بیانا
736
1
34965
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[36694]
No. 1.
REGE 25 OCT 09 [October 4.]
SECTION 4.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey,-(Received October 4.)
(No. 336.) Sir,
Peking, September 16, 1909. I HAVE the honour to report that an occurrence, in itself of an unimportant nature, has caused a serious situation to arise at Kiukiang and has led to a boycott of British ships trading with that port.
On the 26th April last the superintendent of police in the British concession at Kiukiang had occasion to move on some Chinese loiterers, and it is alleged that in so doing he prodded some of them with his stick. One of the men concerned walked away for a short distance and then fell to the ground; he was conveyed to the police station, examined by a doctor and subsequently carried on a stretcher to the house of a friend, where he died shortly after arrival. The allegation was at once put forward that the death of this man was not due to natural causes, but had been caused by the brutal treatment which he had received at the hands of the superintendent.
A joint enquiry was held by His Majesty's consul and an officer deputed by the Taotai, and the evidence offered convinced His Majesty's consul that there was not sufficient foundation for this allegation. I do not propose to review at length the circumstances of the case or the interminable arguments which ensued between His Majesty's consul and the local authorities in a voluminous correspondence which did not in the least convince the latter that they were in the wrong. It was sufficient to state that the police superintendent denied having struck the deceased, that no injury, such as would have been caused by a blow sufficient to occasion death, was discovered by the doctor who examined the man at the police station, and that the evidence given by the Chinese witnesses was of an unsatisfactory and inconclusive nature.
After holding the joint enquiry Mr. Werner offered, on behalf of the Municipal Council, a compassionate grant of 200 taels (301) to the relatives of the deceased in full settlement of the whole case, but the Taotai, after some hesitation, refused this offer.
On the 8th May the Chinese Government drew my attention to the matter and requested me to instruct His Majesty's consul to arrange an amicable settlement of the case with the Taotai. To this I replied, on the 14th May, that I had telegraphed in this sense to His Majesty's consul. A further note from the Wai-wu Pu, of the 21st May, quoted a report from the Governor of Kiangsi to the effect that the deceased. had undoubtedly met his death by reason of the ill-treatment which he had received, declared that the Chinese Government were not satisfied with the result of the joint inquiry and asked me to telegraph to His Majesty's consul to direct him to "inflict just punishment on the offender after a thorough enquiry."
It appeared to me, at this juncture, that the best way to settle the case and allay Chinese official suspicions and popular resentment would be to send a responsible judicial officer to hold an investigation on the spot. I therefore arranged for an enquiry to be held by the Crown Advocate and informed the Wai-wu Pu of this procedure.
Mr. Wilkinson accordingly proceeded to Kiukiang and, after a careful enquiry, came to the conclusion that no British jury would, on the evidence, convict on a charge of murder or manslaughter. He at the same time informed the Chinese authorities, with whom he found it impossible to arrange any satisfactory settlement of the case on a non-judicial basis, that, if a charge were brought by the relatives of the deceased, they would have every assistance in filing it, and it would be fully and duly tried by His Britannic Majesty's Supreme Court, whose decision would be on the evidence then received and uninfluenced by the opinion which he, Mr. Wilkinson, had found it his duty to form. I conveyed similar information tó the Wai-wu Pu, and I fully intended that any further judicial proceedings should not take place before His Majesty's consul. Unfortunately Mr. Werner misunderstood my instructions and the advice of the Crown Advocate, and when a formal charge was made proceeded to take the preliminary hearing. The nature of his mistake and the
[2462 d-4]