money can buy, for a paltry sum, thereby subjecting yourselves to the reproach of thousands and myriade of men! Do you still consider this a wise course? Even hereafter should you have the good fortune to escape, whos you return to your native home, your follow countrymen and relations will, without excep tion, despise you. Can it be that for a small present gain you are neglectful of your future welfare? If you can abandon your present evil ways, and return to the right path, if you can secretly kill some French Commander or
or destroy by fire their munitions of
or co-operate with the Chinese Officials and soldiere in attacking them from within and without with a view to their being entirely awept away, the writers will, as in duty bound, overlook your paet fault, and
he liberal in conferring towards on
accord- ing to the soale,
and will further cecommend you to the throne for high office, to serve as sn inducement to others to return to the service of their own country;
you still persist in the same delnded course, continue to assist the enemy, in addition to putting to death you yourselves if taken prisoners during the operations, your relations will be dealt with accord. ing to the fall penalty of the law. As to workmen, if they should, in spite of this proclamation, still repair ships, they also will be punished according to the law regarding rebellion. Let each observe this, disobey it not.
The Attorney-General opened the case to the jury at considerable length. The first three counts were based upon Sec. 4, Ord. 4 of 1865, and the last upon Common Law. The first three counts charged him with encouraging, soliciting, &c., the readers of the paper to commit the crime of murder, sud if the jury should be satisfied. that the actual case against the defendant an- swered to any of these descriptions, it would be competent to them to find à verdict of guilty against him. The fourth count charged him with inciting to kill. The Section of the Ordin- anoe provided as follows:-
"All persons who shall within this colony conspire, confederate and agree to murder any person, whether be be a subject of Her Majesty or not, and whether be be within the Queen's Isominions or not, and whos sosyor within this colony shall solicit, encourage besgade or endeavour to persuade, or shall"
to any person to murder any other person, whether he be
be a subject of Her Majesty or not, and whether he be within the Queen's Dominions or not, shall be guilty of misdemeanour, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be
kept
in penal servitude for any term not more than ten and not less than three years, or to be impri- soned for any terin not exceeding two years with or without hard labour.
+
The Attorney-General said he might at once intimate that all representations made through be considered as coming within the meaning Para que minch of this section-which was exactly the same as. the Imperial Act-as when made personally. This proclamation appeared at a time when cer- tain well known events were passing in this colony, which would, no doubt, have some bearing in the minds of the jury when considering the issue before them. The defendant published the proclamation in the Wah Tax Yat Po, a Chinese newspaper having a large circulation among the Chinese population of this colony. At that time there were a considerable number of French men-of-war in the harbour, and of French officers in the colony, the state of affairs now prevailing between France and China was prevailing then, and as they were aware, there was a considerable amount of feeling and enmity among the Chinese portion of our popula tion towards the French. About that time Chinese workmen refused to repair the French ships in dock, and the coolies refused to work at loading or anloading French vessels, which were evi- dences of the strong and not unreasonable fasi. ing of enmity the Chinese here regarded the French with. The jury were doubtless also aware that a large portion of the Chinese popu. lation of this colony was to a great extent in- dirently under the influence of the Chinese au- thorities in Canton, as many of them had wives and children or property on the mainland. The jury would understand how the officials could punish Chinese in this colony for disobedience through these indirect means. bring this influence to bear on the Chinese They could population here, already enraged against the French, and it was under these circumstances that the defendant thought fit to publish this proclamation in his paper, giving it first an introductory heading commending it to his readers. The Attorney-General then pro- ceeded through the whole of the publication complained of, giving comments on the different parts, and with regard to the greater part of it. he said he had no complaint to make. He could not conceive that there was anything objection- able in any civilised power appealing to its sub- joots, wherever they might be, to refrain from assisting the enemy of their country and threaten- ing to punish those who did so, but the objec tionable part was contained in the few lines at i
thi
the end in which those who had behaved traitorously would be forgiven, and rewarded as all other Chinese subjects here would be with money and honours if they were to secretly kill some French commander, or destroy by tre their unitions of war, &e. It offered. rewards to Chinese living here under the juris. dletion of our laws for secretly killing any French officer they could in this colony. If all this had been published merely as an article, a matter of argument and opinion from the editor as to the proper course of the Chinese in Hong- kong, he took it that would be a deliberate inducement by the defendant to his readers to commit the crime of murder. How much more powerful in its effects on the readers must it be when it parported to be an authoritative com- mand from the rulers of the Two Kwang Having regard to the presence of a number of French ships in this harbour at the time this proclamation was published by the defend. ant, he put to the jury that it was an incite. ment to murder Franch officers in this colony.
His Lordship pointed out that there would be a distinction between the people ashore and such as might, as the proclamation stated, be serving on board the French men-of-war.
The Attorney-General said that was go, and if the jury were of opinion that the proclamation i only referred to Chinese in that position, or enlisted into the French army, they could hardly find the defendant guilty upon any of the counts upon which he was charged. He submitted, how» ! over, that the reasonable construction to put upon the proclamation was that which such men as would read it would put upon it. It was not likely that they would draw any such fine distinctions, but they would take it to be an incitement for them" to secretly kill French officere in this colony-to commit the crime of murder. If the jury took that view, they would find a verdict of guilty.
The Attorney-General proceeded to call,
Ho Afuk, translator in the Registrar-General's Department, who produced the copy in question of the Wah Taz Yat Po published by defendant. The paper was supplied to the Registrar- General's Office from day day, and the one produced was supplied on the 17th September. It contained a proclamation purporting to omansto from the Viceroy of Canton, of which he had made a correct transistion. He believed the paper had a large circulation, 2,000 or 3,000 sday; including the ports.
Cross-examined by Mr. Francis-The same notice appeared in all the other three Chinese newspapers in this colony.
The Attorney-General said that was his case. Mr. Francis then addressed the jury for the de- fence, and he said his contention would be that the defendant had not, by the publication of that arti cle, incited his readers to commit the e ime of marder, or any crime which could be desit with by the laws of this colony. No doubt they would be told by the Attorney-General that a man was assumed to intend the natural cons quences of his acts, but the jury must consider all the circumstances in deciding what a man's intention was. The Attorney-General had told them that the greater part of the proclamation was perfectly legitimate and unobjectionable; why then did he attempt to prejudice their winds by calling their attention to the alleged result of that proclamation in the refusal of thết: Chinese to work for French ships? The Chi- nese Authorities had noted in accordance with international law, and if individuals had gone beyond the laws of this colony it was not their fault. He asked the jury, as sensible men, to consider the proclamation from beginning to and, and what would be the effect of it. Was it reasonable to suppose that the defendant had published the proclamation in his paper Fon Bocount of the condition of affairs in the colony at the time, when it was only issued on the 15th and published by him and the other Chinese newspapers in this colony on the 17th He published it as soon as he got it as an item of general news to his subscribers, not with any regard to the circumstances passing at the time, and he would have published it had there been no Freuch men-of-war in the harbour at the time. The proclamation was not address- ed simply to the Chinese in Hongkong, but to those in Macao, and all the adjacent coast. If the jury could place & construction upon this proclamation by which all that it contained was perfectly legitimate, it WAS not for them to twist it so as to take it other- to wise, and the defendant was entitled claim that the most favourable interpretation should be put upon it. He submitted that the proclamation was fully capable of boing con- strued to mean nothing but what was thoroughly
legitivnate
57
Page 60Page 61