conviction Follows on Incitement Against Japanese and Militarists; Important Question Raised in Court Fro Our OWN
Hongkong, June 18.
Chinese politics and the quarrel with Japan figured prominently last week at the Central Magistracy when a Chinese was charged with having seditious literature in his possession and was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, The accused ras defended by Mr. Hing Sing-lo, well-known Chinese barrister-at-Jaw, who made a strong plea for acquittal, The documents in question urged people to refrain from dealing with Japanese in the course of trade and suggested certain acts caleulatod or tending to cause a breach of public peace. Counsel for the defence made an -cloquent and interesting argument to prove that the disturbance which accused wished to raise was not intended to be made in Hongkong but outside of it, He contended that, if the pamphets vere seditious, they did not in any way affect Hongkong. pointed out that the—handbi attacked the Japanese, Chiang Kaishek and other militarists in Can-he continued, are not concerned with any foreign government." The word "imperialists," as printed in the Teaflets, argued Mr. Lo, did not necessarily connote any seditious meaning, as it was freely used in the English papers. The last thing they would read from these documents was an incitement to re-elliot in Hongkong; it was merely an endeavour to draw attention to grievances which certain undermined parties had against Li Chi-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, Chang Tsofin, and the Japanese Government. The yest of the document was nothing more than an historical record of Past and recent events in China.
Quoting a case decided in England, Mr. Lo read:—"Documents published in this country and calculated to disturb the govern-smout of some foreign country are not seditious libel or punishable as libel at all." He urged the Magistrate (Mx, Wilson) to deal with the case in a liberal spirit and not tone of narrow criticism. Assuming the handbills were inflammatory, was Inid down by other aut! ties that a breach of the peace against one or more was not necessarily considered as an act of sedition against the local government, still less us n consequence of the circulation of those pamphlets. There must- be evidence of widesprend effect over a large area in Hongkong in order to connote a seditious effect. The public ws mot at all affected by these hand-
Mr, Lo then drew an analogy between those leaflets and treatises on the Opium War, the impeachment of Warren Hastings, the American War sot Independence, and the Black Hole of Calcutta, He said schoolboys in Eton kept and read a great deal of this literature, but they could not be arrested for sedition, because such treatises merely expressed one of many opinions on the subject, although that particular opinion might very well come under the category of "being violent." He pointed out that the defendant was prosecuted under the Emergency Regulations Or-finance of 1925, which was proclaimed in order to suppress anti-British agitations then conducted by the Canton Government. The enforcement of these regulations at this time would be unwise, in view of the fact that good relations existed between the British " Governments China.
Amportant Questions Raised in Action Grave constitutional que involving the right of the Governor-in-Councit to enforce Emergency Regulations were brought up at the Central Magistracy before Lieut.- Colonel F. Eaves, 0.3.0, acting first magistrate, in the press censorship ease in which the "Hongkong Morning Posts" a vernacular daily was Prosecuted with publishing certain Anti-Japanese stu without their being censored by the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs, The arguments for the Crown and the accused newspaper were closed at a hearing last week, and the decision, which will be rendered sometime this week, is eagerly awaited by the public and the press. The whole interest centres on the fact that only Chinese newspapers are subject to censorship. Mr.
K, Lo, solicitor appearing on behalf of "Hongkong Morning Post," emphasized that such discrimination was contrary to the Royal Instructions and therefore ultra vires or unconstitutional,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.