561
but the tail cutting
seems to be objected to
(Copy.) No.12
unless as a matter of cleanliness
practiced in the Gaol.
I would suggest that the Chinese Justices of the Peace be consulted on the question of flogging and tail cutting
Shawere
Sd. J. Runnell Acting Chief Justice
Police Magistrates to Actg Colonial Secretary.
Magistracy, Hongkong, 20th February, 1886,
We would beg to call attention to the unsatisfactory results obtained from the system of punishment at present in force in this Colony.
2.
Hongkong lying as it does on the border of one of the most turbulent portions of the Chinese Empire, must always suffer to some extent from an influx of the criminal class of the neighbouring province of Kwangtung. It is at present regarded by them with the greatest fervour.
To the Chinese criminal, capture on the mainland means torture at his trial and misery while in prison, while, if taken in Hongkong, the former terror is eliminated, while the latter is reduced to a few months' detention