Tue recent flight to Macao of Mr. J. 'M. Guedes, a broker charged with mis. appropriating securities belonging to the Rev, Father Burno, has again brought into prominent notice the extradition arrangements between Hongkong and Macao, It seems to Lave beau taken for granted that treaties existed providing for the extradition of offenders against the laws of both places. Sir Pope Hennessy had ini-fiated measures to that effect with the Government of Muxcuo, and it was supposed by the Hongkong public that a Treaty had actually been concluded, Tt seems now that all that was done was each Colony passing an ordinance but these were never exchanged, and when now examined are found to differ According to the Ohina local law of Macao expressly stipulates that no extradition of Portaguese subjects can be conceded; the Hongkong Ordinance is so broadly expressed that British eubjeote could be given unto the Macao Government, and little or no difficulty would beexperieuced in the rendition of anyone shown to been guilty of any crime mentioue the schedule. It is aeeumed by our contemporary that the Hongkong Ordiuauoe was thus broadly drawn, to allow each individual case which ovourred to be dealt with according to its circumstan For instance, it goes on to eny, while it turns out that offenders charged with an offence committed outside of Macao way be tried there, no offender may - tried in Hongkong who has be ity of an often Macao. This i rather hardly on Mucao, if the Hongkong Ordinance does not give the Government the power of rendition of offenders who have fled there from Mnono.
On thia It is of course a serious thing fur u Gove ernment to covenant lo render up ite own subjects to be tried by the laws of another country, But whew an English. man has broken Portuguese law in Mucao, or a Portuguese English law in Hongkong, it is highly desirable that the offender should be given up to be tried for his offence where it was out-mitted. In the ange of places so next as Hongkong and Mnono, such an acrangetment is necessary for the protection of the honest folk from the knaves.
The cases in which fraudulent debtors have taken refuge in Macao from their creditors have been many, and the Portaguese colonial authorities have always been so jealous of the right of asylum to the rogues that considerable ill-feeling has more than once been created in Hongkong. More than twenty years ago a Parsee who bad swivelled the banke in Hongkong to the extent of something over @ million of dollars was protected for mouths, Lhe Government of Hongkong appended in every way to the Government of Macao, but for a long time only gut refusals. There have been other similar cases since then in which the Macny Government showed the same spirit, One of them was referred to in a letter to the China Mail, wherein the Kuglish Government is charged with heving used undue influence at Lisbon to procure the rendition of Huffam, the dishonest Registrar of the Court, It is manifest that the Mavso Gove ernment exposes itself to pressure from the Hongkong Government, and, when that fails, from Downing Street, whenever defaulters and swindlers are sheltered, and it is worth the while of Ue English authorities to resort such means to procure their surrender, The two places are too near for either to offer any loophole through which offenders may escape, or to prevent their punishment ander the laws they have broken. What their Governments should do is to frame an Extradition Treaty by which criminals and rogues will be shat out from: finding " vity of refuge in the neighbourhood of the place whose laws they Lave broke, Lé Portugal objects lo surrender persons accused of crimes for which death ix the punishment according to Kuglish Jaw, let that be provided for in the Treaty. Such crimes as murder are fortunately of rare occurrence in the Eastern Colonies, and no ove would grudge the Portuguese their Lumaui-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.