COPY.
Enclosure 1.
C. O.
(1).
6935
Colonial Secretary's Office,
Hongkong, 27th November, 1908.
57
Sir,
I am directed to state that His Excellency the Governor intends to suspend you from the exercise of your office upon the following grounds, viz.:-
(a).
(b).
(c).
(d).
(e).
That on or about the 31st day of May, 1902, when the crew of the S.S. "Aicinous" was paid off you unlawfully deducted from the pay of the firemen and others a sum of $1,260 or thereabouts lent to them by the head fireman, Chan Ching How, and that you received a commission of $65 for the services thus rendered:
That on or about the 10th day of November, 1908, you unlawfully refused to pay one Cheung Foo the full sum of $44.20 due on the account of wages signed by the Master of the S.S. "Cranley" and presented by the said Cheung Foo:
That you have habitually unlawfully deducted odd cents from the wages of crews when you have paid them off:
That you have habitually unlawfully substituted silver dollars short in value and/or subsidiary silver coins for the banknotes received by you from the masters of ships for the purpose of paying off the crews of ships, thereby making an illicit profit for yourself:
That you have habitually unlawfully deducted from the wages of crews being paid off loans made to members of such crews whether by boarding house masters or others, and charged a commission to the lenders for so doing:
I am to call upon you to state in writing any grounds upon which you rely to exculpate yourself and to direct you to furnish that statement to me not later than noon on Monday the 3rd day of December, 1908.
If any other grounds of suspension come to the notice of the Government they will be communicated to you.
I have, etc.,
T. Sercombe Smith,
Colonial Secretary.
1. A. E. Guterres.
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