Page 363
Gir,
457
0.0.
36048
DIRECT
R
Rec'd 14 JUL 01
Government House
Hongkong, 12th September, 1901.
Referring to my Despatch No. 199 of 31st May, 1901, and to your answer No. 247 of 26th July, 1901, I have the honour to enclose for your information copies of further correspondence with the Acting Consul-General at Canton and two reports by Mr. H. E. Sly.
2.
The execution of those extradited pirates upon the evidence produced, and without obtaining a confession, hitherto considered indispensable before the death sentence can be carried out, makes a valuable and a possibly far-reaching precedent. I am sending copies of the correspondence to His Majesty's Minister at Peking, to whose good offices, in ordering the Consul-General to place my demands before the Viceroy of Canton, the successful inauguration of a new system in Chinese Criminal Procedure is largely due.
I have the honour to be,
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN, M.P.,
Your most obedient
Humble servant,
Governor, &c.
Page 363
457
0.0.
36048