CO129-334 - Governor Nathan - 1906 [5-7] — Page 453

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up his books and transfer to Pingshan, but as one of his sureties in Hongkong had recently died, I told him to go there first on the next Saturday and to go on to Pingshan early next week.

5. During the following week there was no telephonic communical tion for five days, and as my Police work called me sisewhere, it was not until the 3rd. of March that I found lo Wai Lam to have # been absent for 1 week, and on making enquiries, i discovered that he had misappropriated numerous suns at Sheung Shui. At this point plenty of evidence was forthcoming from shroff's, detectives and villagers as to his misdoings and bad character, which they would never have produced while he was still at his post.

6. Owing to this reluctance of one Chinese to give away another, and of the villagers to make complaints or reports in the proper quarter, it is easy for an astute shroff or clerk to extort money to an incredible extent, and in this case the rent-cayers readily paid to Ip Wai Lan in return for temporary receipts not only their full rent but in some cases extra suns uron his orders.

7. I would specially point out that the shroff with whom I had to deal in this case was an old hand at crime, and must have accepted the post with the express intention of appropriating as much money as he could take with safety; and though it is possible that, with more definite instructions and a fuller consideration of the dangers of the former method of collection, I might have restricted his ingenuity to a narrower channel, yet the absence of local control over the shroff's work was more fatal still, and the safeguard of all for collection of rent from an ignorant copulation. in a district of the size of the New Territory nust come from the careful selection of shroffs of good character and known respecta- bility:without this I submit that no collector can discharge his duties in the New ferritory with full confidence that their con- scientious performance will render impossible the risappropriation of funds by the shroffs under his charge.