412
Hong Kong Annual Administration Reports, 1841-1941
HER MAJESTY'S COLONIAL POSSESSIONS.
been common, is being gradually suppressed, and that the Chinese villagers dwelling in outlying districts have, in many recent instances, rendered valuable assistance in hunting down the criminals who infest their neighbourhoods and in bringing them to justice.
In the course of my official duties, particularly those connected with the conduct of prosecutions in the Supreme Court, I have been very favourably impressed with the increased and increasing efficiency of the colonial police force in dealing with crime. The Chinese portion of the force has proved especially useful, and experience of the fitness of the Chinese for police duties has confirmed me in the opinion I held and published as Chairman of the Police Commission of 1872. Their readiness in the identification of well-known bad characters and old offenders has most materially assisted Government in the prevention of crime; and in its detection, many of their members have displayed peculiar cleverness and activity. By their means the frequent robberies of cargo from ships and lighters in the harbour have been materially checked, and this is no slight praise in the face of the fact that the cargo boat people, men and women, seem as a race to be born and inveterate thieves, always seeking for and ready to take instant advantage of any opportunity for plunder. I especially recall one instance, in which the robbery of a large quantity of valuable silk in the harbour was brought to light by a Chinese sergeant within a few hours of its committal, and long before the loss was discovered by those who had charge of it; the whole of the property being recovered and the parties brought to punishment, under circumstances which, but for the readiness and acuteness of this man, would have rendered such a consummation impossible.
The number of offences reported to the police, though considerably less than those of 1872, continues, no doubt, to be large, but the great bulk of them were of a character more or less trivial. On the whole, having regard to the exceptional circumstances of this Colony with respect to crime, I think the statistics of 1873 evidence a substantial and satisfactory improvement.
I have, &c., (Signed) THOMAS C. HAYLLAR,
Acting-Attorney General.
The Hon. J. G. Austin,
Colonial Secretary.