The course has been current for many years. In the Molony report, the corrupt practices of the lower ranks of the Service were discussed, but as far as the European and Indian Police are concerned, nothing light has ever come to notice.
A Commission which inquired into bribery in the Police Force in 1886 was unable to obtain any proof of its existence. They reported, para 10, that they felt convinced the Chinese Police were corrupted to a considerable extent, but no mention was made of European or Indian Officers.
A reference to CSO 1890 (a document which I may mention I never saw till after the East Street seizure had been made) will, however, show that bribery did exist, and must have existed for a considerable time, among the European members of the Force, for one can hardly escape from believing the statements contained in W Wodehouse's Memorandum of the 16 August and in Mr Baldwell's letter of the 29 August 1890, especially when these documents are read in the light of the revelations contained in the enclosed report.
The statement made in W Wodehouse's Memorandum is shown by Sam Zin Tai's evidence to be correct. It was the detectives P.S. 190 Tang Chung and MPC 319 Yeung Jah who were chiefly utilized by the principal European Police Officers as their intermediaries in arranging for and collecting their bribes. The detectives Jang Ram and Ching were also utilized for the same purpose.
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