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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

mmimmim PEPEL C.O. 885

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

15 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

SIR,

No. 95.

(HONG KONG.)

LAW OFFICERS to COLONIAL OFFICE.

Royal Courts of Justice,

July 30, 1901. WE were honoured with your commands, signified in Mr. C., P. Lucas's letter of the 11th instant, stating that he was directed by you to request us to be good enough to favour you with our report upon certain questions of law arising out of the shipment to Hong Kong of arms and ammunition with a view to their being exported thence to Wei Hai Wei.

That in a letter dated 9th January last the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs informed the Colonial Office that Messrs. H. Birdseye and Company, Shipping Agents, had applied for permission to ship for the Webley and Scott Revolver and Arms Company two cases of revolvers for ultimate consignment to Messrs. Ferguson, of Wei Hai Wei, where they were to be sold in their store "principally to the officers and. men of the British Army," and further stated, on the authority of the Board of Customs, that two cases of revolvers, but without their ammunition, had already been shipped ta Hong Kong.

That on the 12th of January a telegram was accordingly despatched to the Governor. of Hong Kong instructing him to prevent the re-exportation of the revolvers either to Wei Hai Wei or Chefoo.

That on the 26th of January the Governor telegraphed that the revolvers were intended for the First Chinese Regiment, and asked if there was any objection to their export. That he was instructed by telegram on the 28th of January to verify that assertion by telegraphing to Wei Hai Wei, and if he was satisfied to allow the cases to, be forwarded.

That in a letter dated the 4th of May the Secretary to the Board of. Customs informed the Colonial Office that twenty cases of safety cartridges, being ammunition for. the revolvers above referred to, had been shipped for Hong Kong on the 30th of April.

That on the 30th of May a despatch No. 165, dated the 29th of April, was received from the Governor of Hong Kong, inclosing copies of the correspondence, by telegram and despatch, which had been conducted by the Hong Kong Government with Messrs. Jardine, Matheson and Company on the one hand and His Majesty's Commissioner at Wei Hai Wei on the other. That from the documents accompanying that despatch it appeared that the revolvers had not been ordered for the First Chinese Regiment, and that the Governor had therefore refused a permit for their exportation pending instructions from the Secretary of State.

That on the 31st of May the Governor of Hong Kong was instructed by telegram to detain the twenty cases of cartridges as well as the revolvers.

That on the 1st of June the matter was referred by your Department to the Board

of Customs, and that, under cover of a letter, dated the 20th of June, the Secretary to the Board transmitted a report by the Solicitor to that Department advising that both the revolvers and the ammunition might be confiscated to the Crown.

That you, in the absence of proof that any offence had yet been committed in Hong Kong in connection with those revolvers and ammunition so as to render them liable to be forfeited to the Crown under the Hong Kong Ordinances 9 and 35 of 1900, had some doubt as to whether any action was practicable beyond refusing permit for export. That a further letter was accordingly, on the 26th of June, addressed to the Board of Customs asking for a report on that matter.

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That on the 4th of July the Secretary to the Board of Customs forwarded a further report by their Solicitor dealing with the question of confiscation.

That you had some doubt whether, having regard to the fact that our predecessors reported on 22nd February, 1899, that Wei Hai Wei was part of His Majesty's dominions in virtue of cession from China, the ceded territory could be regarded as Chinese within the meaning of the Proclamation of 7th Angust, 1900.

That Mr. Lucas was to request us to take the circumstances and documents into our consideration, and to report:—

1. Whether Wei Hai Wei was to be regarded as "China" within the meaning of the Proclamation of 7th August, 1900 ?

9071-23-8/1901 Wt 352 D & S 5

• No. 207▲ in Vol. V.