Touching upon the document purporting to have been issued by the Ningpo Guild, his Lordship briefly outlined British legal procedure leading up to a criminal trial, and observed that at this state the private prosecutor disappeared and responsibility was assumed by the Crown. "TI am bound to say,"? his Lordship continued, "that so far as the Ningpo Guild and Mr. Chang assisted this man, first in the Mixed Court and afterwards in the Police Court, their action was entirely proper, not to say praiseworthy. was assistance which, so far as Mr, Chang was concerned, seems to me to have been rightly given by him to his former servant, and he took a great deal of trouble about it. In so far as the Ningpo Guild, or any other association.. was concerned in instructing counsel who appeared for Loh in the Police Court, it seems to me that action was praiseworthy. Where their action is blameworthy is in the introduction of that circular into the Settlement. a document pitch ever should have been which ni Proceeding to deal with the three charges: qa) inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent fo maim, disfigure or' disable; (2) inflicting grievous bodily harm, and (3) assault, causing actual bodily harm, his Lordship said the sting of the first charge was the "intent" to do grievous bodily harm. The second and third charges, of doing Brievous bodily harm, and assault, Were not so serious, Intention was always difficult to prove: the minds, and intention could only jury could not dive into people's be inferred from conduct or the nature of the implements used. Tf he took a gun and shot a man at close range, it would not be an* unfair presumption that he intend: ed to kill him. It would be a most unfair presumption, on the other hand, if he struck him only With a light cane. It was entirely for the jury to Say whether they thought accused intended to inflict grievous bodily harm. If they found otherwise, the accused would be acquitted on the first charge, and then they would deal with the second and third charges, and in entirely upon the facts.
"There are one or two other matters to which I would like to refer before dealing with the facts of the case," his Lordship proceeded. "Tt seems to me that it is not a desirable practice. for persons, whoever they are, to endeavour to settle domestic disputes between themselves and their servants in a police station, unless such disputes veally involve commission of a crime or inquiry into it. It seems to be a thoroughly undesirable practice. It may fairly be said that we are really proud of our police force, and the work they lo in the Settlement, but that work does not include the settlement of disputes between masters and servants,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.