CO129-123 - Sir MacDonnell - 1867 [7] — Page 130

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151

128

am

aware

arising

of rebutting the presumption out of the fact of the ship being

where she had no right to be,

right to be, Icannet

see

any

reason for impeaching

for impeaching the faimes

of the decision arrived at by the Chinese

Authorities in conjunction with M=" Robertson.

As to the Complainanto argument that

either the Chinese Authorities should.

confiscate the ship, or restore her and pay

him dam

ether

damage for detention, it is altoget untenable. The decision of the Authorities in the first instance condemned her and decreed confiscation. Through the intervention of the British Minister at the instance of the Governor of a British balony they exeprefped their willingnes to mitigate the

D

to

penalty and permit the owner

to redeem

his ship on payment of a fixed sum. It

is idle to question their perfect right to do

bo.

and

It

Awab

in

fully within their

useful

venture to add no

my opinion arise

utterly untenable

competence

result can

from urging so

an argument. It might have been wiser in them (as they may

now

very probably see) to have revolutely refused to depart from

or in

any way

modify their original act of condemnation but

as

this

was done in

deference to my

intervention and in the interest

Complainant only, it is

Minister

ar

of

certainly

the

not Her

Majestys

Government that can make such departure a subject of

reproach, or a ground for inging

them to