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procedure. Finally, that the Magistrate should display so intolerant an ebullition of ill-temper and be himself the cause of the disgraceful scene above described calls for his denunciation and removal in accordance with the provisions of Article 9 of the Rules of 1869.
Sir,
I have, &c.
(Signed)
CECIL HOLLIDAY, Chairman,
Inclosure 4 in No. 1.
Consul-General Sir P. Warren to Shanghae Tuotai.
Shanghae, August 16, 1906. I HAVE the honour to inform you that I have received a letter from the Municipal Council of the International Settlement to the following effect :-
On the 21st May this year a Chinese named Chin Hsi Pao was arrested on a warrant issued by the Mixed Court on account of a case of debt arising out of a land transaction.
On the day when he was brought up in Court Mr. Twyman was sitting as Assessor, The case was left to Court, and ou the evening of the 23rd, Mr. Sun, Assistant Magis- trate, heard the case, and ordered defendant to hand over a fangtan within a month, to remain in custody meanwhile, Later, on the 30th July, two tipaos, Hsu Liang Po and Yen Mao Tou, were also arrested, and at a hearing of the evening Court the tipaos were released on security, and Chin Hai Pao was again ordered to produce the fangtan in question for sale, the proceeds to be given part to plaintiff and part to defendant. Defendant on hearing this became greatly excited and expostulated, saying that this fangtan was his own, and that he refused obedience to the order of the Court, also abusing the Magistrate. Mr. Sun, seeing him thus recalcitrant, ordered the runners to beat him, at which the defendant was still more dissatisfied. But the runners threw him down and dragged him to the place where the bamboo was formerly inflicted, and stretched him out.
In the midst of all this disturbance defendant's mother and wife came into the Court and declared that if he was to be beaten they would suffer likewise Mr. Sun, as these women were creating a disturbance in Court, had them locked up in the women's cells. At 10 o'clock that evening Chin Hsi Pao and his mother were sent to the Shanghae City Magistrate, and only his wife was released.
Mr. Twyman, British Assessor, reports that Chin Hsi Pao was left to Court, and ought. as matter of course, to have been dealt with by the Magistrate. There was. no arrangement for his transfer to the city.
This.
I have the honour to call your attention to the absolute irregularity of the procedure adopted in this case. In the Court as at present constituted, and under the Rules imposed by the Board of Punishments, Mr. Sun's arbitrary action, in ordering the runners to beat this defendant and in having him stretched on the ground, would be entirely irregular, no matter whether the case were a civil or a criminal one. action is rendered all the more improper and extraordinary by the fact that it is not permitted to inflict the punishment of the bamboo upon loafers, kidnappers, and other criminals. Yet an order for beating is made in the case of Chin Hsi Pao for disrespect of Court in the course of hearing of a land dispute; and even supposing that Mr. Sun, seeing him recalcitrant, gave this order for the purpose of intimidating defendant, still that was not correct procedure and not calculated to command the respect of the public.
Again, with reference to the transfer of defendants to other places, the proper course is for that to be discussed and arranged when the persons are first brought before the Court. But when, as in this case, it has been agreed that parties shall be left to the Court, what right has the Magistrate to send them by night out of the Settlement into the city? This action is rendered all the more improper by the fact that the Court had already assumed jurisdiction in the case.
The Regulations of 1869 provide for the establishment of a Court in the Settle- ment for the hearing of all criminal and civil cases; and that means that the Court has complete power in cases arising in the Settlement, and there is no need to send them into the city. How can the Court resign the powers with which it is invested into the hands of another Court ? Such action is quite improper, and injurious to the Court's
authority.
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Further, the mother of Chin Hsi Pao, who was pleading for her son that he might not be beaten, was, without warrant or summons being issued, seized and sent to the city-a proceeding still more improper. This case follows quickly upon those of Ts'ao Mao Mao and Weng Tung Shih-in which there were breaches of regulation, and these repeated instances of arbitrary action, if continued in future cases, will make it appear very doubtful if the officer in question is fit for the post he holds in the Mixed Court. I have the honour to request that you will instruct Mr. Sun that he must in future adhere to fixed Regulations, and must not act upon his own ideas and impulsive feelings. It is most important also that the parties sent into the city should be at once sent back to the Mixed Court.
In conclusion, I would point out that the Settlement is an important centre of commerce with a large population; and cases arising therein should, I submit, be dealt with in accordance with existing Regulations, that is, at the Mixed Court, without being sent to the District Magistrate. Thus irregular proceedings will be avoided, and the limits of authority maintained.
I have the honour to request that you will favour me with an answer to this, and to my former despatch respecting the cases of Tsao Mao Mao and Wang Tung Shih.
I have, &c. (Signed)
Inclosure 5 in No. 1.
PELHAM WARREN.
Shanghae Taolai to Consul-General Sir P. Warren.
(Translation.) Sir,
IN reply to Sir Pelham Warren's despatch complaining of the action of the
September 11, 1906. Assistant Mixed Court Magistrate Mr. Sun in the cases of Chin Hsi Pao and Chiao Mei Lang Ta'ao Mao Mao, I beg to state that I gave instructions for an investigation, and have now received a report in reply from Assistant Magistrate Sun. He states as follows:-
"The regulation in the past has been for persons required by district authorities ontside the Settlement to be arrested by runners and police, acting conjointly upon warrants issued by this Court. They are kept with the police until the next morning, when they are brought up before the Court. Persons prosecuted in this Court, and those arrested at the instance of authorities outside the Settlement, are by the Regulation 'left to Court' and sent away for trial. This has been the definitely fixed practice for several decades. The criminal Ts'ao Mao Mao was wanted by the Shanghae Magistrate, and by regulation was to be left to Court and sent to the city. I, after considerable argument, persuaded Mr. Twyman to leave the man to Court. heard in the evening, the City Magistrate's runner came to the Court to take the When cases were being man over, and my action in then handing the man Regulations,
was quite according to "I can find in the record no trace of the case of Ma Tzu Fang v. Wang Ch'en Shih.
over
"Nor can I find the name of Chin Hsi Pao. Probably this is given by mistake for Chien Hsi Kuei. His case was originally a claim for money owing. On the day in question, Ch'ien Hsi Kuei was making a terrible disturbance in his cell while cases were being heard. He was repeatedly admonished, and in reply first wanted to argue, and then shouted and made a noise. Worse still, Hsi Kuei's mother lay down in front of the bench and made a disturbance too. As corporal punishment is done away
with in the Court, there is no means of overawing such persons, while, on the other hand, it would be against the dignity of the Court to allow them to make a disturbance unchecked, so I could do nothing but intimidate them by a pretence, hoping to bring them to their senses. But these persons knowing well I had no means of dealing with them, I could not possibly overawe them, and they simply disregarded me. thus helpless, I sent them into the city for punishment, as a warning to others."
Being
Further, Mr. Kuan, Mixed Court Magistrate, reports :-
"I find that Chiao Mei Lang was not prosecuted on petition to the City Magistrate. But in the 12th moon of the 26th year Chiao Mei Lang presented a Petition to this
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