§ SIR JAMES LAWRENCEasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, If his attention has been called to a statement in the "China Mail," that evidence had been given before the Chief Justice of Hong Kong, of Chinese having been kidnapped and shipped at Macao to be sent to Peru as slaves, and that a kidnapped coolie named Kwok-a-Sing had with others risen against and killed 221 the captain of a French vessel who was I about to enslave him; and, having escaped to Hong Kong, his rendition had been demanded by the Viceroy of Canton, which the Chief Justice after hearing the evidence refused, and ordered the release of the man from custody, saying that he had committed no offence against the Laws of England; and, whether, notwithstanding this decision, Kwok-a-Sing had been again arrested upon a warrant issued by the Governor of Hong Kong?
§ MR. KNATCHBULL-HUGESSENSir, the hon. Gentleman has called attention to a subject of considerable importance. It involves a legal question which I am not competent to solve; but I will state to the House the bare facts of the case. In January last a Chinese coolie was arrested at Hong Kong, charged with piracy and murder committed on board a French vessel, La Nouvelle Penélope. This vessel had been employed in what is called the Coolie Immigration Service, and had on board several hundred coolies, shipped at the Chinese port of Macao, of whom it was alleged about 100 had been kidnapped. It was not pretended that the prisoner was kidnapped—for, in fact, he pleaded an alibi—but was recognized as one of the ringleaders of the party which overpowered the crow of the vessel and murdered the captain and eight seamen. The Chief Justice of Hong Kong directed this man to be discharged upon a writ of Habeas Corpus, the main ground of his decision being that persons about to be made slaves had a right to recover their liberty if they could, and that in so doing he had committed no offence over which the Courts of Hong Kong had jurisdiction. The Governor, however, upon an information for piracy laid by the Attorney General under an Ordinance in force in the colony, ordered his re-arrest and committal for trial, and the Chief Justice again ordered his discharge. Under these circumstances, the Governor telegraphed home, the opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown has been taken, and that opinion is to the effect that the crime charged against the prisoner is a crime against the Common Law of Nations, and that he was rightfully arrested, and should be brought to trial for the same.