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precautions the system I was
carrying out at the other side of the China Sea might
be followed by the Government of Hong Kong.
5.
But whilst this personal
question is so trivial that I feel ashamed
of writing so many
words about it, the other question
concerns the
proper conduct of business
and the interpretation a Governor gives
to the Queen's instructions.
It is the duty of a Governor to transmit from time to time to the Secretary of State the minutes of the proceedings of the Executive Council. Had Lord Carnarvon
referred to my despatch No.119 of the
4th of July, 1877, sending the Minutes of Council for the preceding
six months he would have seen that the question of prison
discipline in Hong Kong and the treatment of criminals had been brought by me before
the Executive Council. Further examination
of the subsequent minutes of Council would have elicited the fact that during
the years 1877 and 1878, the questions brought most frequently and most fully before my Council relating to the Branding and Flogging of
the Chinese; the recommittals of old offenders and the increase
of crime attributable to the faulty penal system and defective prison discipline.
7.
A short time before I...