CO129-134 - Public Offices - 1868 — Page 579

"

them, by using

Torture to elicit the

brush & confession of guilt, without offering an affront to Chinese religious

convictions.

as re

The alternatives which he mentions

remaining

are:

Fist - That H. ll. goot could

require a

a quarantic

that criminals

should not be executed under the

proces of slow Torture, leaving Officials to arrive at the guilt

innocence

the

or

to

of the prisoners according their own customs, including the use of torture upon the prisoners & writreses conviction + confession

in order to obtain conviction &

by the criminal before sentence of Leath

is carried out.

2nd

The other alternative is

that all the pirates captured

- pirates captured should be taken to Hongkong

for

trial in the

British.

571

British Courts, at the expense of H. ll. & to the inconvenience of the Public Service, both naval & civil.

foot

Upon

these two courses.

my for

Lords

use of torture me

would remark that altho the trial of prisoners without the use as stated by Sir R. Alcock, be regarded

by the Chinese interference

о

may

as on unwarrantable with theer criminal legislation,

experiment likely to fail,

the other hand it should be remembered

that the crime of Piracy on the Chinese Coasts has attained such a scale of

that Foreign annoyance

Powers have been

obliged to apist the Chinese foot of maintain a force for the repression of

the evil on coasts which should have

been efficiently protected by

arms

by My

sea & land.

their

Lords cannot conceal the

repugnence which would be felt by their

Officers