population mostly poor, generally
Theatres, Festivals, &c.
Servante quarters
Pusses.
Branding
Branding.
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acquisitive, and oftentimes cunning and audacious to an almost incredible degree. Besides being the nursery of a host of professed and most accomplished thieves, to whom this Island offers irresistible temptations, floods, famines, and the irregular vigour of the local officials drive hither from the Kwang-tung Province numbers of necessitous and half starved peasants, always too ready to follow dishonest courses as a means of living. The position and conformation of the Island, and its character as a free port render it impossible to guard against the easy ingress and egress of all who choose to come and go; the character of the town offers facilities for concealment; whilst the close vicinity of the mainland, scarcely a mile off, presents opportunities for the disposal of booty scarcely to be found elsewhere. The pawn- broker's shop, au institution universally prevalent in China, stands ready both here and on the opposite shore to lend itself to the conversion into money of property on any scale without too much nicety in enquiring as to the title of its possessor.
71. It is much to be feared that the increased attractions to be found in the theatres now continuously open, and in festivals of all kinds, religious and otherwise, have added seriously to the number of our criminals. With respect to theatres, vested interests have been allowed to grow up which probably could not be meddled with without the infliction of injustice, but as to festivals, the Commission think that they should be limited in duration and subject to stringent regulations. 72. A deplorable laxity too often manifested by foreigners in supervising their servants' quarters has led to the general occupancy of these by hangers-on of coolies and other domestics, thus paving the way for burglary and peculation, and providing a safe and convenient refuge for bad characters. The same remarks apply to the carelessness displayed in trusting servants with night passes. These are evils, however, whose only remedy lies in the hands of householders.
73. Many difficulties exist in the way of a ready identification of thieves who have been already convicted. It not infrequently happens that a few desperate characters, whose education in villainy has received the completion given by one or more terms of incarceration, come out of gaol and terrorise the Colony for a long time before they are again captured. It also happens that men who have been discharged from an imprisonment for some heavy offence leave the Colony only to return when the fluctuations to which the Police force is subject have rendered their recognition altogether improbable. Were such men as these conspicuously marked, they would doubtless be compelled to seek their livelihood elsewhere, or their career of evil would probably be cut short here. The Com- mission think that the beneficial nature of the scheme of branding which was devised and carried out by SIR RICHARD GRAVES MACDONNELL was unquestiona- ble, and that to its abandonment may, in some degree, be traced the outburst of violent crimes which agitated the Colony in the summer and autumn of 1871. They are glad to note that during his late brief administration after his return to the Colony, SIR RICHARD caused an Ordinance on this subject to be passed which now awaits, and it is to be hoped will obtain, the sanction of the Secretary of State. The Commission have given much thought to this measure and have duly weighed the arguments of the opponents of its principles. But whilst they respect, they cannot coincide with the motives of philanthropy in which this opposition has its origin.
74. Of course branding should be resorted to only in the cases of those men