CO129-475 - Governor Sir Stubbs & Acting Governor Claud Severn - 1922 [5-7] — Page 14

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stopping a threatened strike among some men supplied by him to the Taikoo Sugar Refinery, and he had made the arrange- ments for feeding certain casual labour supplied to the Refinery by the Government. It was probably for these

reasons that he was selected as an example by the leaders

of the strike.

7.

Intimidation and fear seem to have been

active also in connection with the trial of the case. A

common jury panel was drawn for the March Sessions generally

One of the two Chinese jurors on that panel at once

received a threatening letter. A special jury panel was

dram for the murder case. It may have been a coincidence,

but one of the two Chinese jurors on that panel thereupon

applied for exemption. The other Chinese juror was also

excused, on the ground that he had taken some part in the

strike negotiations. Mr. Ho Cheuk, a witness who was

instrumental in the recovery of the revolver, received

immediately after the murder an anonymous letter which was

obviously intended as a threat. The ricksha coolie who

told Mr. Ho Cheuk about the revolver denied all knowledge

of the incident next day. The witness Fung Chi altered his story between the 24th February and the date of the hearing at the Police Court. The Police could find no witness from

the Prince of Wales Pavilion who was willing to give evidence: the defence were more fortunate. A joint manager of the deceased's firm refused to go into the box to prove

the notorious fact that the firm had acted as stevedores

for certain ships which sailed during the strike.

The special jurors who tried the case were

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the following:-

H. W. Bird

A. S. Gubbay

A leading local architect, and recently a member of the Legislative Council.

Manager in Hongkong of E. D. Sassoon & Co. Ltd.: has been a member of the Court of the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation.

W. B. Walker