CO129-345 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907 — Page 533

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I feel sure that the Central Government would not approve of such a view of the duties which the local officials should discharge in putting down piracy, and trust that serious inquiries may be made without delay into the authenticity of this document.

I avail, &c. (Signed)

(No. 48.) Sir.

Inclosure 5 in No. 1.

Consul-General Mansfield to Sir J. Jordan.

J. N. JORDAN.

Canton, September 25, 1907.

IN continuation of my despatch No. 43 of the 18th instant, I have the honour to forward herewith copy and translation of the Acting Viceroy's reply to Inclosure 3 therein. The document is not wanting in specious argument which might appear to justify the action taken, but when carefully considered, it substantiates the inference which I have already drawn that instructions of this nature can only act as a deterrent upon energetic action on the part of the local officials.

The Acting Viceroy studiously ignores the international duty cast upon him of maintaining the territory under his jurisdiction free from piracy, and it does not seem To have occurred to him that, so far as the recovery of the property stolen is concerned, i.is strict orders to the civil and military authorities--which, I take it, included instruc- uons to that end-have, like those of his predecessors, been entirely valueless.

The new Viceroy, Chang Jen Chun, took over the seals of office on the 22nd instant, and it is to be hoped that a similar view of his duties to that of Acting Viceroy Hu will not be taken by him. Should it be otherwise, I despair of being able to obtain satis- faction locally in the "Sainam" and "Ki Cheong" cases.

I have, &c. (Signed)

R. W. MANSFIELD.

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made no mention of compensation, and as the Magistrate in spite of this took it upon himself to award compensation, the object of punishing him is to insure in the future that the authorities will use their best efforts to capture robbers, and it is further hoped that the robbers themselves, being convinced of the certainty of detection, will give up their evil ways, and cases of robbery will diminish daily-an event which will be of no small assistance to the mutual relations of friendly Powers. longstanding prevalence of piracy in Kwangtung, ever since I have had the direction of As regards the great and affairs here, I have never failed, in a case of river piracy, to issue strict orders to the civil and military authorities to capture the offenders in a given time, and there is no blemish on my reputation in this respect. Further cases of negligence on the part of Chinese officials, and their punishment by the high authorities, are matters which rightly come within my powers, and there is no call for you to interfere in them.

I avail, &c.

(Seal of Viceroy.)

(Translation.)

Sir,

Inclosure 6 in No. 1.

Acting Viceroy Hu to Consul-General Mansfield.

Canton, September 18, 1907. I HAVE the honour to reply to your despatch of the 17th instant, forwarding au extract from the "Seventy-two Guilds Commercial News" of the 26th ultimo, relative to the report of the Hsin Hsing Magistrate on the robbery of the missionaries Snuggs and Miss Commin, and my Minute thereon. You inform me that, unless the account printed is false, the Peking Government will, on hearing the facts, disapprove of such unfriendly actions on the part of its high officials.

This despatch has caused me much surprise. According to Treaty, in the event of foreign merchants or missionaries being robbed, our only obligation is to arrest the offenders and recover the property stolen. There is no undertaking to pay compensation, and this principle has been adhered to in past cases. In the present instance of the robbery of the American missionary Snuggs and Miss Commin, the Hsin Hsing Magistrate, instead of making the utmost efforts to recover the articles stolen, compelled the relatives of the ringleaders (a list of whose names had been given by Su Ya Kuei, who was captured) to pay compensation on the basis of a list of money. values drawn up in the handwriting of Pastor Chang, an extremely erroneous course of action. For this reason I have recorded bad marks against his name, and, to make an example of the case, have ordered him to pay a fine of double the amount of the compensation, such fine to be offered in rewards for the apprehension of the criminals concerned. As regards the circular instructions which I caused to be issued to the effect that in future cases of a similar nature must be dealt with strictly in accordance with Treaty, and that no arbitrary action must be taken so as to complicate the settlement of future cases, I beg to state, for your information, that, when a robbery takes place, the important thing is to capture the offenders and recover the property stolen. The Magistrate in question did not adopt this course of action, but compelled the relatives of the ringleaders, a list of whose names was divulged by one of their number who was captured, to make good the full value of the property stolen, a mode of action which seems designed expressly to oppress innocent persons. Moreover, as the Treaties

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