XCR(85)72
At Ha Tsun, we were met in the ancestral temple there by the elders of the district and also by an elder named Ng Ki Cheung of the Un Long district where the murder was committed. All the elders corroborated the statements contained in the Petition, but said that Tang Chik Ting and Tang Chu Shan, named in the petition as having been implicated in the murder, had nothing to do with it. It was therefore determined to make further enquiries regarding these two men, but to burn forthwith the houses of Tang Tsing Sz, Tang I Shek, and Tang A Mei, and to close four other houses belonging to Tang I Shek.
The elders pointed out the houses and helped to collect material with which to burn them, and the villagers declared that the men whose houses were to be burnt richly deserved whatever punishment might be meted out to them, and that two of them, Tang Tsung Sz and Tang I Shek, had been the cause of all the trouble that had occurred.
The three houses were burnt, due precautions being taken to prevent the spread of fire to neighbouring village houses, and the four other houses belonging to Tang I Shek will be closed pending further instructions from Your Excellency.
I informed the elders that the widow of the murdered man would have to be supported by the villages in their district. The widow was present at the burning of the houses.
I have ascertained that two of the men whose houses were burned own some land in the Ha Tsun district, which, I submit, should be confiscated, as well as the houses referred to above belonging to Tang I Shek. If no legal power at present exists for dealing with property in this manner, I am of opinion that it should be obtained at once, as I strongly recommend...
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