110 THE HONGKOng governMENT GAZETTE, 4TM FEBRUARY, 1880.
KIDNAPPING COMMISSION.
MINUTES OF MEETING held at the Justices' Room, at the Magistracy, on the 28th June, 1879. Present: JouN J. FRANCIS in the Chair; Revd. E. J. ErTEL, PH. D.; C. V. CREAGH, Esq.;
Mr. FUNG MING-SHIAN; Mr. Tse Sung-SHIAN.
Minutes of last Meeting read and confirmed.
Mr. FUNG MING-SIIAN, states that the other two Chinese Members, Messrs. Sm SHANG-KAI and LO LAI-PING, are abscut from the Colony.
Mr. FRANCIS' memo. with the notes of the Chinese Members of the Committee thercon, was read and approved, and it was resolved- ·
That the Minutes of the Proceedings of the Committee be forwarded to His Excellency the Governor with a strong recommendation that His Excellency would be pleased to approve of the proposed Association, and that the Chinese may be authorised to take the necessary steps to carry
out their ideas.
That Dr. EITEL be requestod to write the necessary letter.
יין
M
D
A
JOHN J. FRANCIS, J.P.,
Chairman.
MINUTES OF A MEETING held (in accordance with the Minute of Ilis Excellency the Governor on C.S.O. No. 2641, of 12th November, 1878), at the Magistracy, on 28th November, 1878, at 2.30 P.M.
Present:-Dr. ErTEL, Acting Inspector of Schools; J. J. FRANCIS, Esquire, Acting Police Magistrate; C. V. CREAGH, Esquire, Acting Police Magistrate; Mr. Puso MING-SIAN, Comprador of Chartered Mercantile Bank; Mr. Su SHANG-KAI, Opium Merchant; and Mr. TSE TAT-SHING, Tea
Merchant.
After. it had been stated that Captain DEANE had received permission to withdraw from partici- pation in these Meetings, and that Mr. LO LAI-PING was unavoidably prevented attending the present Meeting, the l'etition addressed by Mr. Lo LAI-P'ING and others, with its enclosure, was read, ́as also the Minutes on the same document, C.S.O. No. 2641..
Adverting to the fact that kidnapping had always been practised in the Colony, Mr. Francis then put the question to the petitioners if there was of late any special modus operandi observed in the pro ceedings of kidnappers differing from what had been observed and known formerly, and justifying special proceedings either on the part of petitioners or on the part of the Government or both. To this question the Chinese gentlemen present replied that there was indeed a marked difference observ- able in the proceedings of kiduappers of late, because they had become acquainted with the loophols English law leaves open, also with the principle of personal freedom jealously guarded by English law, and that through this knowledge their proceedings had not only become less tangible for the Police to deal with, but the kidnappers had been emboldened to give themselves a definite organization, following a regular system adapted to the peculiarities of English and Chinese law, and using regular resorts and depûts in the suburbs of Hongkong. In support of this, Mr. FunG MING-SUAN laid on the table two documents written in Chinese (inarked A and B.) One of these (marked 4) contained a list of 38 different houses in the neighbourhood of Sai-ying-p'un and Tai-p'ing-shán used by pro- fessional kidnappers as their regular resorts or depôts, and a list of 21 professional kidnappers whose names are given, but whose residence could not be ascertained. The other document (marked B) consists of a list of 41 professional kidnappers whose personalia have been satisfactorily ascertained. Both papers are herewith appended together with an English translation.
The Magistrates present, feeling satisfied that there was good raison d'être for some special orga- nization to oppose this systematized sale of women and children for unlawful purposes, pointed out to the Chinese meinbers of the meeting that one great difficulty the Government frequently met in dealing with such cases was the question what to do with women or children, found to have been unlawfully sold or kidnapped, how to restore them to their lawful guardians in the interior of China, how to provide for them in case such women or children had actually been sold by their very guardians, who, if the woman or child in question were restored to them, would but seek another purchaser, how to prevent such women and children being sold again by their guardians or friends, how to deal with persons absolutely friendless, &c. To this observation the Chinese members of the meeting replied that they were prepared to undertake this duty and overcome these very difliculties by means of an organized "Society for the Protection of Woinen and Children," which would employ trustworthy detectives to ascertain the family relations of any kidnapped person, which would see to such persons being restored to their families upon guarantee being given for proper treatment, which in cases where restoration would not be advisable or where in the absence of relations and friends it was inpossible, would take charge of such kidnapped persons maintain them and eventually see them respectably
murried.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.