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of a British Official at the trial, the Consul-General addros-
sed a Despatch to His Majesty's Minister at Peking, enclosing
copies of the correspondence with my Colonial Secretary. I am
happy to say that Sir Ernest Sator sær the matter in the sme
light in which it presented itself to me, and instructed the
Consul-General at once to place my views before the Viceroy
and to press them if necessary. On the 25th. March, 1901, the
Consul-General reported to His Majesty's Minister at Peking
that the Viceroy had agreed to give the arrangement a trial'.
and by direction of Sir Ernest Satow a copy of His Excelleney's
last instructions to the Consul-General was sent to me on the
2nd. May, 1901.
I attach copies of all the correspondence
and cannot refrain from expressing my satisfaction at having
been instrumental in securing the cessation of the torture of
eriminals extradited from this Colony, whose rendition upon
what was acknowledged to be a worthless guarantee could not
in my opinion have been granted without dishonour to our
principles and our flag.
The miseries of China are largely due to
the custom of insisting upon confession before execution,
regardless of the evidence produced. To extract confession
torture is applied which results in a crushing mass of in-
Justice. There are many forces in China today making for a
change in this horrible system, and I cherish the hope that
the action of the Hongkong Government in breaking down the
custom in cases of extradition may hasten the coming of a
change in this respect that every well-wisher of China and of
hmanity