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THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 16 APRIL, 1870.
Population of Hongkong and British Kowloon, exclusive of Shipping and Boat population," --98,535.
Strength of the Police of all grades, on 31st December, exclusive of Water Police, Guards ov Gaols and other Public Buildings, and men employed on special duty, 385.
Proportion of Police to population,-One policeman to 255 persons.
(b.)
The crime Returns for 1869, Appendices A and B, compare very favorably with those for last and previous years.
From the subjoined Statement it will be seen that serious offences have decreased 22.6 per cent minor offences 18.4 per cent, and all crime 19.3 per cent; as compared with similar Returns for 1865.
Year.
1868 1860
Serious Offences.
1,249 967
Decrease.
Decrcase.
Minor Offences.
282
4,456 3,531
$22
Decrease.
All Offences.
5,705
4,601
1,104
Only three of the five cases of murder reported during the year weie coramitted in this Colony In one the prisoners were brought here for trial, the crime having occurred on board the Britis! Barque "Nile" off Borneo.
Of the three cases which occurred in this Colony the most atrocious were those of Mr. Holworthy Assistant Superintendent Military Stores Department, and of Police Sergeant Mahoney.
1. Mr. Holworthy was attacked when walking at mid-day on one of the hill-roads on 24t) January; the object appears to have been robbery solely. Within two weeks information was receive that the stolen property--a watch and chain-was in a Chinese District about 40 miles from Hong kong. In May the names of the four men said to have been implicated in the murder were obtained and in July and August two of them were arrested, and the watch recovered in Chinese territory. by the co-operation of Mandarin Chiên Táng (.) The two prisoners were subsequently tried convicted, and sentenced to decapitation in Canton by the Chinese authorities, as there exist n means, under any treaty, of claiming the rendition of Chinese guilty of crime on British soil.
2. The murder of Police Sergeant Mahoney arose from a piratical attack on the Village Shau'-ki-wan, by a party of twenty-eight armed men who landed from a junk. They were observe by two Punjaubee Constables on duty, who showed much courage in resisting them, and were both. severely wounded. Sergeant Mahoney, hearing the report of fire-arms, hastened to their assistance but appears to have been killed before he could use his arms. In this case, four men were convicte and sentenced to denih; but they were subsequently released,-the principal witnesses for the prose cution having been convicted of perjury.
3. On the night of 18th February four armed men landed from a sampan in Deep-Bay, and attacked a lonely hut which is situated close to the beach, and was at that time inhabited by a fisher man named Chu-a-Cheung and his wife. In attempting to protect his property the fisherma received a wound in the neck, from which he died a lingering death in hospital. The robbers having ransacked the hut, and transferred the few articles worth taking to the sampan, shoved off, and wer out of sight long before the woman, who made the report at the Stanley Station, returned with the Police.
In this case, no cluc has ever been obtained, nor under the circumstances, was it from the first at all probable that evidence would be forthcoming, as all the parties implicated had so speedily escaped beyond the jurisdiction of the local Courts.
4. Three Greeks were charged with piracy and murder in the nighbourhood of Shanghai, and were arrested, two by the local Police in Ilongkong, and one by a Shanghai Constable, in Macao. It consequence of there being no Greek Consul in this Colony these men were subsequently released by the Supreme Court.
5. There is a very remarkable decrease in kidnapping compared with last and previous years viz:-68 cases in 1867, 53 cases in 1868, against 7 cases reported during 1869. This may partly attributed to the introduction of Ordinance 3 of 1868, which empowers the Supreme Court award the punishment of whipping in addition to imprisonment, and also to a subsequent Proclamati in the Government Gazette offering a reward of $20 for evidence leading to conviction of this offenc
6. With the exception of drunkenness, which is almost entirely confined to Foreigners, which, I regret to say, has increased by 169 cases, i.e. 27.2 per cent-compared with last year minor offences shew a large decrease.
(a) This is probably much less than the real number of inhabitants, but the figures have been taken from the last census return (b) This proportion of Police to the population is smaller than that which prevails in some Indian towns, where the duties are ??
no means so difficult.
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