CO129-360 - Public Offices - 1909 — Page 470

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A perusal of the correspondence above referred to may suggest to you certain points with regard to my position in this case requiring explanation. I venture to place before you some of the considerations which prompted my action in the matter.

I allowed the Namboi Magistrate and one of the Viceroy's deputies to hold an informal inquest on board the "Fatshan" for two reasons: firstly, because I hoped that an inquest held on board would attract less attention than one held on the wharf; and, secondly, because I knew that by Chinese law an inquest, wherever possible, must be held on the spot where the deceased died. As will be seen from Mr. Porter's Report, the Chinese authorities made hardly any attempt to control the crowd that surged in and around the ship, and a satisfactory examination of the body was thus rendered impossible.

The preliminary inquiry at the Consulate would not under ordinary circumstances have been open to the public, nor was I obliged, I take it, to allow Chinese officials to be present and cross-examine witnesses.

I need hardly say that I held the inquiry in this manner in order to meet the wishes of the Chinese authorities, and to conciliate Chinese public opinion.

As the sequel shows, I apparently failed in both these objects, but the fact of the inquiry being held in public and in the presence of Chinese officials has, I venture to think, to a great extent rendered official dissatisfaction with the result, and newspaper criticism of the proceedings unjustified and ineffective.

With regard to the important question of jurisdiction I trust the line I took may meet with your approval.

I considered that, as the death had occurred on board a British ship in alleged suspicious circumstances, presumably in Chinese territorial waters, it was my duty to hold an inquiry. As the Portuguese watchman Noronha, an employé on the articles of the ship, voluntarily surrendered himself as being the person accused of having caused the passenger's death, I endeavoured to find out if there were sufficient grounds for charging him with a criminal offence in connection with the man's death. I came to the conclusion that there were not.

Had it been otherwise, I should have communicated the charge against the accused to his own Consul, in this case the Consul-General for Portugal, with the request that he would exercise jurisdiction. I acted on the principle that the charge being of a criminal nature, such as manslaughter, and not one, such as insubordination, affecting the discipline of the ship, it would, under ordinary circumstances, be dealt with by the officials of the country in whose territory the case occurred-in this instance China. But foreigners in China being exempt from Chinese jurisdiction, owing to extra- territoriality, a case of this kind can only be dealt with by the Consul of the accused's nationality.

With this view of my position in the matter, my Portuguese colleague entirely concurred, and he was, as mentioned in the Report, present at the inquiry in a private capacity.

I propose to continue this Report to-morrow, after my interview with the

Viceroy.

1 am sending copy of this despatch to the Governor of Hong Kong and to the Commander-in-Chief on the China Station.

I have, &c. (Signed)

Inclosure 3 in No. 1.

Report by Vice-Consul Porter on the "Fatshan

ور

HARRY H. FOX.

Affair.

ON the arrival of the river steamer Fatshan ” on the morning of the 30th November, Captain Lloyd came to the Consulate and reported the death of a Chinese deck passenger who, it was alleged by some of his fellow passengers, had died as the result of injuries inflicted by a Portuguese watchman on board, who had kicked him when demanding his fare.

About 12 o'clock two of the Viceroy's foreign Secretaries, Messrs. Yen and Wu, called at the Consulate, bearing an official despatch from the Viceroy, stating that the Namhoi Magistrate had made a verbal report to him that a Chinese passenger had been "kicked to death" on board the "Fatshan," and requesting that an officer from the Consulate might be sent to assist at the inquest.

The Deputies wished the inquest to take place on board the "Fatshan," in

accordance with Chinese procedure, which calls for an examination on the spot, but it was explained to them that this could not be admitted. Dr. Davenport, the Consulate Medical Officer, had already, at Mr. Fox's request, examined the body, and come to the conclusion that death had been perfectly natural, and was probably due to some kind of fever. As a concession, however, it was agreed that the Vice-Consul should accompany the Viceroy's Deputy, Mr. Hsieh Yung Nien, on board the "Fatshan,” where the Deputy could view the corpse, and have it removed to the Yamên of the Shameen police guard for the inquest.

Accordingly, about 12:40 r.m. I proceeded with Mr. Hsieh to the steamer wharf. On arrival there I found that a large crowd had gathered in the streets leading to the wharf, while a strong force of Chinese police was engaged in keeping the wharf space clear.

I proceeded on board at once, while Mr. Hisich went to consult the Viceroy's Secretaries, the Canton Prefect and the Namhoi Magistrate who, with a large retinue, had established themselves in the Chinese telegraph office opposite the whart.

Mr. Hsieh came on board almost immediately and said that the officials could not agree to an examination of the body unless there was a medical officer present to certify the cause of death. In spite of my assurance that we had already received a written eertificate from Dr. Davenport, the medical officer they themselves now wish to employ, Mr. Hscih said that he had no choice in the matter and at once went back in his chair to find him.

I then went down below to the lower deck where I found the dead body partially covered over with a red blanket and surrounded by a large number of people, conspicuous among whom were Chinese hospital attendants with red crosses on their sleeves. The entire deck space was filled with excited groups of people, whom I ascertained to be the fellow passengers of the dead man who were ready to bear witness to the assault, representatives of the Canton Self-government Society and of the Press, and loafers generally. The gangways were all open, and Captain Lloyd seems to have made no attempt to keep the public out of the ship. Having no means of doing so, he was perhaps wise in not making the attempt, although, under the circumstances and in view of the propensity of a Canton mob to run riot on very slight provocation, it would have been only a reasonable precaution for a guard to have been asked for earlier in the day.

I found Captain Lloyd standing near the dead body which was being mauled about and punched by the hospital attendants and various seedy-looking individuals in semi- foreign dress who were presumably members of the Chinese medical profession.

Fearing lest some damage might be done to the body, which would afterwards be put down to the score of the accused Portuguese watchman, I cleared a space round the body and covered it over with the blanket.

I then turned some soldiers and police who had yielded to curiosity and come on board off the ship and went to the telegraph office to interview the Chinese authorities and try and induce them to take steps to prevent any more of the general public from coming on board.

I found the Prefect, Magistrate and three secretaries ensconced in a small room and in a rather perturbed state. They acceded to my request and sent out orders to the police, but seemed very anxious to do nothing which might irritate the people and lead to a disturbance. They seemed to consider that it was absolutely necessary that the Magistrate or some other officials should see the body in the presence of Dr. Davenport before it was removed off the ship. Nothing else, they said, would satisfy the people. I repeated that there was no objection to their coming on board, unofficially, to look at the body, but that it should be removed immediately afterwards and the inquest conducted elsewhere.

I then returned on board and consulted Captain Lloyd, pointing out to him that Dr. Davenport's arrival might be indefinitely delayed, and that the crowd on board, although merely curious just yet, might at any momeut become ugly.

I strongly advised him to let me send for a guard from His Majesty's ship "Moorhen," so that we could, if necessary, clear the ship. To this Captain Lloyd agreed, and I sent a note to Mr. Fox asking him to request the "Moorhen" for a guard. Unfortunately it was nearly three-quarters of an hour before the request. reached His Majesty's ship "Moorhen" and considerable time was lost in consequence. About 1:45 P.M., after an hour and a quarter's wait, Mr. Hsieh returned with Dr. Davenport. At Mr. Hsieh's request I allowed the Namhoi Magistrate and the on board and witness the medical Prefect, who were in private dress, to come examination.

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