Sir,
Sub-enclosure to Enclosure 3.
308
Mr. S. A. Ratman to the Registrar of the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court,
Hong Kong 8th November 1898.
I have the honour to submit to you for the information of His Excellency the Governor and the Honourable the Chief Justice as requested, the following grounds upon which I rely to exculpate myself from the following charges which have been made against me viz:- "That I did on the 26th ultimo improperly alter the Summary Jurisdiction official cause list in the following way and improperly procure the delay of the actual posting of the list."
1. As regards the first charge I should mention that the Summary Jurisdiction official cause list is made up in the office every Thursday afternoon or the following Friday morning. On the particular Thursday afternoon of the 26th ultimo the list was being made up by Mr. Sales, the Usher. Among the Summonses which would have been entered in the usual course, if the money had not previously been paid into Court or notice given of an arrangement for withdrawal of the Summons out of Court, was a Summons against my brother. He is my only brother and for his sake and that of our sisters I made arrangements to pay the amount myself, so that his name should not be brought before the Court, and I had the amount in cash in my pocket all that day, intending...