Enclosure No. 3 in Mr. Fox's despatch No. 58 of November
b. 144.
Sir,
190.
43871
577
DFC 16 180
H.B.M. Consulate-General, Canton,
November 2nd, 1908.
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency's despatch No. 141 of the 20th ultimo, enclosing a further letter from His Honour the Chief Justice on the subject of my refusal to act upon a Letter of Request issued to me by the Supreme Court in Hongkong in the case of Said Ahamed Marican v. On Pak Ngok. Your Excellency informs me that the Chief Justice has intimated that the discussion is "varying on the irregular" and that "he cannot continue it".
I much regret if the letters I have written on this subject have given His Honour the impression that I have attempted to enter into a discussion with him on a question which is, in His Honour's words, "entirely judicial". Such was never my intention. It was solely because I, rightly or wrongly, did not consider the action I was requested to take...
His Excellency
Sir Y.D. Lagard, K.C.M.G., C.B., D.S.O.,
etc., etc., etc.,
Governor and Commander-in-Chief,
Hongkong.