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4. Had the presence of the "Dnieper" been known at the time of the trials of the men from the "St. Kilda" and "Thyra" it would have been held that the crews of these vessels ran a risk of capture, and that personal danger was involved in proceeding in them, and according to the principles that have guided the Magis- trates here in dealing with such cases the men would not have been punished for refusing to proceed.

5. In these circumstances I thought fit yesterday to direct the release of the

34 men.

34036

No. 70.

I have, &c.,

M. NATHAN,

Governor, &c.

SIR,

37

Enclosure 2 in No. 70.

Hong Kong, August 17, 1905.

S.SS. "Saint Kilda" and "Thyra.”.

We understand from some of our clients, the seamen upon these ships, that an opportunity arises to-morrow for them, or some of them, to be sent home, and we have written to the Harbour Master, requesting that they be sent home, but he has replied to us that, pending instructions with reference to the appeal, he does not propose to take any steps towards sending them home. We are instructed to inform you that the men do not propose to proceed with their appeal, partly for financial reasons and partly for reasons of evidence, and also because, apart from these two reasons, they do not wish to proceed with it. We are instructed to ask that the Harbour Master may be directed to send these men home by the earliest opportunity.

We have, &c.,

DEACON, LOOKER, and Deacon.

SIR,

GOVERNOR SIR M. NATHAN to MR. LYTTELTON.

(Confidential.)

(Received September 22, 1005.)

[Copy to Foreign Office, September 26, 1905. L.F.]

Government House, Hong Kong, August 21, 1905. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your confidential despatch of the 13th ultimo, forwarding a copy of a letter from the Foreign Office, in which it is suggested that a review of the sentence of imprisonment passed by the Magistrate upon the crews of the "Saint Kilda" and "Thyra" should be obtained by bringing the matter on appeal before the Supreme Court of this Colony.

2. In reply I have to inform you that every facility for appeal has been afforded to these men, the Crown having waived inter alia the giving of security beyond the personal recognisances of the appellants. They are, however, reluctant to incur the risk of having the Magistrate's decision upheld by the Supreme Court, and, acting under legal advice, have decided to take no further proceedings.

3. I annex, for your information, an extract from a letter written by their legal advisers, Messrs. Deacon, Looker, and Deacon, to the Colonial Secretary on June 15th, giving the men's reasons for desiring to appeal at that date, and a copy of a further letter from these solicitors, dated August 17th, giving the men's reasons for now no longer wishing to proceed with the appeal.

4. The crews of both vessels are at present lodged in the Sailors' Home, and will be sent to England at an early opportunity.

I have, &c.,

M. NATHAN,

Governor.

Enclosure 1 in No. 70.

EXTRACT from the letter of Messrs. Deacon, Looker, and Deacon, dated

June 15, 1905.

"On behalf of these men we were instructed to appeal from the Harbour Master's decision and we duly notified him of the men's desire to appeal on a question of law and asked him to state a case and we also asked for leave to appeal on a question of fact, and these appeals are now pending.

"It is necessary for the men to proceed with these appeals because they are claiming from the owners wages subsequent to the date on which they were sentenced and it is possible that, in making this claim, they may be met with the reply that the Magistrate's decision has established the fact that the men were wrong in refusing to continue the performance of their contract and so they are not entitled to further wages, while this ground cannot be taken if the appeal is decided in their favour. They, therefore, desire under any circumstances to proceed with the appeal."

• No. 67.

The Honourable

T. Sercombe Smith,

Colonial Secretary,

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