PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TIL C.O. 885
14 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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occur in any settled part of Her Majesty's dominions, it is by no means unlikely that great inconvenience and loss may be suffered by the execution of process of law against foreigners, not rightfully accused, in places remote from the seat of any fixed tribunal, and it would be dangerous to admit the principle that for such loss Her Majesty's Government should be held responsible.
Indeed, the difficulty of enunciating any principle upon which a claim for com- pensation for loss arising out of the application of the municipal law is so great, that it was only on the consideration of the very great carelessness in issuing the warrant against Carpenter, shown by an examination of the evidence on which it was issued, that we were able, not without hesitation, to advise that his claim to compensation for a reasonable amount should be pressed.
*
We cannot, on consideration of the evidence before the Committee, arrive at the conclusion that the Dutch authorities at Macassar are chargeable with anything more than the great carelessness above referred to; and, although we adhere in this particular case to the advice already given as to Carpenter's claim, we wish it to be clearly understood that we do not found that advice on any supposed right of Her Majesty's Government to question, in the case of British subjects, the sufficiency or expediency of the system of criminal law adopted by a friendly nation for the governance, within its dominions, of all persons alike.
As to the question of damages, we see no reason to depart from our previous opinion.
If the arrest of Carpenter had, in our opinion, borne the character, which some.of the witnesses before the Committed appear to attribute to it, of a merely wanton attack upon a person entitled to British protection-amounting to a deliberate insult to the British flag-we certainly should not be disposed to limit, by any legal reasoning, the claim for damages. But, inasmuch as, in our view of the evidence, such an outrage is excluded, we must have regard to the ordinary legal and equitable doctrine that only the direct consequences of a wrong-doing can be visited offender. In this connection we may point out that, according to the evidence, the protest made at Ternate could be of no avail, as the Resident there had no authority to give effect to it.
upon
the
On the whole, therefore, we must adhere to our opinion already given, that the alleged consequential losses arising from Carpenter's arrest are too remote, and cannot properly be claimed in the circumstances of this case.
We have also perused and considered the answer of the Netherlands Government to the claim put forward on behalf of Carpenter.
The grounds on which we recommended the claim to be put forward do not appear
to us to be met.
If there had been reasonable, or even plausible, evidence of the offence charged, i.e., the taking of the cargo of the prow within three miles from the Island of Boeroe, the arguments put forward on behalf of the Netherlands Government would have had great weight. So far, however, as we can see, there was no allegation on the part of any witness that the prow was within the three-mile limit when the cargo was taken, and, indeed, it must have been known from Palmer's evidence-uncontradicted, though not taken on oath-that the distance from land must have been much greater than three miles.
In the state of facts, we cannot consider the step of taking Carpenter from his ship a distance of 1,000 miles to have been warranted on any view, either of Dutch or of international law.
The Right Hon.
The Earl of Kimberley, K.G.,
&c.
&c.
&c.
We have, &c. (Signed) C. RUSSELL.
JOHN RIGBY.
Colonial Office - To Sir H. Rumbold To Colonial Office Sir H. Rumbold To ditto
To Colonial Office Sir H. Rumbold Colonial Office
To Sir H. Rumbold
Ditto
Sir G. Bonham
Ditto
To Colonial Office Colonial Office
Ditto
Ditto
To Sir H. Rumbold Colonial Office
Ditto
Ditto
Sir H. Rumbold
3
List of Papers.
93
April
9, 1892.
-(No. 25.
(No. 68.
(No. 71.
(No. 72.
(No. 16. Commercial) April April (No. 36. Commercial) April - (No. 17. Commercial) April April (No. 40. Commercial) May
August Commercial) August Commercial) August Commercial) August Commercial) August
19, 19, ""
"
22,
"2
28,
"
28,
""
""
12,
15,
""
19,
19
20,
"9
August 24,
++
-
·
January 17, 1893. February 3,
April 15,
"
May
17,
June
8,
July
18,
"
July
18.
""
July 22,
25
April
20, 1882.
Circular to Her Majesty's Consuls
Mr. Creed
Colonial Office
Ditto
Ditto
Law Officers Sir H. Rumbold Law Officers Colonial Office To ditto
Sir H. Rumbold
To Colonial Office
Mr. Creed
Colonial Office
وو
July 17, 1893. September 5, September 23, September 28,
(No. 31. Commercial) April
19,
""
""
""
April 19, 1893.*
September 29, October 26, "" November 3, -(No. 76. Commercial) November 3,
November 22, "" November 26,
Memorial communicated by Sir S. Samuel Sir T. Sanderson to Sir S. Samuel
3+
"
79
January 11, 1894. January 23, January 29,
"3
• No. 35 in Vol-5.
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