banners have been seized, whilst numerous arrests have been made.
In the examination of the persons apprehended, it was ascertained that the leader of the movement was a man named Hung Tsun-Kwei who resides at Hong-Kong, and that two others, named Liang Muh Kwang and Li Chih-Son, who on the discovery of the plot escaped in disguise to Hongkong, were respectively the Chief of the Military Store Department and the principal Military Adviser of Hung Tsun-Kwei.
Simultaneously with these proceedings several arrests of persons connected with the conspiracy and in whose possession papers of a compromising character were found, were made by the Hongkong Authorities. But in consequence of the evidence adduced against them not sufficing to secure a conviction according to English Law, they, like so many others of whose guilt there could be no doubt, were subsequently set at liberty.
The frequency of such cases is a matter of regret to the Viceroy and the Imperial Government. The practical immunity from punishment constituting Hongkong a veritable pied-à-terre on which disaffected persons may collect and hatch their plots against the Chinese Government, and a refuge to which they can repair in the event of the miscarriage of their schemes.
It is most desirable that the fugitives above mentioned, if indeed the state of the law will not permit of their being extradited, should be expelled from the Colony, for Canton and Quang-Si being frontier provinces, any disturbances the associations of which they are the Chiefs might excite would, especially in the present condition of China, almost inevitably lead to foreign complications, and perhaps to foreign aggression.
As this would be anything but advantageous to the common interests of our two Countries, I hope
The
Your
Page 40