CO882-(3-4) — Page 94

PUBLIC RECORD

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ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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junks were "Taú-mang" junks. I have seen junks stopped and searched very often. The first defendant never once gave information which led to a capture. We never latterly even searched about on his information. The chief officer turned him out of the I don't know the second or third prisoners. ship. The sailors did not want him there. I have not seen the first defendant since I left the "Peng Chai Hoi.”

Sir,

(Signed)

Inclosure 3 in No. 23.

Extract from Mr. Kingsmill's Letter.

WONG A PANG.

Attorney-General's Chambers, June 6, 1876. I TAKE the opportunity afforded by the close of the Criminal Sessions for the month of May, to forward to you, for the information of his Excellency the Governor, the official copy of the depositions taken in one of the causes tried in the course of the said Sessions.

The title of the cause is "the Queen against Lai-a-Leung, Ching-Sing-Cho, and Lai-ah-Fuk, and the charge against the prisoners was for endeavouring to extort money from one Kwok-Po-Lai by threatening to accuse him, or his son Kwok-a-Sui, of the crime of piracy with murder; and I may here mention that the prisoners were all convicted,

My object in forwarding the depositions to you has but little to do with the actual case as against the prisoners. It is rather to bring before his Excellency's notice certain facts connected with the presence in our waters of the preventive cruizers of the Governor- General of Kwantung, facts which appear on the face of the depositions as taken by the Magistrate, but which could not in any way be brought out in evidence on the trial of the particular cause.

I would ask his Excellency's perusal of the whole set of depositions, but I beg his especial attention to the deposition of Wong ah Pang, folio 4.

In his sworn evidence before the Magistrate the witness gives us a great insight into the nature of the operations carried on in Hong Kong waters by the cruizers of the Viceroy of Canton, and into the means and dealings adopted by the officers of these cruizers in carrying out these operations and in furthering the interests of the Chinese Customs establishment.

In these depositions we have evidence of an organized system of espionage and secret detectivism regularly carried on in this Colony in the interest of the Chinese Customs, fostered and encouraged by the promise of reward to the informer on a scale proportionate to the value and result of his information.

The existence of such a system in our very midst seems to me to be necessarily fraught with very great danger to the best interests of the Colony, and I would humbly beg his Excellency's attention to these facts now brought to light, resting well assured that when the present condition of affairs is thoroughly understood, some means will be devised to relieve the inhabitants of this Colony from the presence among them of such a corroding evil.

The Hon. J. Gardiner Austin, C.M.G.,

Sir,

Colonial Secretary.

Inclosure 4 in No. 23.

The Supreme Court, Hong Kong, June 13, 1876. THE Calendar of the Criminal Session for last month, which has been duly transmitted to you, contains a case, No. 3, which brings into prominence a species of terrorism practised by low officers in the service of the Chinese Government tending greatly to disturb peaceable Chinese residents in this Colony.

The evidence in the case appears on my note of the trial, which, if desired, I will furnish.

of

It seems that Lai-a-Leung, Ching-Shing-Cho, and Lai-a-fuk, on the 23rd of April last, went on board a fishing-boat at Sowkewan in the morning, and there threatened

of age, Kwok-Po-Li to accuse his son, Kwok-a-Sui, a lad of about eighteen years having taken part in a piracy and murder on board a ship where thirty-one persons were murdered, of which ship the second prisoner, Ching-Shing, falsely alleged that he was the

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captain, and the only survivor; and they demanded 20 taels of the father as hush-money. This being resisted, and the police being sent for, the three men boldly preferred the charge of piracy at the Police Court, and Kwok-a-Sui was actually imprisoned for some days until he was proved to be innocent.

It was sworn before the Magistrate that all three persons, after setting up that they held other offices, admitted that they were in the employ of the Chinese Government at Canton, and the first prisoner, Lai-a-Leung, on his trial in the Supreme Court, stated that Mr. Brown, of the Chinese Customs of Canton, would give him a character. The inter- preter at the Sowkewan charge-room had formerly been interpreter in the "Peng Chao Hoi," Chinese Customs' steamer, for three years, and he recognized Lai-a-Leung as an habitual informer on board against persons charged as smugglers to the "Peng Chao Hoi" at Fu-Tan-min and in this harbour; the rule being to give three-tenths of prize money to the informer.

Such a training naturally educated these three men to become felons.

The two principal criminals were each sentenced to five years' penal servitude. This case recalls to mind the atrocious case of Lee Lum Kwi, in Chinese employ, who was tried in September last for threatening, unless a very large sum were paid to him, to accuse a respectable Chinese resident in this Colony of piracy and murder, whose brother, it was suspected, had been actually executed at Swatou on a similar charge trumped up by him. That charge was the most cold-blooded 1 ever knew, manifestly got up only to extort money, but which, from its adroitness, threatened the life of an innocent man. If I have been rightly informed, persons high in the Chinese Government so far countenanced this man, that application were made for his release.

I trust that I may be excused for reminding you that, in another case of violence, a person charged with the crime of boarding a vessel within this Colony escaped trial, on its appearing that he was, in fact, acting as an officer in the Chinese Government.

It is highly probable that these are but a few only of the cases of intimidation and extortion on false charges and otherwise by Chinese officials, vague complaints of which are frequent in the Colony.

It is not within my duty to express any opinion as to whether such acts are consistent or not with international comity, but I feel it to be my duty to submit this statement for the information of his Excellency the Governor.

The Hon. J. Gardiner Austin, C.M.G., Colonial Secretary.

Sir,

I have, &c.

(Signed)

JOHN SMALE, Chief Justice.

Inclosure 5 in No. 23.

Registrar-General's Office, June 27, 1876.

IN answer to your letter of the 6th instant, I have the honour to state that I made a charge of torture against the Chinese authorities on the statement of Kong Taz Sau, the petitioner in the case, and also in consequence of a letter which was received from one of the crew, in which he stated that he had been tortured. I mentioned this letter in my report of the 10th May, 1875, which will be found in C.S.O., No. 1,404 of 1875, and attached it with a translation to that document. I presume that letter must have been forwarded to Her Britannic Majesty's Consul in despatch No. 315.

I inclose a statement, which speaks for itself, made by Kong Tez Sau before Mr. Wodehouse, a justice of the peace.

I may add that the alleged statement of the two sailors that they were exceedingly kindly treated bears contradiction on the face of it, as it is impossible to treat prisoners with even a show of kindness in such a filthy den as a Chinese prison. It is well known that prisoners when interrogated in Canton as to their treatment will seldom confess that they have been tortured for fear of molestation from the inferior officials.

There is one point in the arguments used against the junk which I would wish to draw attention to, and that is the statement.

"The allegation that the weather was bad on the 26th March was proved false by a reference to the weather tables as published in the Hong Kong Government Gazette,' the China Mail,' and the 'Daily Press.'

"

It is a well-known fact, which I have proved from personal experience, that the direction and force of the wind in Hong Kong Harbour is no index of the direction and

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