[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
(12961]
No. 1.
73
[April 22.]
SECTION 1.
(No. 10.) Sir,
Consul-General Sir P. Warren to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received April 22.)
Shanghae, March 18, 1907. IN accordance with instructions received by telegram from His Majesty's Minister, I have the honour to send herewith copy of a despatch and its inclosure, No. 29 of the 13th March, which I addressed to him respecting the murder by armed robbers of Police-constable Morrow, of the Shanghae Municipal Police.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
PELHAM WARREN.
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Consul-General Sir P. Warren to Sir J. Jordan.
(No. 29.) Sir,
Shanghae, March 13, 1907. WITH reference to my telegram of the 11th instant announcing the murder by a gang of armed robbers of Police-constable Morrow, a British subject, I have now the honour to inclose, for your information, copy of a report of the Acting Captain Superinten- dent of Police upon the case. This is the most serious of all the crimes of violence which have occurred since December 1905. Such crimes have been of unusual frequency during the past year, and in many of these cases the police have succeeded in arresting the offenders, Some of them have been dealt with by inflicting the maximum term of imprisonment for which the Mixed Court is competent; the remainder have been sent to the Shanghae District Magistrate to be dealt with. There are now about fifteen men in that official's yamên awaiting trial under these conditions. Three of them, who have been with him about a month, have admitted in the Mixed Court that they killed one municipal Chinese policeman and wounded two others. On the 22nd December last I wrote to the Taotai respecting certain of these cases, pointing out the increasing prevalence of crimes of violence, and suggesting the necessity of furnishing a severe warning and example by the execution without delay of the guilty persons. I explained in that despatch that there was no objection to the handing over of such criminals to the Shanghac District Magistrate, but asked that the latter might be instructed to deal with them in a prompt and exemplary manner. This has not been done, and the men are still on remand.
It seems necessary that some special measures should be adopted to deal with offenders of this class in place of the long and complicated process usually necessary before they can be visited with the extreme penalty of the Chinese law; and I have therefore asked the Taotai to order the city Magistrate to try, and sentence without further delay, the men already in his custody, and to telegraph to the Viceroy for permission to have the guilty summarily executed. It seems useless for the police to exert themselves to capture armed robbers and other criminals if they are not, when arrested, properly dealt with.
The deplorable event reported by me on the 11th instant emphasizes once more the serious necessity for some such increase in the police force as the Council have been trying to obtain since the last ratepayers' meeting. On the 7th instant, at their urgent request, I sent a telegram to the following effect to the Government of India, Army Department :----
"With reference to your telegrams of the 13th November and 1st December, the Council ask me, as a matter of special urgency, to inquire if there is any prospect of a withdrawal of the instructions for action to be suspended, in order that recruitment of 250 Indians for the police force may be resumed; or whether it will be possible to obtain the draft in the near future."
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