28
read, on the motion of the chairman of Committee, it
was unanimously agreed, that, “ the Council do agree
with the Committee in their said Report."*
On both occasions, Dr. Bridges was present, but
silent.
The silence was the more remarkable, since the
acting Colonial Secretary had expected a very
different result from the Committee, from the moment
when he proposed its nomination, down even to the
presentation of the Report.
So confident, indeed, was he, and so little delicate
in expressing his confidence, that only the evening
before the presentation of the Report, he accosted the
chairman (the Honourable Mr. Davies, chief magis
trate of Hong Kong) on the subject, and greatly to
that gentleman's disgust, congratulated himself on the
excellent way in which, as he said, he had managed to
get out of the scrape, by obtaining such an inquiry,
as was sure to end in clearing himself and silencing
all future accusers . He then went on to compare his
conduct, in that respect, with the conduct of his friend,
the Lieutenant-Governor (Colonel Caine) , in the years
1846–9 ; when publicly charged, not only in the
newspapers of Hong Kong, but before Earl Grey,
then Sccretary of State for the Colonies, with being
principal, or accessary, in certain very gross cases of
extorting money and taking bribes from Chinese
grantees of crown hereditaments.t He said : “ The
“ Colonel was wrong in not doing as I have done.
“ If I, like him , had held my tongue or hushed it up,
“ I should never have hoped to hear the last of it.
* lIong Kong Government Gazette, of 17th July, 1858.
+ See Article VI. in Mr. E. James's Notice of Motion for Papers ;
where, by mistake, the year 1849 is omitted.
29
“ As it is, I shall be cleared you know ; and nothing
" more will be said ."
The chairman heard him in silence. Next day,
those boastings received their proper reproof, in the
appearance of the Report.
Still, there was the chance of concealing from the
Imperial Government the extent of the disaster. But
this demanded the suppression of the Evidence on
which the Report was grounded .
The Report, therefore, appeared in due course,
amongst the votes and proceedings published in the
official journal,* but without a particle of the
Evidence. In this shape, it was sent home to the
Secretary of State, with the accompanying cxplana
tions of the censured officials.
After the departure of the mail, and not till then,
the Evidence was suffered to appear ; and, inasmuch,
as by the order of the Legislative Council, and, in
ceed, by the routine of the procedure, the Evidence
ought to have originally accompanied the Report, the
latter was, on this occasion, republished, to accom
pany the Evidence.t
In the mean time, Dr. Bridges, and his few ad
herents in the colony, had openly boasted expressly
their confidence, that by keeping back the Evidence
and forwarding the Report alone, in the first instance,
he ( Dr. Bridges) would be able to obtain, through
the influence of his friend at the Colonial office
Arthur Blackwood,I a speedy decision of his case,
* Hong Kong Government Gazette, 5th June, 1858.
† Ib., 19th June, 1858.
The pressure of colonial business compels a distribution of it
among the clerks of the Colonial Office; and, to this gentleman, the
business of the Hong Kong Government is said to be confided by
the Secretaries of State. I disclaim all belief in Dr. Bridges's state
ment with regard to him. I only record it.
30
before the Evidence, which would be delayed till a
subsequent mail, could arrive. And, when it did
arrive, Sir E. B. Lytton, they thought, would be en
joying his parliamentary recess in the country ; nor
was it likely that the decision, once made, would ever
be reconsidered .
The result, I regret to say, so far answered their
expectations, that the retirement of Dr. Bridges from
office, which these proceedings necessitated, but which
was delayed until the 30th August ( nearly two
months), was stated, so recently as the 20th January
last, by Sir John Bowring himself, at a meeting of the
Legislative Council,* to have been acknowledged by
a despatch “ thanking him for his valuable services,"
but “ containing no opinion favourable or unfavour
.able to the finding of the Committee upon Dr.
Bridges' conduct in relation to the Opium Farm.”
But all further explanation was peremptorily re
fused . .
The Chief Magistrate, Mr. Davies ( from whose
uncontradicted speeches on that and a former occa
sion I gather the most important of the above facts ),
having read his Minute of Protest against these sus
picious proceedings, the same was entered upon the
Minutes ; and it is now, I presume, in the hands of
the Secretary of State.
It is as follows :- *
At a Council held on the 4th Inst., I submitted the following
motion for debate.
“ That his Excellency the Governor be requested to lay before
the Council, all correspondence between the local Government and
the Secretary of State for the Colonies with respect to the proceed
ings of this Council on this subject of the Opium farm privilege,
* Daily Press of 22nd January, 1859 . † 10 .
31
and other matters referring to it by Dr. Bridges then member of the
Council, and particularly with respect to the selection of the com
mittee of enquiry, thereupon appointed by this Council ; the conduct
of its proceedings, the drawing up of its report, and the confirmation
by this Council of the said report.”
The honourable, the Lieutenant -Governor, Colonel Caine, then
acting Governor and Chairman of the Council, refused to allow any
discussion whatever on the matter. I now respectfully enter this my
protest, against such refusal of the Lieutenant-Governor, with my
reasons for thinking the motion a proper one to be discussed . My
reasons are these :
It is obviously desirable, unless special reasons be shown to the
contrary, that this Council, which appointed the committee of en
quiry , and unanimously adopted its report, should be officially and
certainly informed , whether any, and if any, what communications
on the subject have been sent by the local Government to the
Secretary of State, and whether any , and if any, what communica
tions in reply have been received by the local Government from the
Secretary of State ; and it is neither advisable nor respectful to this
Council, that it should thus be left as a body in complete ignorance
on the subject. It is still less advisable when many members, if not
every individual member of the Council, must have heard and read
in the local newspapers reports, as to the nature of the corrè
' spondence referred to . If the correspondence is such as it is reported
to be, it contains a great amount of error, falsehood and slander,
and it is only by the production of the correspondence that the
Council can ascertain, the truth or falsehood of these reports.
I have been informed that some members of this Council have
stated, and I have read on more than one occasion in the local news
papers, that Dr. Bridges, then acting Colonial Secretary, and him
self the party whose conduct had been under enquiry by the com
mittee referred to ; forwarded to Downing street the report of the
committee immediately after it was presented to the Council before
the evidence was printed, and with his answer to it, in which answer
he charged Mr. Dent and myself, the only members of the con
mittee, with injustice and falsehood and hostility to himself. He
stated, it is reported, that through some management of Mr. Anstey
we were appointed, because we were hostile to him, that we con
ducted the proceedings of the committee under Mr. Anstey's in
fluence, and that the report, which purported to be ours, was not so
but was really drawn up by Mr. Anstey. The Council knows that
32
some of these statements are untrue, and I denounce them not only
as untrue, but as the very opposite of true ; slanderous they clearly
are . Had I been allowed to speak in favour of my motion, I could
have given facts in evidence of their untruth . I shall only here
state that I have no doubt that the honourable Mr. Lyall would , if
called upon, relate circumstances which manifestly contradict the
notion that I was actuated by any hostility to Dr. Bridges. I say I
could have given facts in evidence, but I should not have considered
it necessary to do so until I had ascertained by the production of
the correspondence that the above statements had been made in it.
But the public reports do more than allege that correspondence
went hence to Downing Street which should not have gone ; they
further assert that no communication has ever been made to the
Secretary of State, that the report of the committee was unani
mously approved by the Council. Until I know whether this
statement is true, I refrain from remarking on it, I might be but
fighting shadows. But how am I, how is this Council, to be in
formed of its truth or falsehood except by the production of the cor
respondence ?
The reports do not even stop here ; they allege that a dispatch
has been received from the Secretary of State highly complimentary
to Dr. Bridges and approving of his conduct in reference to the
Opium monopoly. Surely if there be a dispatch of this nature
virtually condemning a report, unanimously adopted by this Council,
it is desirable that the Council be informed thereof, and it can only
be properly informed by the production of the correspondence.
These reports of communications sent home, which should not
have been sent home,-of facts not communicated to the Secretary
of State, which ought to have been communicated to him ,—of a
dispatch received from the Secretary of State, virtually reflecting
on the conduct of the Council, may be true or may be untrue, but
they are certainly very widely known and believed, and one of them
relating to the dispatch of the Secretary of State appeared in the
" China Mail,” a newspaper which , although it is denied that it is
the Government organ , does certainly appear to have more ready
access to official information than the other newspapers, and which
in its account of the proceedings of the Council which adopted the
the report of the committee of enquiry, curiously enough omitted
all mention of the important fact that the report was so adopted .
It will scarcely be contended therefore, that it is not of importance
that the truth or untruth of these reports should be known to
33
Mr. Dent, Mr. Anstey and myself, whose honour and honesty, it is
said , have been called in question ; to the Council whose conduct
also has, it is said, been disapproved by the Secretary of State ; to
the Government here, that these reports, so injurious to its character
for sincerity and justice, may, if untrue, be contradicted to the
Secretary of State, that he may learn whether he has been deceived
or not ; to the public, who are present by their representatives at
our sittings, in order that they may know whether any secret in
justice has taken place. It is only the production of the corre
spondence before the Council which can satisfy any one on these
points.
For the above reason I think that the motion for the produc
tion of the papers was a proper one for debate, and for the same
reasons, I respectfully protest against the refusal of the Acting
Governor to allow any discussion whatever on the subject.
(Signed) H. TUDOR DAVIES.
I had ceased, for months before this debate, to be
summoned to the Council --my suspension from the
Attorney -Generalship having occurred in August.
But I am informed , by Mr. Davies and others who
were present, that the above narrative is quite cor
rect. Further observation I feel to be superfluous.
It was testified on oath, by the same Dr. Bridges,
when supporting the inuendoes laid in the information
of seditious libel, at the trial already referred to,* that,
during his Secretariat, he and Sir John Bowring
made up the Government of Hong Kong ; but that, if
any other person had been Governor, by the word
“ Government,” the Executive Council ought to be
understood ; since such was the tenor of the Queen's
Commission. Sir John Bowring, he said, was inca
pable of governing, but through some single person
to whom he could surrender himself,
* “ The Queen v. Tarrant” ; Hong Kong Criminal Sessions of
Supreme Court, for November, 1858.
D
34
It was a terrible thought which tha confession
suggested to those who heard it .
On those who have perused the foregoing pages,
and who will follow me to the end, the impression
will be not less painful.
For there is yet to be told the worst portion of the
case as it affects Dr. Bridges ; and it will best be told
in its connection with that of Mr. Caldwell and Mah
Chow Wong
But first a few words to explain in what manner,
during this disgraceful period of the Colonial history ,
the control of the Executive Council over the actors
-a Council still kept alive in nominal compliance
with the letter of Her Majesty's instructions-- was
rendered so powerless, as the startling admission just
cited from one of them , proves it to have been.
THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL .
This body is appointed, by the Queen's Instruc
tions, to consist of the Governor as President , and
three officers as members --the Lieutenant -Governor,
the Commander of the Forces at Hong Kong, and the
Colonial Secretary
From the date of my arrival in the Colony ( 30th
January, 1856 ) , down to that of my departure
។
( 30th January, 1859 ) , the Lieutenant-Governorship
-an useless and expensive sinecure -- has been held
by an invalid officer, Lieut.- Colonel Caine, formerly
35
n
of H.M. 26th Cameronians, which regiment he quitted
in the early days of Hong Kong, for colonial employ
ment . He was successively Chief Magistrate and
n Colonial Secretary, before obtaining his present lucra
tive post. He has been long endeavouring to obtain
le
leave to retire, upon a pension of equal amount ; and
Id for this cause, amongst others, is most anxious to
n. stand well with the local authorities.
From the same date, down to the accidental arrival
r, at Hong Kong, in June, 1857,> of the General of the
English forces before Canton, the Colonel command
rs ing the garrison at Hong Kong was always the
ce Second Member of the Executive Council.
as His military rank made him independent of local
ust interest and intrigue ; at the same time that his Colo
nial station enabled him to acquire that local know
ledge, without which his efficiency , as the only check
upon the proceedings of his colleagues, would have
been of very little worth .
During the period in question, an officer of high
ability and honour, Colonel Hope Graham, of H.M.
59th Regiment, ( with a brief interval of sick -leave,
during which another of my friends, Lieut.-Colonel
Dunlop, R.A., provisionally replaced him), had com
manded the Hong Kong garrison , and, in that capacity,
held the second seat in the Executive Council. He
IC
nd was next superseded in favour, first, of Brigadier
br,
Garrett; of General Ashburnham ; and, lastly, of Ge
he neral Straubenzee; as those military Commanders, of
the Canton Expedition, successively arrived from Eng.
th
land at Hong Kong, on their way to their proper
destination . I do not know whether the supersedeas
ir
was owing to the inordinate desire of the Governor to
ір
eld
surround himself with Councillors of higher than
D.2
ly
36
ordinary rank, or to the shrewd supposition of Dr.
Bridges, who by this time had succeeded to office, that
inexperienced strangers from England, too much en
grossed, moreover, with the concerns of a difficult
expedition elsewhere, to addict themselves to colonial
affairs, were little likely — absent or present - and
three weeks at least in the month they were sure to
be absent — to exercise a vigilant control over the
proceedings of the Local Executive ;-or to both of
those causes .
But I cannot help thinking, that the supersedeas
was illegal—those officers, albeit superior in rank to
the commanding officers at Hong Kong, not being
themselves in actual command there, within the spirit
and meaning of the Royal Instructions.
And I feel persuaded, that the very letter of those
Instructions was violated, by the omission to resume
the seat in Council, and restore it to the Hong Kong
Commander, when the same was actually again va
cated by the departure of his General from the Colony
to Canton, leaving him again in the possession of his
pristine military command within the Colony.
There now remains, therefore, the third and last seat
in the Executive Council : - that of the Colonial
Secretary
For rather more than aа twelvemonth after my ar
rival, and again for about two months before my depar
ture from the Colony, a man of honour and worth, the
Honourable W. T. Mercer, Esq. , filled that office. Un
happily forthe Colony, the interval was one of sick -leave;
and the acting appointment to all his offices, being va
cant, was bestowed, as I have said , on Dr. Bridges.
Thus, during the period to which the gravest of the
incidents of the present case belong,—this was the
composition of the Executive Council :
37
1st. The Governor and Acting Colonial Secretary,
representing — I believe - three votes on the side of
themselves ;
2nd. The Lieutenant -Governor, strongly urged , as
I have said, by the alternate influences of hope and
fear, to give them and their measures an implicit sup
port, under all circumstances ;
And, 3rdly, The Commander-in-Chief at Canton ;
generally absent from the Colony, always ignorant of
its affairs, and feeling himself, as military men in such
cases are too apt to feel, bound, to give his unhesi
tating support to the Local Government in Council,
whensoever present, and able to attend it.
Not that his presence was required ; for Two made
a good and sufficient quorum .
To such a council, so constituted, the Bridges' and
Caldwell administration resorted with confidence, and
all other Government servants with dismay.
The results were answerable.
For presuming to give evidence against public
criminals, some of these Government servants were ,
by that Council, suspended-and suspended illegally
- because in their absence, and without citation, hear.
ing, or opportunity to know the evidence against
them, or to adduce evidence in their own defence . *
For the like offence, in like manner, and with the
same disregard of law and justice -- and what these
.
men might have dreaded most -- the prohibitions of
Downing Street,—ť other Government servants have
* In re Willis ; and in re Montagu :-E. F. Moore, Pr. C. Ca.
† The " Rules and Regulations for Her Majesty's Colonial Service
(Ed. 1856), peremptorily forbid any proceeding to suspension (ex
cept in extreme emergency), unless upon citation of the officer,
“ fülly communicating to him the charges," and " after such azi in.
38
been, by the same secret tribunal, tried, condemned,
and if not actually suspended too, menaced with that
punishment;; - and then insulted with a remission of
the same !
On the other hand, every act of administration,
which needed, in the judgment of its authors, the
sanction of the Council, was sanctioned as soon as
laid before it.
Every appointment to vacant offices, or to offices
of new creation, which needed ratification, was ratified
in advance .
Not a Crown Grant, however odious or imperfect,
which needed to run in the name of the Governor in
Council, was disappointed of that formality.
How could there be protests ?
Who was there to protest ?
Not the absent or ignorant General;
Not the Lieutenant Governor, Colonel Caine, who
knew what he had to hope from the favour, and to
fear from the malice, of the confederates !
The former is not known to have dreamed of such
a thing
If we are to believe Mr. Caldwell, the latter
(Colonel Caine) did, at an earlier period, go to the
verge, but not a step beyond,--- and paused just in
time not to exasperate the formidable gang into
action .
It was on the occasion of Mr. Caldwell's elevation,
from the lower grades of the police department, and
“ terval as will allow him a reasonable time for preparing his defence ” ;
-apprising him, moreover, whether he is to defend himself orally,
or in writing, before the Council ,” or what is “the rule which has
" been laid down by it .” — ( Reg. 79—83 , pp. 25–6. )
39
>
the command of his “ convoy " cruizer, the “ Eaglet,"
to the Commission of the Peace. There was some
hidden opposition somewhere to the disgraceful
selection .
The same Lieutenant- Governor was denounced by
Mr. Caldwell himself - I am so informed, at least,
by the Superintendent of Police, who heard the
denunciation -- as being the mover of that opposition
to his preferment.
At the same time, Mr. Caldwell observed, with an
oath , that, although he knew he had the Lieutenant
Governor's ill-will in every matter, he did not fear it.
“ He would, if he had the power, and dared to use it,
be glad enough to get me out of the island . But, so
long as I live, I have him in my power, and he knows
it. He knows, that I am almost the only person left
now, who can ruin him , by telling the truth about that
old affair of his ."
If the opposition ever was made, it was probably
relaxed, for it certainly did not prevent Mr. Caldwell
from becoming a Justice of the Peace. I do not
know if the message was, at that time, conveyed to
Colonel Caine . But he is certainly a long time in
possession of the fact I have just mentioned ; an
official or a semi-official enquiry having been made
concerning it.
I became aware of it only in July last, as well as
of the explanation of what, by " that old affair,” is to
be understood. It was told me, by way of moderating
the astonishment I felt, on learning that Colonel Caine
was present, and concurring in the “ unanimous "
resolution of the Executive Council, to suspend me
without a hearing :-
I Ibeing, at that moment, in posses
sion of a private note from himself to me of a day or
40
two preceding, whereby he had expressed his willing
ness to answer certain questions I had proposed to .
put, when called before the Council, on my defence .
That note is now in Downing.street.
The enquiries, which this strange piece of informa
tion induced me at once to institute, enabled me to
obtain the perusal of a number of old printed papers,
consisting of newspaper articles, affidavits, deposi
tions, and official and unofficial correspondences, in
cluding those with Downing-street ; all published and
commented on by the Hong Kong press, many years
before my arrival; and none of which had ever
elicited, from Colonel Caine, a prosecution for libel, a
counter -statement, or even a contradiction.
The period of the case, to which I refer, com
mences with 1846, and ends with 1849. But the case
itself is not yet ended ; for it has not yet received the
judicial investigation to which it ought to have been ,
in the first instance, submitted ; but to which, at this
late hour, it is not likely that it can be now submit
?
ted without a failure of justice, from the probable
deaths of witnesses, and disappearance of docu
ments.
Yet, in the faint hope of some better result, I will
briefly state wbat is the result, to which the perusal
has brought me, of such of the documents connected
with it, at Downing-street, as have already, in the
way described, been published and circulated in the
colony of Hong Kong.
Mr. William Tarrant was Registrar of Deeds at the
Land Office, Hong Kong, in the years 1846-7 .
His diligence, ability, and trustworthiness in the
discharge of the duties of that office, are attested by
his official superior, the Honourable Mr. Cleverly , the
present Surveyor-General.
41
+
The fees payable on the registration of deeds are
regulated and defined by Ordinance. It was one of
his duties to see that these, and these only, were paid
in strict conformity with the ordinance, by persons
coming to register their deeds.
It was another of his duties, and, in the case of
Chinese, a very irksome one, to see that no persona
tion or other fraud was practised by applicants for
registration.
1. It was his general duty, as a public servant, to re
port to his official superior all cases of fraud, or mis
feasance, coming, in any way, under his eye.
In the performance of those duties he made several
reports, the whole of which were well-founded , and
were so considered by Mr. Cleverly and himself.
There was a charge against one Chinaman of
fraudulent attempt, by misdescription, or personation,
to obtain the registration , in his own name, of land
belonging to another.
There was a charge of extortion of moneys under
colour of presents, or fees, payable to the Colonial
Secretary himself .
There were charges of previous levies of moneys
by the same person, and in the name of the same
officer, from applicants for leases of lands and
markets .
It was represented, that the prime criminal, in these
cases, was a Chinaman , Comprador to the Colonial
Secretary, and very much in his confidence.
It was further represented that the scoundrel, on
being reproached with the crime, had boldly re
asserted that he had Colonel Caine's own authority
for what he did ; and that the money was really
levied, by him, for the Colonial Secretary.
42
Instead, however, of taking the course, recommended
to him both by Mr. Cleverly and Mr. Tarrant, in the
belief of his innocence of all complicity with the man ,
who had, as they thought, thus abused his name,
instead of bringing his Chinese comprador before the
police court, to answer for the misdemeanours with
which he was thus charged, -- it seemed good to
Colonel Caine to treat the accusation as a gross in
vention — to slight it altogether -- to reprimand Mr,
Tarrant for an excess of duty -- to inform him that
his functions of Registrar of Deeds were of the
merest mechanical order, and that it was his duty to
hear, and see,, and say nothing, --- and to point his
meaning by the illustration, that if he were asked to
register the familiar but erroneous position of the
moon being made of green cheese, it was his duty to
ask no questions, but to do it.
Mr. Tarrant, however, persisted in taking another
view of his duties ; and Mr. Cleverly appeared to
think the matter a serious one : -- and the Lieu
tenant-Colonel found himself compelled to act .
But, instead of following the advice they had given
him , and prosecuting his Chinaman for extortion and
false pretences, it was against Mr. Tarrant that he
instituted criminal proceedings, on a charge of con
spiring with certain Chinamen falsely to accuse ; and
he, at the same time, procured his suspension from
the Registrarship.
With great magnanimity, he forbore to prosecute
Mr. Cleverly, and allowed him to retain his office.
The matter being appealed home to Secretary Earl
Grey, the Hong Kong officials were by his Lordship
ordered to reinstate Mr. Tarrant in his office, and to
make good to him all arrears of salary which had
accrued due since his suspension .
43
It appears, however, that, in the certain anticipa
tion that such would be the righteous judgment of
Earl Grey, Mr. Tarrant's persecutors had, in the in
terim , abolished the office, and , nearly at the same
time, reorganised it, but under a slightly different
name,
Consequently, all the benefit that poor Mr. Tarrant
has hitherto derived from Earl Grey's decision, has
been the receipt of all salary, for the weeks inter
vening, between his suspension from office and the
nominal abolition of the office itself. But he has
never been restored to the public service, nor com
pensated for the wrong done him.
He has not even been able to obtain his own trial,
for the misdemeanour with which he was charged.
Colonel Caine was never ready.
In the first instance, his Comprador, he said, had
left the colony, and there must be a postponement on
that ground .
Why he allowed the man to leave, without his pre
sence at the trial being secured in the usual manner,
he could not say .
Months elapsed ; and every month brought with it
the appearance of Mr. Tarrant and his attorney at
the bar of the Supreme Court. But still the Colonel
was not ready
A Mr. Molloy Campbell, a personal friend of the
Lieutenant-Governor, was, at that time, the Acting
Attorney -General.
To him, at length, Mr. Tarrant's attorney gave
notice of his intention to move the Court for his
client's discharge, unless brought to trial forthwith.
The ground was, that Colonel Caine's Comprador,
for whom all this delay was prayed, was ascertained
to be living quietly within Hong Kong after all !
44
The application being made, the Chief Justice
expressed a strong opinion of the unfairness of all
these proceedings, but advised Mr. Tarrant, instead
of accepting his discharge, to stand his trial at
an approaching Session . The Acting Attorney
General having undertaken to bring on the case
for trial, Mr. Tarrant acceded to the advice thus given
him by the Chief Justice.
Before the time arrived, the Chief Justice was
himself suspended upon a charge, chiefly supported by
Colonel Caine, and recognised to be false the moment
the proceedings reached Downing Street. He
was, therefore, reinstated, without delay, and with
honor .
But, during his Honour's absence from the colony,
the Acting Attorney General had become Acting Chief
Justice .
The still untried Mr. Tarrant, appeared at the
Sessions appointed. But the Acting Chief Justice
refused to preside at his trial ; alleging the indeli
cacy of sitting, as Acting Judge, upon an informa
tion signed by him , as Acting Attorney General .
It was replied, that the delicacy did him honor ;
but that it had not prevented him from trying, at
the same Session, sundry prisoners, whose case, in
that respect, was the same as Mr. Tarrant's ; and
that he ( Mr. Tarrant) was quite willing to waive
all objection on the score of delicacy, if delicacy
there was in the case, and to proceed at once to his
trial .
The Acting Chief Justice, however, persisted in
the refusal; and , as there was no other Judge in the
island, the case was abandoned .
Mr. Tarrant, being thereupon discharged for the
45
time, has not as yet been fortunate enough to get
any one to try him, or even to prosecute.
More than ten years have, nevertheless, elapsed
since his last appearance in that case .
Colonel Caine's Comprador, has, since then , lived
on , and carried on all kinds of business, in Hong Kong
and Canton .
1
I heard of him last, as being, at the latter city,
in the spring of 1858. It was told me, but I can
not credit it, that a certain official had been indis
creet enough to recommend him , as Comprador, to
the mess of an East India Company's Regiment
in garrison there. It is certainly stated, that he
was their Comprador about that time, but left them
suddenly with their plate.
The proceedings in Mr. Tarrant's case having ex
cited certain misgivings in his mind , he took an early
opportunity of satisfying them.
One of the extortions was alleged to have been
committed on a market lessee. The man had mort
gaged his lease deeply, and had got into trouble.
Mr. Tarrant took an assignment of the mortgage ;
thereby entitling himself to the possession and inspec
tion of the lessee's market books.
He turned to the date of the alleged extortion.
It was said to have amounted to the large sum of
1,600 dollars.
Under that date, there was an entry in Chinese,
for “ duty -money” paid to “ Kanna Kane” (Colonel
Caine) of two hundred dollars. But, within seven
days, there were as many more, each of the same
sum , each for “ duty money, " each to “ Kanna Kane;"
in all, sixteen hundred dollars.
In the now very remote hope of being able to stimu
46
late an investigation, he published forthwith, in the
Friend of China, a facsimile of those entries, with an
English translation .
Colonel Caine held his peace .
Nine years later Mr. Tarrant again published
them , and in the same newspaper.
Colonel Caine still held his peace.
His conduct was thereupon represented to the Se
cretary ofState . But the result is still unknown . * The
papers are included in Mr. James' notice of motion .
I ought here to add, that Mr. Tarrant's well
meant interference, to prevent the lessees from pay
ing more than their lawful Crown fees to the
Colonial Secretary, was fatal to the interests of those
immediately advised by him .
They had objected; —" If we do not pay this
bribe, the Comprador says that we shall not have
our leases after all , but soinebody else will .” With
reluctant hesitation, however, they at last con
sented to be persuaded by Mr. Tarrant, that the
Comprador lied ; and they acted on that persuasion.
Two or three days afterwards, Mr. Tarrant was
accosted by them in the street, with much violence
of reproach . “ You bad man !” they said ; “ we
told you so. Our leases are not to be made out.
Another man has got them . All this coines of
not paying the cum shaw, that Colonel Caine's Com
prador told us to pay!"
I can give no opinion on the extent to which the
Colonial Secretary of that day was culpable ; or
* Correspondence, in the case of Mr. Tarrant and the Comprador.
of the Honourable Major Caine, from 3rd July, 1847, to 27th Dec. ,
1849 .
47
whether Mr. Caldwell's dreaded testimony can carry
the case much further .
It is certain that he was so, to at least this extent :
that he acted like the guiltiest, and obstructed the
course of criminal justice, and occasioned much
scandal to the British name.
I cannot think that, having, as he must have, the
humiliating sense of tliese heavy imputations, and of
having done nothing to remove them ,-- his presence
in the Executive Council can be of the least value to
it ; or tend, in any way, to give efficiency to that
body, for the repression or detection of the corrup
tions of the Hong Kong government .
1 pass on to the next head .
THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL AND PRO
TECTOR OF CHINESE, AND LICENSER
OF CHINESE BROTHELS.
The Registrar -Generalship of Chinese, formerly an
inferior office in the Superintendency of Police, was
made, in 1846, a department of co -ordinate power ;
and the functions of Justice of the Peace and Pro
tector of Chinese were annexed to it.
During the Bridges' administration, in 1857, it was
raised, byordinance,into a distinct departinent, and one
of superior emolument to that of the Superintendency
itself ; and the visitatorial, and other arbitrary powers
48
of the above office, were so largely increased, in
favour of the individual then recently raised to them ,
as to attract the notice of Downing Street, and to
cause the disallowance of the most dangerous of those
new provisions ; but not until they had done much
mischief, in the manner in which he had exercised
them .
A new Ordinance, omitting those provisions, was
accordingly prepared in the following year ; and it
passed into a law, on the very day, when the first dis
cussion on the malpractices of the individual, who still
retained those offices ( Mr. Daniel Richard Caldwell ),
with regard to Brothels' Licenses took place in the
Legislative Council ;—that is to say, on the 10th May,
1858. *
In the interval, however, his other office, that of
Crown Licenser of Brothels, had been specially created
for him . I was known to be wholly opposed to the mea
sure ; and once already I had defeated the attempt to
carry it through the Legislative Council. I had no ob
jection to sanatory regulations, for purposes, strongly
and conclusively urged, by our naval and military
commanders in those regions, for many years past ;
and I had even proposed a measure, for the indemnity
of such as submitted themselves, to such regulations,
against prosecution under the local law. But, to any
system of Crown Licenses for Brothels, upon payment
of Crown Fees, I was altogether hostile.
Dr. Bridges, therefore, urged the occasion of my
absence on sick-leave, during the autumn of 1857, to
make one last attempt to pass his measure ; remarking
* Compare the two Ordinances in question :-Ord. No.6 , of 1857,
and No.8 of 1858 .
49
to a member of Council, who was doubtful as to its
details, that, unless it were passed quickly, it would
not pass at all ; “ For you know ," he added signifi.
cantly, " who is coming back next month.” About a
fortnight before I did come back, it had passed into a
law ; and Mr. Caldwell had added the Crown Licenser
ship of Chinese Brothels to his other enormous pre
rogatives, having under him a Portuguese named
Grandpré, a friend and partner, as Assistant.*
Mr. Caldwell himself is a native of St. Helena, and
apparently of mixed blood. His father, a common
soldier in a local militia corps, brought him, when
young, to Pulo Penang, where, and at Singapore,
his youth was passed in various inferior occupations
ashore and afloat. His character was, to say the least
of it, not high at that time; - and , when Sir George
Bonham , then administering his Straits' government,
was promoted to that of Hong Kong, it was with dif
ficulty, it is said, that His Excellency was induced to
tolerate, even in a comparatively inferior post in the
police of Hong Kong, the man who had left behind
him , at Singapore, a very damaging notoriety ; and
who had taken shelter in Canton and Hong Kong,
only to acquire a worse.
It was stated, by a friendly witness, recalled for the
purpose by Mr. Caldwell himself, before the Commis
sion hereafter to be mentioned, that his ( the wit
ness's) former partner, Mr. Innes, employed Mr.
Caldwell " to smuggle opium in the Canton river.” †
This was before the first Chinese war. None but the
* Ordinance No. 12, of 1857 (24th November, 1857).
† Printed Minutes of Evidence before the Caldwell Commission
of Enquiry Tong Kong, (pp. 44, 47 ; sec pp . 61 , 79, 82).
E
)
50
most daring and atrocious of Chinese outlaws were
employed ; for none others were qualified to enter into
the service of the Europeans, on board of the fast
boats so employed. They were, in fact, — nearly all
without exception , -- river pirates of the most despe
rate character. This circumstance alone does not
seem to have prejudiced him overmuch with the Can
ton community ; for such was " the custom of several
merchants at that time;" and, consequently, “ as a
shipmaster, he was as much respected as the generality
of the class."
But there was a graver report, according to
another witness, concerning him , which “threw him
under a cloud entirely with the community in China ;
—that he had not accounted for the proceeds of some
opium which had been entrusted to him for sale.
This was in 1840."
Mr.Caldwell himself admits, * that, in that same year,
he left the Canton river and trade, and took service
(as an interpreter) under the Commissariat at Chusan,
where Colonel Caine, then a captain , and whom he
had accompanied thither, was commandant . In 1843 ,
he says,, after some intervening cruises on the coast,
he entered the service of the Hong Kong government,
as magistrate's clerk ; Colonel Caine having then been
from May 1841 , chief magistrate there.
Colonel Caine's opinion of his fitness for office was
entirely founded on " his being a smart person, and
possessing an excellent knowledge of the (vulgar or
colloquial) language.” There were all sorts of “ ru
mours ” and “ complaints ” against him , it appears .
* Printed Minutes of Evidence before the Caldwell Commission
of Enquiry . Hong Kong, (p. 90. Compare p. 82. )
51
But “they made no impression on him ( Colonel
Caine) ;” for, since they were not " official complaints,"
he thought that " he could not place reliance upon
them .”
. What was their nature he would not tell ;
“ would rather decline answering, as to what he had
“ heard about Mr. Caldwell, from his (Colonel Caine's)
" acquaintance with this part of the world , to the
present time. He was not aware of any connection
“ between Mah Chow Wong and Mr. Caldwell, ex
e newspapers,
cept by hearing of this, seeing it in the
“ and hearing it stated in the Council Room on one
“ occasion - perhaps on more than one occasion . "
Here the Lieutenant-Governor's revelations ceased.
He objected that he was not at liberty to reveal the
secrets of the Executive Council. The objection was
allowed. It was an untenable objection, in the face
of the Governor's mandate to all officers to appear
and give evidence ; and this was the only instance in
which it had been allowed. The objection and the
allowance thereof are carefully omitted from the Go
vernment printed minutes !
The " connection " with Mah Chow Wong, never
theless, was a quite notorious fact, and it lasted from
the beginning of Caldwell's humble employment in the
police court, in 1843 , down to the final departure
is it final ? -of that pirate from the shores of Hong
Kong, in 1858 , a convict under sentence of transpor
tation for fourteen years .
In the meantime, Caldwell had risen in the public
service to the ranks, successively, of Inspector of Police,
Assistant Superintendant of Police, Interpreter to the
Supreme Court, Registrar-General and Protector of
Chinese, Justice of the Peace, and Licenser of
Chinese Brothels.
During a few months only of those sixteen years-
E 2
52
namely, from towards the end of 1855 to about the
middle of 1856 he had been out of Government em
ployment ;-seduced it seems, by the large profits and
exciting adventure of a life on boardof thearmed steamer
Eaglet,” the common property of himself and Mah
Chow Wong. It was not long, however, before the
embarrassment of his own affairs, and the flight from
Singapore of his brother Henry-the defaulter and
fraudulent trustee, from whom his capital is supposed
to have been derived — compelled him to sell his
interest in the “ Eaglet ” and return into the Go
vernment service .
But , amid all these vicissitudes, and at every stage
of his career, the “66 connection " with Mah Chow
Wong, and the gang or clan of that miscreant, was
maintained unrelaxed. It may have been, as the
Superintendent of Police,* in his evidence alleges it,
the bond of friendship; oreven ,-if an older resident,
and a senior officer in the public service, the marine
magistrate and governor of the gaol,t is to be credited
—that of affinity, through a woman named Awoong,
by concubinage and adoption, according to Chinese law
and usage, which cemented that " connection .” But
it was at least sufficiently well-founded, on the basis
of a common interest, to need none of those supports
from the affections.
The Governor's own Commissioners of Enquiry
have not been able to ignore the fact. There can be
no doubt, they say, that the “ connection ” has
existed ; that it has been “ long and intimate ;” and
that it has ripened into, at least, one “partnership in
* Mr. May, J.P. The frequency of these references to the printed
and unprinted documents makes citation laborious.
† Mr. Inglis, J.P.
53
a lorcha ;" for that is “ even admitted by Mr. Cald
well.” That all this while, Mah Chow Wong was a
“ notorious” pirate, is what Mr. Caldwell “ must
have known ." *
Those only who are farniliar with the History of
Jonathan Wild in all its details, can fully comprehend
the part, which this “ connection ” of Chinese pirate
and European officer of police, has had in the Reign of
Terror, as I have called the administration of govern
ment, under Sir John Bowring, at Hong Kong.
But, even to those not so prepared by study, I do
not despair, representing, from the records published,
in a moment of infatuation , by the Hong Kong Go
vernment itself, such a picture of their proceedings
as shall leave no doubt, even in the most sceptical
mind, as to the quality of that " connection , ” their
designs, and their acts ; and the consequent and ne
cessary duty, of all honest men, whether in the service
of the Local Government, or enjoying a position of
independence, to do their utmost to detect and expose
the guilt, and bring down conviction and punishment
upon the confederacy , and all who abetted or pro
tected it .
An experience, acquired by thirteen years of
service, as Superintendent of Police, Magistrate, and
Coroner, entitles Mr. May's evidence on this head to
great consideration and respect. He tells the Govern
ment Commissioners : -
“ I have for many years known Mah Chow Wong.