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fired over twelve shots from rifles, killing the constable on the spot, and then escaped northward in the direction of the railway, none being arrested.
A crime of this description, committed in a business quarter, displays an utter In December of last year the police arrested more than ten contempt for the law. men, including one named Chou Hung Shu, guilty of robberies committed at the houses of Wu Chin-lan and others, eight in number, in the Shanghae and Paoshan districts. Before being sent to the Shanghae District Magistrate they were brought up in the Mixed Court, and three admitted having committed robbery and resisted the police.
I had the honour to point out to you, in a despatch dated the 22nd December, bow frequent the depredations of criminals had become both inside and without the Settlement, and I pointed out that if one or two of the principals of those in question were summarily decapitated it would act as a check upon such lawlessness.
The earlier of these cases have now been in the hands of the Shanghae District Magistrate for nearly three months, yet nothing has been done.
There are also three other criminals (one of whom killed a native policeman, while the others resisted and wounded another native policeman) sent to the Shanghae District Magistrate at different times, and these also remain unpunished.
The result is that crime has become more and more rampant, and not a day passes If my previous without some case of robbery either outside or within the Settlement. request had been complied with I do not think the present state of lawlessness would have grown up, or that Police-constable Morrow would have met his untimely end. The blame rests with those guilty of laxity in the performance of their duty.
I request you, therefore, to at once instruct the Shanghae and Paoshan District Magistrates to take steps to have the murderers arrested, so that they may all be duly punished and none evade the law; to order the Shanghae District Magistrate to try and sentence without further delay the men accused and already in custody and sent to the District Magistrate; and, further, to telegraph to his Excellency the Viceroy for permission to have the guilty principals in those cases summarily executed, as a severe warning and a check upon lawlessness.
Any further neglect of these matters may result in disasters too serious to contemplate, and I have the honour to request that you will take immediate action, and I shall be glad to receive a reply from you in due course.
(Translation.) Sir,
I have, &c.
(Signed)
Inclosure 3 in No. 1.
PELHAM WARREN.
Taotai at Shanghae to Consul-General Sir P. Warren.
Shanghue, March 12, 1907. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of yesterday respecting the murder by robbers of Constable Morrow in the Elgin Road (précis of Sir Pelham Warren's despatch of the 11th March).
I had
This robbery, committed by a party of ruffians in the Settlement, and the murder by them of a foreign constable, displays an utter contempt for the law. already, on the receipt of a report on the case from the Mixed Court Magistrate, instructed the Shanghae and Paoshan District Magistrates to make independent investigations and to take steps for the arrest of the criminals, and I am sending my own detectives to go secretly to work to trace and arrest them; that being done, they will be sent to my yamên and tried, and the case then reported to the Viceroy and Governor for condign punishment of their offence; the object in view being to restore tranquillity and inspire fear among criminals for the future.
I am also calling for a report upon the proceedings and decisions in the cases of criminals already handed over from the Mixed Court to the District Magistrate, and insisting upon those cases being severely treated, without any leniency whatever.
In taking this action, I am inspired by the same feeling as yourself, namely, a desire to eradicate evil and ensure peace for law-abiding citizens. I have, however, a request to make. The cases which have recently occurred within and outside the Settlement of resistance to the police and of wounding of inhabitants by ruffians
3
with fire-arms, and the reckless audacity therein displayed, are to be attributed to the sale by foreign firms of such weapons to bad characters. Without fire-arms the recent murders would not have been possible, and the most important measure at present is the prohibition of the clandestine importation of arms. I have, therefore,
the honour to request that you will consider how reform can be effected in this direction and send me a reply.
Sir,
I sincerely trust that you will comply with this request, and have, &c.
Inclosure 4 in No. 1.
(Seal of Tuotai Jui,)
Consul-General Sir P. Warren to Taotai at Shanghae.
Shanghae, March 16, 1907.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge receipt of your despatch of the 13th instant in which you give me particulars of the orders issued by you to the Paoshan and Shanghae District Magistrates with the object of searching out and arresting the robbers who killed Police-constable Morrow, and also those to the Shanghae District Magistrate for dealing severely with offenders already handed over to him from the Mixed Court. I appreciate highly your action in this matter, and feel sure that if the course laid down in these instructions is followed it will be of the greatest advantage to the interests of peace and good order.
You further state, with reference to recent cases in which, both without and in the Settlement, bad characters and brigands provided with fire-arms, have wantonly opposed the police and wounded inhabitants, that such audacity and insolence must result from the sale by foreign firms of fire-arms to the criminal classes; and you suggest that steps should be taken to prevent the clandestine importation of arms by foreign firms, and ask for my opinion as to what can be done to bring about reform in this direction.
In reply, I have the honour to state that the prevention of the clandestine impor- tation of arms is a matter which belongs to the Chinese authorities, and it appears to me that it is for them to initiate action in the matter, and that it is one which falls within the province of the Imperial Maritime Customs. 1 quite agree with you as to the desirability of preventing such importation of arms, and am very willing to co-operate and assist in any measures consistent with Treaty provisions which may
be thought necessary.
I may add that the importation by British subjects into China of goods-importa- tion of which is prohibited by law-is strictly forbidden by British law, and offenders render themselves liable to punishment by fine, or by imprisonment, or both together.
(Translation.)
I have, &c.
(Signed)
Inclosure 5 in No. 1.
PELHAM WARREN.
Tuotai at Shanghae to Chinese District Magistrate.
(Commencing with a quotation of Sir P. Warren's despatch of the 11th March, he continues) :-
**
THIS robbery committed by a body of ruffians, and the murder by them, with fire-arms, of a foreign constable, show an utter disregard of all law on their part, and nothing but their arrest and severe punishment will establish tranquillity and serve as a deterrent. I am employing my own detective, Yang Chin, and am sending instruc tions to the Paoshan District Magistrate for him also to take stringent measures for their arrest; and I must now instruct you on receipt of this to at once send forth capable officers to exert themselves to search out the criminals, and to insist upon their being seized, which, being done, they should be sent to my yamên to await trial;
[2494 d-3]
B 2
151
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