CO129-289 - Individuals - 1898 — Page 211

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The magistrate is aided in his duties by secretaries or shihye, who are placed in charge of the departments dealing with crime, revenue, and official correspondence, and by a staff of police or runners, whose duties are referred to more in detail under the head of police.

The magistrate may inflict corporal punishment, and possesses the power of I imprisonment, but is not empowered to sentence prisoners to death.

MILITARY OFFICERS.

In addition to the civil officers there are several military officers in the district. The highest of these is the Taipang Hip or colonel commanding at Taip'ang, a town to the north-east of Mirs Bay. This officer has also quarters at Kowloon, and for this reason is commonly known as the Kowloon Mandarin. He is under the control of the General or of the Kwongtung province, and has under his command several officers and some troops.

Map VII. shows where the various officials are stationed. It will be observed from this map

that as a rule the petty military officers, who control the islands, do not reside on them, but have their headquarters at Taip'ang, on the mainland.

PRISONS.

There is one main prison, situated at Namt'au, and under the control of an officer entitled Tien Shih. The prison is built to accommodate 120 persons, but is seldom In addition to the prison there are six lock-ups, one occupied by more than 30 of 40. for each of the four Tung or Divisions, into which the district is divided, and two under the control of the deputy magistrates, for detaining persons pending trial.

POLICE.

One class, called ch'ai or runners, is stationed in the district city under the control of the magistrate. They are about 60 in number and are sent, as occasion requires, throughout the district for a variety of purposes, including the making of arrests, the collecting of the land tax, and acting generally as the eyes and ears of the magistrate. They receive no pay from Govern- ment, but manage to earn a fair livelihood by illicit squeezes.

There are two classes of police in the district.

In addition to this class of police, there are, in each village throughout the district, at least two kang fu or village constables, who are appointed by the village, and paid out of contributions made by the villagers according to the extent of their holdings in land. Large villages have five or six constables, the head constable being styled p Their duty is to keep watch, especially at night. They have the power of arrest which is deputed to them by the gentry and elders of the village.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE VILLAGES.

The

If a person is arrested by a village constable he is taken before the gentry and elders of the village, who assemble in a place specially appointed for the purpose. gentry and elders, who are the representatives of the clans inhabiting the villages, are selected by the inhabitants to deal with cases in the village council.

The usual cases

are those of theft, disputes about land, domestic squabbles, and cases of debt. Most of these cases are summarily dealt with by the village council, and as a rue the decision of that council is accepted as final. But if either of the parties to a case is dissatisfied up of representa- he can appeal to a council of the Tung, or to a general council, made tives of the different Tung. A reference to Map VI. will show how the newly leased territory is divided into Tung or Divisions. Each council of a Tung contains repre- sentatives of the villages which make up the Tung. In addition to a council of a Tung there is a general council for the whole of the Tung Lo or Eastern Section, which is practically that portion of the district of San of contained in the map attached to the Convention (Map I.). This general council is styled the Tung Ping Kuk or Council of Peace for the Eastern Section. It has its council chamber at the market town of Sham Chun, which is regarded as the centre of the Eastern Section.

If the decision of the council of the Tung or of the General Council is not regarded

as satisfactory, an appeal lies to the magistrate of the district.

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THE PROPOSED FUTURE GOVERNMENT OF THE NEWLY LEASED TERRITORY.

I am of opinion that in the future government of the newly leased area, the organization at present in existence should be as far as possible utilised. In order to effect this, I recommend that the head of the Administration should be a Resident Commissioner, subordinate to the Governor of Hong Kong, but in all other respects independent. His headquarters should be in the neighbourhood of Taipa hii, which seems the most central position, where all the Government Offices and prison should be established. He should be assisted by an Executive Council, consisting of himself, the Treasurer, the Head of the Police, and by an Advisory Council, made up of himself and native representatives, one selected from each Tung or Division. The native representatives should be granted some title, as is done in Ceylon, in order to make them regard the position of member of the Advisory Council as one to be coveted. In addition to a Resident Commissioner, who will, of course, require a Secretary, the following staff will be eco a Trecouser should be apportid

pay

Taipo Hii

Treasurer.

A Treasurer. He should collect taxes, fees, and all other items of rêvénue, and all salaries and other items of expenditure. In the department of the Treasurer should be a Land Officer, to whom should be entrusted the important duty of having all claims Land to land properly surveyed and registered, and leases duly issued. The work of this Officer. officer will for some time to come be very heavy. Land is held in small allotments, and in many cases the amount of land mentioned in the lease is not in agreement with the actual holding, and a good deal of land is held without any proper title. it would be well to appoint as Land Officer some one who has had practical experience I think of surveying, and to place under him native surveyors, such as can, I am informed, be Surveyors. obtained from Ceylon. The cost of this staff may be somewhat excessive to begin with, but it is of great importance that the question of titles to land should be settled as soon as possible. I am of opinion that at least eight (8) native surveyors will be necessary. It is unnecessary to point out that the sooner the titles to land are definitely settled, the easier will it be to collect the land tax. Indeed, until such titles are decided it is impossible to know exactly what land is really available for Crown land.

The chief work of this Department will be to erect buildings and to construct roads Public. and piers. A staff consisting of one assistant engineer, a draughtsman, two clerks, and Works. a few overseers would suffice at first. The officers of this Department should, I think,

I may

be under the supervision of the Director of Public Works of Hong Kong, so that the new territory may have the benefit of the experience and advice of that officer. mention that the present Director of Public Works, Mr. Ormsby, is of opinion that the supervision of the public works in the new territory can, without difficulty, be arranged from Hong Kong.

POLICE.

A European should be appointed as head of the police, and should have under him a Chief Inspector, 4 European Sergeants, and an Indian Sergeant, to act as Jemadar of the Indian Police. A force of at least 30 Chinese and 20 Indians should be enrolled and stationed at headquarters or other convenient places, from whence they could patrol the territory in different directions, in order to maintain peace and good order, and to protect the lives and property of the inhabitants. This force should be properly drilled and partially mounted. A detective force of 15 men will also be required. The exist- ing system of village constables should be maintained, the T, or head constable, being held responsible to the Watch Committee of the village for the good order of the village. The number of these village constables in the Tung Lo, or Eastern section, must be over 1,000. Their pay, which is at present defrayed by the villages, is very small, and will, no doubt, have to be increased in order to secure efficiency. It is hoped that this large force may be gradually improved and converted into a well disciplined force of military police. To begin with, however, it will be necessary to take them as they are, and make the best possible use of their services.

The village council should, for purposes of police, act as a watch committec, and control the village constables, the Tbeing in the first instance responsible to them.

With regard to the policing of the islands, an Indian and 3 native Chinese should be stationed on the island of Cheung Chau, and the same number of men at Tai-0, in the island of Laftao. These police should be under the immediate supervision of a

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