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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TINC.O. 882

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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tained that all the persons named in the petition as having been implicated, in the murder had fled from this territory, and that their present whereabouts are not known. We started from here at 4 p.m. with a party of the Hong Kong Regiment, under the command of Captain Berger, and on arrival at Ha Tsun we were met in the ancestral temple there by the elders of the district, and also by an elder named Ng Ki Cheung, of the Un Long district, where the murder was committed. All the elders corroborated the statements contained in the petition, but said that Tang Chik Ting and Tang Chu Shan, named in the petition as having been implicated in the murder, had nothing to do with it. It was therefore determined to make further enquiries regarding these two men, but to burn forthwith the houses of Tang Tsing Sz, Tang I Shek, and Tang A Mei, and to close four other houses belonging to Tang I Shek. The elders pointed out the houses, and helped to collect material with which to burn them, and the villagers. de clared that the men whose houses were to be burnt richly deserved whatever punish- ment might be meted out to them, and that two of them, Tang Tsung Sz and Tang I Shek had been the cause of all trouble that had occurred. The three houses were burnt, due precautions being taken to prevent the spread of fire to neighbouring houses, and the four other houses belonging to Tang I Shek will be closed pending further instructions from Your Excellency. I informed the elders that the widow of the murdered man would have to be supported by the villages in their district. The widow was present at the burning of the houses. I have ascertained that two of the men whose houses were burned own some land in the Ha Tsun district, which should, I submit, be confiscated, as well as the houses referred to above belonging to Tang I Shek. If no legal power at present exists for dealing with property in this manner, I am of opinion that it should be obtained at once, as I strongly recommend that the ringleaders in the recent movement should be banished and their property confiscated. fear it will not be possible to capture those implicated in this atrocious murder, but large rewards should be offered for their arrest, and if the men are captured the rewards should be paid by the villagers concerned.

The widow of the murdered man is 45 years of age, and has a family of five sons and two daughters. The eldest son, 23, is married and has no children. The other sons are aged 18, twins 15, the youngest 4. I will try to find employment for the four eldest sons.

The eldest daughter is aged 20, and is married. The second daughter is aged 12. I will take steps to have the family well looked after. If the property referred to above is confiscated, part of the proceeds could be devoted to the support of the widow and her family. In the meantime the Ha Tsun district should pay for her support, say, 15 dollars a month.

Ng Ki Cheung, the elder of the Un Long district, has been detained, and I am sure I shall be able to elicit important information from him.

As the murder took place in the Un Long district, the troops will visit that district to-day.

J. H. STEWART LOCKHART,

Colonial Secretary.

The humble petition of Tang Wong Shi, aged 45 years, who lives in the village of Sek Hong, in the Ha Tsun district. Your petitioner begs to humbly present a peti- tion in the matter of the murder of a messenger whose corpse has been thrown into the

which wrong,

still being unredressed. Your petitioner prays that the guilty parties may be punished without mercy. Your petitioner's husband, Tang A Cheung, returned from Hong Kong, having been instructed by the British authorities there to proceed to Un Long and surrounding districts.

water,

Contrary to all anticipations, the local bully and tiger-like member of the gentry, Tang Teing Sz, and others ordered Tang A Nin to seize my husband, and take him to the meeting house at Un Long, where he was beaten and shot, and his body thrown into the water. This grievous wrong is still unredressed. But now that the British soldiers have come to this country this wrong will be redressed, and the doers it punished and justice done. Your petitioner humbly kneels before you, and prays that you will order your soldiers to institute a search, so that the murderers may be arrested, the body re- covered, and the guilty dealt with without mercy, so that this wrong may not remain unpunished. For this your petitioner will be grateful for generations to come.

The following us a list of those implicated:-

Tang Tsing Sz.

Tang Chik Ting. Tang I Shek.

199

fang Chu Shan ordered the murder of my husband.

Tang A Nin arrested by husband, and took him to the meeting house in Un Long, where he shot him.

•

Dated 20th April, 1899.

(Translated by J. H. Stewart Lockhart.)

Enclosure 11 in No. 172.

His Excellency the GOVERNOR to the Honourable the COLONIAL SECRETARY. I fully appreciate your horror at the murder of Tang A Chung, and sympathise with your anxiety that the murderer should meet with quick and condign punishment, but I have no doubt that fuller consideration will satisfy you that the means adopted were unfortunate.

The territory is to all intents and purposes a part of the Colony, and is subject to all the laws of the Colony, save those officially exempted by Ordinance. Therefore where no resistance to lawful authority was being experienced, the burning of private property had no legal sanction, nor are there any legal means by which the villagers could be compelled to pay 15 dollars per month to the widow, or by which the property of the alleged murderers could be confiscated. Statements should be taken of all the evidence procurable, and every effort made to recover the body, for up to the present we have not complete legal proof that a murder has been committed. When these statements have been submitted I shall take the advice of the Executive Council as to the offer of a reward for information that may lead to the arrest and conviction of the parties implicated. If Tang A Chung was taken by a large body of men acting in concert it is possible that every person present and so engaged in his capture would be an accessory before the fact. On this point I will take the opinion of the Attorney-General, but it will be well to obtain evidence as to the persons so present and acting in unlawful con- cert with Tang Tsung Sz. It may be necessary to appoint an Assistant Magistrate for that portion of the Colony, and I am considering whether such a position could be suitably held by the Colonial Secretary, as you are over there to generally supervise and place the various departments on a working basis.

I have received from the General Officer Commanding the Troops a copy of Lieu- tenant-Colonel The O'Gorman's report, in which he states that a proclamation has been issued by you. Please forward a copy of the proclamation. It will be well that no general proclamation be issued in future without my authority.

H. A. B.

9 p.m.

April 23, 1899.

I have just received your report of this date, with copy of the proclamation, of which I entirely approve. I hope to hear that the women are returning. I have no doubt that the burning of the houses was effective, but we have come to introduce British juris- prudence, not to adopt Chinese. Get all the evidence possible about the murder, in cluding the identification of the body. The police should make a very full report of all the circumstances.

As to the petition, the people must learn that the troops and police are there for the protection of the well-disposed, and that their presence does not involve oppression, but rather the benefit arising from the presence of a number of men who will purchase from the people at fair prices any food that they may wish to dispose of.

I am directing that full particulars shall be obtained here of the circumstances connected with the visit of the deceased to Castle Peak. There is a rumour here that a number of troops have been moved down to San On district from Canton, but I do not credit it. I need hardly impress upon you the importance of obtaining information as to the people who are supposed to have come down from Tung Kung, district and Nam Tan, and anything bearing upon the attitude of the Viceroy's officials prior to the

18th.

April 23, 1899.

YOUR EXCELLENCY,

Enclosure 12 in No. 172.

H. A. B.

Ping Shan, April 23, 1899, THE troops proceeded to Un Long yesterday, and burnt the meeting house in which the brutal murder, already reported by me, was arranged. The inhabitants of Un Long and Ha Tsun all say that the burning of the houses on the 21st instant and of