(Translation.) Sir,
2
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Customs Tuotai Ts'ai to Consul-General Hopkins,
January 16, 1908. ON the 6th of the 12th moon, I received the following Petition from the Tien-tsin District Court :-----
"Tien-tsin being a centre of international trade where numerous foreign Settlements exist, the number of actions for debt brought by influential foreign merchants against Chinese defendants constantly increases. These actions are generally concerned with agreements to procure labourers or contracts for the purchase of goods, or with trade debts, loans or advances, on account of wages. When cases thus involving the payment and receipt of money come on for trial in Court, either the evidence is not clear and each side maintains a crafty obstinacy, or there is no dispute as to facts but the defendant is destitute and unable to pay, or the plaintiff and his witnesses do not attend so that the parties cannot be confronted, or the defendant hides in one of the foreign concessions, and, in spite of many summonses, evades arrest, or he escapes to some place at a distance, and it is impossible to try the case. From all these various causes cases drag on for months and years, and it is impossible to bring them to a conclusion. The Judge to whom the case is assigned, in spite of the utmost labour and anxiety, can find no method for dealing with this state of affairs, while the Consuls, not appreciating the various difficulties that are met with, suspect dilatory conduct on the part of the Court, and the foreign merchant, being solely desirous of recovering his money, and ignoring the fact that the debtor is destitute and helpless, ventures to accuse the officials of not pressing the case with sufficient severity, and is, consequently, all the more unwilling to discuss the matter in a reasonable spirit, and accept something less by way of compromise in order to finish off the case. The invariable result is that the Judge in charge of the case is timorous where a foreign plaintiff is concerned, and, hoping to extract more money out of the defendant, dares not give a definite decision. But the constant granting of further extensions of time has the appearance of procrastination, and makes it seem as if the case would never be finished. Both plaintiff, defendant, and witnesses are unjustly detained or kept waiting, and thus involved in very great embarrassment. In some cases men actually remain in prison for several years and fall sick and die. This is far from being the way to bestow protection on merchants or show mercy to the people.
"Since the opening of the Court all the Judges have received standing instructions to minutely investigate each case, and to employ the utmost zeal, labour, and diligence in the transaction of business. Many old cases, as their turn came, have been put in the way of settlement, and new cases have all been inquired into and tried as they arose. Where expedition was possible we have been expeditious and there has been no delay or accumulation of arrears. But reckoning the old with the new there are several tens of mixed cases proceeding at the present moment. The future is ever pressing on us, and it is therefore absolutely essential to work out in advance some satisfactory scheme of dealing with the situation in the hope that by conforming thereto, it will be possible to avoid congestion in the Law Courts and thus confer a benefit on both plaintiffs and defendants. The officials of the District Court have therefore jointly considered a scheme which we have embodied in a set of twelve regulations which we now submit in a separate document for your decision. We also beg that you will report the regulations to the Viceroy in order that he may decide thereon and place them upon record, and that you will request the foreign Consuls in Tien-tsin to place the regulations upon record and give effect thereto.
"After these regulations have been decided on we beg that all previously unfinished cases may be decided in accordance therewith so as to relieve the pressure on prison space and secure uniformity.
"We have ordered the Judges in charge of all unfinished cases to use the utmost diligence in dealing with them and report in due course, and we now have the honour to send you this Petition praying for your approval of the scheme (forwarded herewith) for dealing expeditiously with mixed cases, and to communicate the same to the Viceroy and the foreign Consuls that it may be placed upon record."
With regard to the Petition quoted above, I have the honour to observe that the scheme, embodied in twelve regulations has been drawn up by the District Court with a
3
view to clearing up the accumulation of mixed cases, and should therefore be put in force. I have made a report to his Excellency the Minister for Northern Trade, so that it may be placed upon record and have replied to the Petition.
I have now the honour to address you in this Circular despatch, forwarding a copy of the regulations in question, and to request that you will place the same upon record and give effect thereto.
I have, &c. (Seal of Ts'ai Shou Chi, Customs Taotai, Tien-tsin.)
Inclosure 3 in No. 1.
Regulations of Tien-tsin District Court for the Decision of Mixed Cases.
(Translation.)
WHERE a foreign plaintiff brings an action for the recovery of money against a Chinese subject, and it is clearly proved that the latter has been guilty of wilful fraud or extortion and declines to pay, an inquiry will be made into his property both movable and immovable. The said property will be officially sealed, valued, and sold by auction to liquidate the debt. The defendant will also be punished in accordance with the gravity of his offence and the amount of money involved.
2. Where, as a result of business intercourse, a Chinese merchant is in debt to a foreigner, and it is proved that this is due to losses in trade or to the bad state of the defendant's business, and that he has not deliberately attempted to evade payment or do any injury, the defendant will be ordered to sell any property and chattels he may possess, irrespective of quantity, and apply the proceeds towards the liquidation of the debt. He will further be ordered to pay the balance by stated instalments.
3. In all actions for debt by foreigners against Chinese where it is proved that the defendant is absolutely destitute and entirely without means of paying the sum due he will be sentenced to a term of penal servitude, varying with the amount of debt in order to finish the case and avoid interminable litigation.
4. Where several actions by Chinese and foreigners are brought against a single defendant, the said defendant may elect to hand over all his property and chattels to be sold by the Court for the benefit of all his debtors. Such an application will be granted if it appears to be bona fide, and if the defendant has not been guilty of making fraudulent transfers or of concealing his property. A meeting of the parties will be called and a day fixed for auctioning the debtor's effects. The proceeds will be divided pro rata between the creditors, who, whether Chinese or foreigners, must all recognize the validity of the proceedings and not object or disobey.
5. Sentences of imprisonment for debt will be fixed in accordance with the amount of the debt as follows :-
Amount of Debt. Sentence.
Over 8,000 dollars 3 years' hard labour.
5,000 to 8,000 dollars 2½ years' hard labour.
Over 3,000 dollars 2 years' hard labour.
Over 2,000 dollars 1½ years' hard labour.
Over 1,000 dollars 1 year hard labour.
500 to 1,000 dollars 6 months' hard labour.
Over 100 dollars.. 1 month hard labour.
6. In all old cases dating back prior to the thirty-third year of Kwang Hsu, if the debt is about 3,000 dollars, and the defendant, owing to his resources being exhausted, is unable to pay, a clear statement of the facts shall be sent to the Consul, setting out how the defendant, owing to litigation, has been in trouble and in prison for a space of two or three years, and has already been sufficiently punished for what he has done. The Consul will then order the plaintiff to abandon all further proceedings, and the defendant will be brought before the Court and set at liberty, and the case will be considered closed.
486
(Translation.) Sir,
2
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Customs Tuotai Ts'ai to Consul-General Hopkins,
January 16, 1908. ON the 6th of the 12th moon, I received the following Petition from the Tien-tsin District Court :-----
"Tien-tsin being a centre of international trade where numerous foreign Settle- ments exist, the number of actions for debt brought by influential foreign merchants against Chinese defendants constantly increases. These actions are generally concerned with agreements to procure labourers or contracts for the purchase of goods, or with trade debts, loans or advances, on account of wages. When eases thus involving the payment and receipt of money come on for trial in Court, either the evidence is not clear and each side maintains a crafty obstinacy, or there is no dispute as to facts but the defendant is destitute and unable to pay, or the plaintiff and his witnesses do not attend so that the parties cannot be confronted, or the defendant hides in one of the foreign concessions, and, in spite of many summonses, evades arrest, or he escapes to some place at a distance, and it is impossible to try the case. From all these various canses cases drag on for months and years, and it is impossible to bring them to a conclusion. The Judge to whom the case is assigned, in spite of the utmost labour and anxiety, can find no method for dealing with this state of affairs, while the Consuls, not appreciating the various difficulties that are met with, suspect dilatory conduct on the part of the Court, and the foreign merchant, being solely desirous of recovering his money, and ignoring the fact that the debtor is destitute and helpless, ventures to accuse the officials of not pressing the case with sufficient severity, and is, consequently, all the more unwilling to discuss the matter in a reasonable spirit, and accept something less by way of com- promise in order to finish off the case. The invariable result is that the Judge in charge of the case is timorous where a foreign plaintiff is concerned, and, hoping to extract more money out of the defendant, dares not give a definite decision. But the constant granting of further extensions of time has the appearance of procrastination, and makes it seem as if the case would never be finished. Both plaintiff, defendant, and witnesses are unjustly detained or kept waiting, and thus involved in very great embarrassment. In some cases men actually remain in prison for several years and fall sick and die. This is far from being the way to bestow protection on merchants or show mercy to the people.
"Since the opening of the Court all the Judges have received standing instructions to minutely investigate each case, and to employ the utmost zeal, labour, and diligence in the transaction of business. Many old cases, as their turn came, have been put in the way of settlement, and new cases have all been inquired into and tried as they arose. Where expedition was possible we have been expeditions and there has been no delay or accumulation of arrears. But reckoning the old with the new there are several tens of mixed cases proceeding at the present moment. The future is ever pressing on us, and it is therefore absolutely essential to work out in advance some satisfactory scheme of dealing with the situation in the hope that by conforming thereto, it will be possible to avoid congestion in the Law Courts and thus confer a benefit on both plaintiffs and defendants. The officials of the District Court have therefore jointly considered a scheme which we have embodied in a set of twelve regulations which we now submit in a separate document for your decision. We also beg that you will report
the regulations to the Viceroy in order that he may decide thereon and place them upon record, and that you will request the foreign Consuls in Tien-tsin to place the regulations upon record and give effect thereto.
"After these regulations have been decided on we beg that all previously unfinished cases may be decided in accordance therewith so as to relieve the pressure on prison space and secure uniformity.
"We have ordered the Judges in charge of all unfinished cases to use the utmost diligence in dealing with them and report in due course, and we now have the honour to send you this Petition praying for your approval of the scheme (forwarded herewith) for dealing expeditiously with mixed cases, and to communicate the same to the Viceroy and the foreign Consuls that it may be placed upon record."
With regard to the Petition quoted above, I have the honour to observe that the scheme, embodied in twelve regulatious has been drawn up by the District Court with a
3
view to clearing up the accumulation of mixed cases, and should therefore be put in force. I have made a report to his Excellency the Minister for Northern Trade, so that it may be placed upon record and have replied to the Petition.
I have now the honour to address you in this Circular despatch, forwarding a copy of the regulations in question, and to request that you will place the same upon record and give effect thereto.
I have, &c. (Seal of Ts'ai Shou Chi, Customs Taotai, Tion-tsin.)
Inclosure 3 in No. 1.
Regulations of Tien-tsin District Court for the Decision of Mixed Cases.
(Translation.)
WHERE a foreign plaintiff brings an action for the recovery of money against a Chinese subject, and it is clearly proved that the latter has been guilty of wilful fraud or extortion and declines to pay, an inquiry will be made into his property both movable and immovable. The said property will be officially sealed, valued, and
sold by auction to liquidate the debt. The defendant will also be punished in accordance with the gravity of his offence and the amount of money involved.
2. Where, as a result of business intercourse, a Chinese merchant is in debt to a foreigner, and it is proved that this is due to losses in trade or to the bad state of the defendant's business, and that he has not deliberately attempted to evade payment or do any injury, the defendant will be ordered to sell any property and chattels he may possess, irrespective of quantity, and apply the proceeds towards the liquidation of
He will further he ordered to pay the balance by stated instalments. 3. In all actions for debt by foreigners against Chinese where it is proved that the defendant is absolutely destitute and entirely without means of paying the sum due he will be sentenced to a term of penal servitude, varying with the amount of debt in order to finish the case and avoid interminable litigation,
the debt.
4. Where several actions by Chinese and foreigners are brought against a single defendant, the said defendant may elect to hand over all his property and chattels to be sold by the Court for the benefit of all his debtors. Such an application will be grauted if it appears to be bond fide, and if the defendant has not been guilty of or making fraudulent transfers or of concealing of his property. A meeting of the parties will be called and a day fixed for auctioning the debtor's effects. The proceeds will be divided pro rata between the creditors, who, whether Chinese or foreigners, must all recognize the validity of the proceedings and not object or disobey.
5. Sentences of imprisonment for debt will be fixed in accordance with the amount of the debt as follows :-
Over 8,000 dollars
Amount of Debt.
5,000 to 8,000 dollars
Over 3,000 dollars
Over 2,000 dollars
Over 1,000 dollars
500 to 1,000 dollars
Over 800 dollars
Over 100 dollars..
Sentence.
3 years' hard labour.
2
13
2
11
1 year hard labour.
6 months' hard labour.
*
1 month hard labour.
6. In ail old cases dating back prior to the thirty-third year of Kwang Hsu, if the debt is about 3,000 dollars, and the defendant, owing to his resources being exhausted, is unable to pay, a clear statement of the facts shall be sent to the Consul, setting out how the defendant, owing to litigation, has been in trouble and in prison for a space of two or three years, and has already been sufficiently punished for what he has done. The Consul will then order the plaintiff to abandon all further proceedings, and the defendant will de brought before the Court and set at liberty, and the case will be considered closed.
486
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