April 28, 1900.]
BRIBERY AND THE CHINESE POPULATION.
(Daily Press, 23rd April.)
The Gambling Scandals of 1897, in which certain officers of the Police and other public servants were involved, came upon the colony like a thunder-clap and shook public con- dence in the administration of public duties. Public officials upon whom the general body of this community had for years looked with respect were proved to be tainted with the crime of bribery and ignominiously dis missed the public service. It was felt that something must be done to quiet the public mind, restore confidence, and soothe away the grave suspicion of mistrust that existe.. as a natural result of these disclosures, in the mind of every thinking man in this colony, The Honourable F. H. MAY, Captain Su- perintendent of Police, addressed himself to a most distasteful task of clearing the Police from all suspected individuals connected with gambling, and of restoring public con fidence in a body of men, who, by the mis conduct of a few, were under the ban of public censure. ̄ We remember at the time the many hostile criticisma levelled against him; but he clung uobly to his duty and to the high plane to which doubtless in his own mind he felt the Police should attain, and well he succeeded in his results.
But the bribery revelations disclosed in 1897 discovered the fact that no one man's
CHINA OVERLANDTR ADE REPORT.
237
out
In offering bribes to public officials the piracy is being deal with gradually, -Mr- Chinese are only acting up to their tradiBRODRICK, on the 19th ult., stated that the tions and doing what general merchants do, Commander-in-Chief on the China - Station under finer sounding and less objectionable was taking the necessary steps in conjunc- phraseology, in the usual transactions of tion with the Viceroy Li HUNG-OUANG. their mercantile pursuits. Far be it from us This, of course, is no news, and a reitera to argue that Chinese should beat liberty to of the statement does not inspire any more offer bribes to public officials, but their case confidence in the near approach of a solution from long association and dense ignorance of this question. We are prepared to believe requries milder treatment, and we question that L BUNG-ORANG is displaying vigour whether attempted bribery is not na offence in the administration of Kwangtung-our that may not
be conveniently dealt Canton correspondent has pointed this with by the Magistrate, without moving from time to time--but the machinery of all the elaborate machinery of law so neces Chinese government is too rusty to work sary for the trial of n case in the Supreme well even if a man of energy is directing it. Court of Hongkong; for we observe in the And Lt HUNG CHANG is old, even if willing schedule of offences under section 80 of the to co-operate beartily, with British efforts Magistrates' Ordinance that Bribery is ex-in this matter a willingness which he has cluded from Summary Jurisdiction, while yet to prove. If we continue to show our no mention is made of Attempted Bribery. habitual tenderness in dealing with slow- Perhaps this is a distinction too academical moving Chinese officialdom we shall have a for our lay mind, but we commend it to weary time more to wait before we se the authorities that be.
state of affairs existing which can be deemed # crait to our national interests. With the crelit of Chinese administrators we are not concerned, though the actions of our Government seem often to suggest that we Are The Viceroy knows well how to extri cate himself from difficult situation, even when forced to do the right thing against the will of the national bureaucracy. It is to be trusted, therefore, that when the pro- tected route from Samshui to the sen has been decided on there will be
cessation
The present sessions have revealed the difficulty of dealing with these comparatively minor cases of attempted bribery in the Supreme Court. Of five cases on the calendar no less than three were for at- tempted bribery, and these ench for the sum of five dollars. In one the defendant failed to answer to his bail. In another one de- fendant was acquitted by the jury after a patient trial; and in the last case heard before His Lordship the Chief Justice the
1
a
efforts alone could cleanse the Augean Sta- prisoner was acquitted on a flaw in the of the demand for a speeilement of
bles of corruption, and that the Government itself must make some effort to prevent bribery in the future. The Bribery and
B
indictment, which Counsel so ably raised on section 4 of the Bribery Ordinance above quoted. The Court and jury were treated to a
the main question, the suppression of piracy on the West River. By all means let a safe passage be guaranteed to merchants until security. But there can be no
a reasonable state of
is concerned bribery of públic servants is of five dollars alleged to have been offered. | ponement of the only reallinite post- certain other Misdemeanors" Ordinauce of | full day of forensic eloquence, quibbles and the river itself is in
1898 was the result. As far as this ordinance
28
technicalities, and all over the immense sum
by the prisoner. Valuable time was wasted by the jury and all concerned, which could easily have been avoided, and perhaps equal justice dispensed, if the Magistrates were empowered to deal with such petty cases of attempted bribery.
THE WEST RIVER PIRACY QUESTION.
સ્
of the
question. The pirates must be swept away altogether, and the sooner the better.
JAPAN'S FINANCIAL GROWTH.
(Daily Press, 25th April.) That Japan was practically bankrupt at the period when she replaced the government of the Shogunate by that of the house of Mikados, was in those days known to com- paratively few outside that charmed circle who found in her worst necessities their very breath of life. An amusing and instructive book could be founded, without exaggera tion, on the peculiar relations which sprang up between the more advanced of the merchants and the Daimios, as the almost independent princes amongst whom the land was divided and who owed but a feudal allegiance to their senior, the Shogun, were called. The revolution was, in fact, brought about by financial even more than by social pressure, and it is a pity that amongst those who were engaged in the numerous, if sometimes questionable, transactions of the period, not one has essayed to hand his experiences for the perusal
dealt with in two sections only. Section 3 deals with the acceptance of a bribe by a public servant; but as we have no sym- pathy with a public servant who so abuses the public confidence placed in him as to accept a bribe, considering rather that he richly deserves his fate if the charge of bribery is brought home to him, we pro- pose to confine our attention to section 4, which deals with the offering of a bribe to a public servant and reads as follows:- Every person who gives; or offers, or
(Daily Press, 24th April.) causes or procures to be given or offered, to
There is a certain amount of satisfaction to any public servant, any bribe, for himself be derived from the letter received last week or for any other person, with a view to by the Chamber of Commerce from the "influence his conduct as such public servant, Acting Colonial Secretary, in which was en- or to incline him to do or to omit to do any closed an extract from a letter of Vice-Ad- "act contrary to his duty as such public ser- miral Sir E. H. SEYMOUR, suggesting that vaut, or contrary to the rules of honesty one route from Samshui to the sea should be "and integrity, shall be guilty of a misde- set apart, along which merchant vessels meanor, and, on being convicted thereof, trading ou the West River might count on shall be liable to imprisonment, with or the protection of British gunboats. We “ without hard labour, for a term not exceed say 16
a certain amount of satisfaction," for “ing two years, or to a fine not exceeding half-measures can only serve temporarily "five hundred dollars, or to both.”
while preparations are being made for deal- This is a sweeping section and opening fully with the evil which it is proposed to several grave objections. The termus to remedy. It is something that, after a IN KENT WAS AR (onterreyfed agitation against | future <age. The time was uni the disgraceful state of affairs on so impor tant a road for trade as the West River, a responsible government should be prepared t guarantee the security of a section of the way. But the root of the evil still re- mains. The pirates will, it is only to be anticipated, keep quiet while the first fit of vigilance is on the guardians of the traffic. They may transfer their energios for a time to some more profitable quarter. But they will still be near, and we doubt whether nuyone will care to pre- dict that, as months pass by, an opportunity | Japan will not offer itself to bolder spirits among | the trade the robbers to evade the patrol and mal Valu
ittempt în the forbidden waters. It
it
tion against the alleged briber must of necessity be made by the prospective bribee, —in most cases an officer of no great social standing. Moreover, a law which may be per- fectly compatible with a high state of civil ization and moral conduct, such as exists in England, may appear ludicrous when transplanted and administered to k people of low
civilization and indifferent mor- The Chinese from time immemorable accustomed to offer bribes to state and even it 'the highest civilized all' donum is often offered by the recipient to facilitate Fcentages and Bonuses are quisité,“
Saisin2 mérémitike arë insisted upon and re
|
- said that the ~ gesoral soppression:
brought out many of the better as well as of worst traits of human nature, and the truer the tale the more pathetic and dramatic would be the result. In 1600, the govern- ment of the day had promulgated a coinags system fairly in accordance with the require- ments of the moment, but the country shortly afterwards was closed to the rest of the world, and the wants of the Shoguns, as they needed money led them to the old abuse of degrading the coinage. Such policy can have but one ending, and
forty
Gold;
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