754 causing strife. There was also the important question had the tax lord to fetch the grain himself or was the tenant to take it to him. With the signing of the Convention the tenants seem to have made up their mind to shake off the tax lord, a half-formed resolve which had been gathering definiteness for a considerable time.
In Lau Tao matters came to a head speedily after the Convention when the tenants seized and dragged before the Police at Tung Chung the rent collector of the Li family who was making his usual rounds. Again some two years ago Mr. Sercombe Smith sitting as Puisne Judge gave judgement for several tax lords against their lessees in various places. Most of the defendants absolutely refused to pay anything under the judgement and several of them who were committed to the Civil Prison in default remained there as long as the judgement creditor would pay for their maintenance.
Again in Lau Tao I have given several judgements under the Rent Recovery Ordinance which the tax lords have never been able to enforce although it was not denied at the hearing that the amounts were such as had been paid regularly for the last fifty years. Where the Distress warrant arrives the tenants simply lock their doors and drive their cattle into the hills where they remain until the tax lord is tired of waiting for their return. He cannot as a matter of fact stay very long anywhere in Lau Tao as he has no lodging of his own and no villager will give him food or shelter. The only remedy for this state of things that the Lau Tao tax lord has been able to suggest is that the Government