Crime and Government at Hong Kong/The Executive Council
THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.
This body is appointed, by the Queen's Instructions, to consist of the Governor as President, and three officers as members—the Lieutenant-Governor, the Commander of the Forces at Hong Kong, and the Colonial Secretary.
From the date of my arrival in the Colony (30th January, 1856), down to that of my departure (30th January, 1859), the Lieutenant-Governorship—an useless and expensive sinecure—has been held by an invalid officer, Lieut.-Colonel Caine, formerly of H.M. 26th Cameronians, which regiment he quitted in the early days of Hong Kong, for colonial employment. He was successively Chief Magistrate and Colonial Secretary, before obtaining his present lucrative post. He has been long endeavouring to obtain leave to retire, upon a pension of equal amount; and for this cause, amongst others, is most anxious to stand well with the local authorities.
From the same date, down to the accidental arrival at Hong Kong, in June, 1857, of the General of the English forces before Canton, the Colonel commanding the garrison at Hong Kong was always the Second Member of the Executive Council.
His military rank made him independent of local interest and intrigue; at the same time that his Colonial station enabled him to acquire that local know ledge, without which his efficiency, as the only check upon the proceedings of his colleagues, would have been of very little worth.
During the period in question, an officer of high ability and honour, Colonel Hope Graham, of H.M. 59th Regiment, (with a brief interval of sick-leave, during which another of my friends, Lieut.-Colonel Dunlop, R.A., provisionally replaced him), had commanded the Hong Kong garrison, and, in that capacity, held the second seat in the Executive Council.
He was next superseded in favour, first, of Brigadier Garrett; of General Ashburnham; and, lastly, of General Straubenzee; as those military Commanders, of the Canton Expedition, successively arrived from England at Hong Kong, on their way to their proper destination. I do not know whether the supersedeas was owing to the inordinate desire of the Governor to surround himself with Councillors of higher than ordinary rank, or to the shrewd supposition of Dr. Bridges, who by this time had succeeded to office, that inexperienced strangers from England, too much engrossed, moreover, with the concerns of a difficult expedition elsewhere, to addict themselves to colonial affairs, were little likely—absent or present—and three weeks at least in the month they were sure to be absent—to exercise a vigilant control over the proceedings of the Local Executive;—or to both of those causes.
But I cannot help thinking, that the supersedeas was illegal—those officers, albeit superior in rank to the commanding officers at Hong Kong, not being themselves in actual command there, within the spirit and meaning of the Royal Instructions.
And I feel persuaded, that the very letter of those Instructions was violated, by the omission to resume the seat in Council, and restore it to the Hong Kong Commander, when the same was actually again vacated by the departure of his General from the Colony to Canton, leaving him again in the possession of his pristine military command within the Colony.
There now remains, therefore, the third and last seat in the Executive Council:—that of the Colonial Secretary.
For rather more than a twelvemonth after my arrival, and again for about two months before my departure from the Colony, a man of honour and worth, the Honourable W. T. Mercer, Esq., filled that office. Unhappily for the Colony, the interval was one of sick-leave; and the acting appointment to all his offices, being vacant, was bestowed, as I have said, on Dr. Bridges.
Thus, during the period to which the gravest of the incidents of the present case belong,—this was the composition of the Executive Council:—
1st. The Governor and Acting Colonial Secretary, representing—I believe—three votes on the side of themselves;
2nd. The Lieutenant-Governor, strongly urged, as I have said, by the alternate influences of hope and fear, to give them and their measures an implicit support, under all circumstances;
And, 3rdly, The Commander-in-Chief at Canton; generally absent from the Colony, always ignorant of its affairs, and feeling himself, as military men in such cases are too apt to feel, bound, to give his unhesitating support to the Local Government in Council, whensoever present, and able to attend it.
Not that his presence was required; for Two made a good and sufficient quorum.
To such a council, so constituted, the Bridges' and Caldwell administration resorted with confidence, and all other Government servants with dismay.
The results were answerable.
For presuming to give evidence against public criminals, some of these Government servants were, by that Council, suspended—and suspended illegally—because in their absence, and without citation, hearing, or opportunity to know the evidence against them, or to adduce evidence in their own defence.[1]
For the like offence, in like manner, and with the same disregard of law and justice—and what these men might have dreaded most—the prohibitions of Downing Street,—[2] other Government servants have been, by the same secret tribunal, tried, condemned, and if not actually suspended too, menaced with that punishment;—and then insulted with a remission of the same!
On the other hand, every act of administration, which needed, in the judgment of its authors, the sanction of the Council, was sanctioned as soon as laid before it.
Every appointment to vacant offices, or to offices of new creation, which needed ratification, was ratified in advance.
Not a Crown Grant, however odious or imperfect, which needed to run in the name of the Governor in Council, was disappointed of that formality.
How could there be protests?
Who was there to protest?
Not the absent or ignorant General;
Not the Lieutenant Governor, Colonel Caine, who knew what he had to hope from the favour, and to fear from the malice, of the confederates!
The former is not known to have dreamed of such a thing.
If we are to believe Mr. Caldwell, the latter (Colonel Caine) did, at an earlier period, go to the verge, but not a step beyond,—and paused just in time not to exasperate the formidable gang into action.
It was on the occasion of Mr. Caldwell's elevation, from the lower grades of the police department, and the command of his "convoy" cruizer, the "Eaglet," to the Commission of the Peace. There was some hidden opposition somewhere to the disgraceful selection.
The same Lieutenant-Governor was denounced by Mr. Caldwell himself—I am so informed, at least, by the Superintendent of Police, who heard the denunciation—as being the mover of that opposition to his preferment.
At the same time, Mr. Caldwell observed, with an oath, that, although he knew he had the Lieutenant Governor's ill-will in every matter, he did not fear it. "He would, if he had the power, and dared to use it, be glad enough to get me out of the island. But, so long as I live, I have him in my power, and he knows it. He knows, that I am almost the only person left now, who can ruin him, by telling the truth about that old affair of his."
If the opposition ever was made, it was probably relaxed, for it certainly did not prevent Mr. Caldwell from becoming a Justice of the Peace. I do not know if the message was, at that time, conveyed to Colonel Caine. But he is certainly a long time in possession of the fact I have just mentioned; an official or a semi-official enquiry having been made concerning it.
I became aware of it only in July last, as well as of the explanation of what, by "that old affair," is to be understood. It was told me, by way of moderating the astonishment I felt, on learning that Colonel Caine was present, and concurring in the "unanimous" resolution of the Executive Council, to suspend me without a hearing:—I being, at that moment, in possession of a private note from himself to me of a day or two preceding, whereby he had expressed his willingness to answer certain questions I had proposed to put, when called before the Council, on my defence. That note is now in Downing-street.
The enquiries, which this strange piece of information induced me at once to institute, enabled me to obtain the perusal of a number of old printed papers, consisting of newspaper articles, affidavits, depositions, and official and unofficial correspondences, including those with Downing-street; all published and commented on by the Hong Kong press, many years before my arrival; and none of which had ever elicited, from Colonel Caine, a prosecution for libel, a counter-statement, or even a contradiction.
The period of the case, to which I refer, commences with 1846, and ends with 1849. But the case itself is not yet ended; for it has not yet received the judicial investigation to which it ought to have been, in the first instance, submitted; but to which, at this late hour, it is not likely that it can be now submitted without a failure of justice, from the probable deaths of witnesses, and disappearance of documents.
Yet, in the faint hope of some better result, I will briefly state what is the result, to which the perusal has brought me, of such of the documents connected with it, at Downing-street, as have already, in the way described, been published and circulated in the colony of Hong Kong.
Mr. William Tarrant was Registrar of Deeds at the Land Office, Hong Kong, in the years 1846-7.
His diligence, ability, and trustworthiness in the discharge of the duties of that office, are attested by his official superior, the Honourable Mr. Cleverly, the present Surveyor-General.
The fees payable on the registration of deeds are regulated and defined by Ordinance. It was one of his duties to see that these, and these only, were paid in strict conformity with the ordinance, by persons coming to register their deeds.
It was another of his duties, and, in the case of Chinese, a very irksome one, to see that no personation or other fraud was practised by applicants for registration.
It was his general duty, as a public servant, to report to his official superior all cases of fraud, or misfeasance, coming, in any way, under his eye.
In the performance of those duties he made several reports, the whole of which were well-founded, and were so considered by Mr. Cleverly and himself.
There was a charge against one Chinaman of fraudulent attempt, by misdescription, or personation, to obtain the registration, in his own name, of land belonging to another.
There was a charge of extortion of moneys under colour of presents, or fees, payable to the Colonial Secretary himself.
There were charges of previous levies of moneys by the same person, and in the name of the same officer, from applicants for leases of lands and markets.
It was represented, that the prime criminal, in these cases, was a Chinaman, Comprador to the Colonial Secretary, and very much in his confidence.
It was further represented that the scoundrel, on being reproached with the crime, had boldly re asserted that he had Colonel Caine's own authority for what he did; and that the money was really levied, by him, for the Colonial Secretary.
Instead, however, of taking the course, recommended to him both by Mr. Cleverly and Mr. Tarrant, in the belief of his innocence of all complicity with the man,—who had, as they thought, thus abused his name,—instead of bringing his Chinese comprador before the police court, to answer for the misdemeanours with which he was thus charged,—it seemed good to Colonel Caine to treat the accusation as a gross invention—to slight it altogether—to reprimand Mr. Tarrant for an excess of duty—to inform him that his functions of Registrar of Deeds were of the merest mechanical order, and that it was his duty to hear, and see, and say nothing,—and to point his meaning by the illustration, that if he were asked to register the familiar but erroneous position of the moon being made of green cheese, it was his duty to ask no questions, but to do it.
Mr. Tarrant, however, persisted in taking another view of his duties; and Mr. Cleverly appeared to think the matter a serious one:—and the Lieutenant-Colonel found himself compelled to act.
But, instead of following the advice they had given him, and prosecuting his Chinaman for extortion and false pretences, it was against Mr. Tarrant that he instituted criminal proceedings, on a charge of conspiring with certain Chinamen falsely to accuse; and he, at the same time, procured his suspension from the Registrarship.
With great magnanimity, he forbore to prosecute Mr. Cleverly, and allowed him to retain his office.
The matter being appealed home to Secretary Earl Grey, the Hong Kong officials were by his Lordship ordered to reinstate Mr. Tarrant in his office, and to make good to him all arrears of salary which had accrued due since his suspension.
It appears, however, that, in the certain anticipation that such would be the righteous judgment of Earl Grey, Mr. Tarrant's persecutors had, in the interim, abolished the office, and, nearly at the same time, reorganised it, but under a slightly different name.
Consequently, all the benefit that poor Mr. Tarrant has hitherto derived from Earl Grey's decision, has been the receipt of all salary, for the weeks intervening, between his suspension from office and the nominal abolition of the office itself. But he has never been restored to the public service, nor compensated for the wrong done him.
He has not even been able to obtain his own trial, for the misdemeanour with which he was charged.
Colonel Caine was never ready.
In the first instance, his Comprador, he said, had left the colony, and there must be a postponement on that ground.
Why he allowed the man to leave, without his presence at the trial being secured in the usual manner, he could not say.
Months elapsed; and every month brought with it the appearance of Mr. Tarrant and his attorney at the bar of the Supreme Court. But still the Colonel was not ready.
A Mr. Molloy Campbell, a personal friend of the Lieutenant-Governor, was, at that time, the Acting Attorney-General.
To him, at length, Mr. Tarrant's attorney gave notice of his intention to move the Court for his client's discharge, unless brought to trial forthwith. The ground was, that Colonel Caine's Comprador, for whom all this delay was prayed, was ascertained to be living quietly within Hong Kong after all!
The application being made, the Chief Justice expressed a strong opinion of the unfairness of all these proceedings, but advised Mr. Tarrant, instead of accepting his discharge, to stand his trial at an approaching Session. The Acting Attorney General having undertaken to bring on the case for trial, Mr. Tarrant acceded to the advice thus given him by the Chief Justice.
Before the time arrived, the Chief Justice was himself suspended upon a charge, chiefly supported by Colonel Caine, and recognised to be false the moment the proceedings reached Downing Street. He was, therefore, reinstated, without delay, and with honor.
But, during his Honour's absence from the colony, the Acting Attorney General had become Acting Chief Justice.
The still untried Mr. Tarrant, appeared at the Sessions appointed. But the Acting Chief Justice refused to preside at his trial; alleging the indelicacy of sitting, as Acting Judge, upon an information signed by him, as Acting Attorney General.
It was replied, that the delicacy did him honor; but that it had not prevented him from trying, at the same Session, sundry prisoners, whose case, in that respect, was the same as Mr. Tarrant's; and that he (Mr. Tarrant) was quite willing to waive all objection on the score of delicacy, if delicacy there was in the case, and to proceed at once to his trial.
The Acting Chief Justice, however, persisted in the refusal; and, as there was no other Judge in the island, the case was abandoned.
Mr. Tarrant, being thereupon discharged for the time, has not as yet been fortunate enough to get any one to try him, or even to prosecute.
More than ten years have, nevertheless, elapsed since his last appearance in that case.
Colonel Caine's Comprador, has, since then, lived on, and carried on all kinds of business, in Hong Kong and Canton.
I heard of him last, as being, at the latter city, in the spring of 1858. It was told me, but I can not credit it, that a certain official had been indiscreet enough to recommend him, as Comprador, to the mess of an East India Company's Regiment in garrison there. It is certainly stated, that he was their Comprador about that time, but left them suddenly with their plate.
The proceedings in Mr. Tarrant's case having ex cited certain misgivings in his mind, he took an early opportunity of satisfying them.
One of the extortions was alleged to have been committed on a market lessee. The man had mortgaged his lease deeply, and had got into trouble. Mr. Tarrant took an assignment of the mortgage; thereby entitling himself to the possession and inspection of the lessee's market books.
He turned to the date of the alleged extortion. It was said to have amounted to the large sum of 1,600 dollars.
Under that date, there was an entry in Chinese, for "duty-money" paid to "Kanna Kane" (Colonel Caine) of two hundred dollars. But, within seven days, there were as many more, each of the same sum, each for "duty money," each to "Kanna Kane;" in all, sixteen hundred dollars.
In the now very remote hope of being able to stimulate an investigation, he published forthwith, in the Friend of China, a facsimile of those entries, with an English translation.
Colonel Caine held his peace.
Nine years later Mr. Tarrant again published them, and in the same newspaper.
Colonel Caine still held his peace.
His conduct was thereupon represented to the Secretary of State. But the result is still unknown.[3] The papers are included in Mr. James' notice of motion.
I ought here to add, that Mr. Tarrant's well meant interference, to prevent the lessees from paying more than their lawful Crown fees to the Colonial Secretary, was fatal to the interests of those immediately advised by him.
They had objected;—"If we do not pay this bribe, the Comprador says that we shall not have our leases after all; but somebody else will." With reluctant hesitation, however, they at last consented to be persuaded by Mr. Tarrant, that the Comprador lied; and they acted on that persuasion.
Two or three days afterwards, Mr. Tarrant was accosted by them in the street, with much violence of reproach.
"You bad man!" they said; "we told you so. Our leases are not to be made out. Another man has got them. All this comes of not paying the cum shaw, that Colonel Caine's Comprador told us to pay!"
I can give no opinion on the extent to which the Colonial Secretary of that day was culpable; or whether Mr. Caldwell's dreaded testimony can carry the case much further.
It is certain that he was so, to at least this extent: that he acted like the guiltiest, and obstructed the course of criminal justice, and occasioned much scandal to the British name.
I cannot think that, having, as he must have, the humiliating sense of these heavy imputations, and of having done nothing to remove them,—his presence in the Executive Council can be of the least value to it; or tend, in any way, to give efficiency to that body, for the repression or detection of the corruptions of the Hong Kong government.
I pass on to the next head.
- ↑ In re Willis; and in re Montagu:—E. F. Moore, Pr. C. Ca.
- ↑ The "Rules and Regulations for Her Majesty's Colonial Service" (Ed. 1856), peremptorily forbid any proceeding to suspension (except in extreme emergency), unless upon citation of the officer, "fully communicating to him the charges," and "after such an in- terval as will allow him a reasonable time for preparing his defence";—apprising him, moreover, whether "he is to defend himself orally, or in writing, before the Council," or what is "the rule which has been laid down by it."—(Reg. 79—83, pp. 25—6.)
- ↑ Correspondence, in the case of Mr. Tarrant and the Comprador of the Honourable Major Caine, from 3rd July, 1847, to 27th Dec., 1849.