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of an application under Pro Viceroy's seal, he agreed be with all speed arrested and detained, and be handed over for a joint investigation before the Consul and the Chinese Authorities.
If they decide that he is guilty, the Chinese Authorities shall deal with him; if he is not found guilty, he shall not be ill-treated in any way nor shall he be pressed to confess, but shall be sent back safe and sound to Tong-song. Further, as is the case at present, he shall not be tried for any other offence nor shall torture be applied to him during the investigation.
His Excellency's reason for asking for this change is that the Tong-hong Magistrate is often unfamiliar with Chinese people and their ways and habits of thought, whence it follows that because a part of the Chinese evidence is disproved he rejects the whole, and he is naturally led by the accused's lawyer to apply English rules of law and evidence to a purely Chinese case.
The Chinese Authorities also, unless they go to the expense of engaging a lawyer, are unable to present their side of the case in an English-legal manner. Finally, there is perhaps a natural inclination to resist the demand for extradition and to give the accused the utmost possible benefit of the doubt because the Criminal Law of the two countries are so widely different, while a Chinese, accustomed to his native procedure at trials, is tempted to exaggerate and prevaricate before a Hong Kong Court and before an alien judge who has no authority over him.
His Excellency adds that no application for extradition is ever made until he is satisfied by his subordinates that a prima facie case exists against the accused. And to him, it appears unfriendly for no weight whatever.