ONFIDENTIAL.
Hongkong.
My Lord,
Gov
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G. 0.
12240
Government House,
547
ALGE 6 APR 07/
Hongkong, 8th March, 1907.
In reply to your Lordship's Con-
-fidential Despatch of the 22nd. of January, I have the
honour to transmit the enclosed copy of a minute by the
Acting Attorney-General setting out the grounds upon
which the account books belonging to the Fuk On Firm were
admitted in evidence before the Executive Council in the
case against Sanitary Inspector Ward, and explaining why
the witness Lai Yuk-san was not called.
2.
It would in my opinion be extreme-
-ly unfortunate if hooks of account were in similar cases
before the Executive Council not accepted as evidence. In
this Colony where it is unfortunately necessary periodical-
-ly to get rid of the Chinese system of bribing Subordinate
Officials and where the Chinese who rive the bribes are
very averse to giving evidence against the recipients,
failure to make use of such evidence will accentuate the
difficulties
E RIGHT HONOURABLE
THE EARL OF ELGIN, K.G.,
&c.
8C.,
"
&C...
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