The punishment indicted HM. Police Court on a local Briton for being in charge of a motor car while under "the influence ut liquor, driving the car recklessly and tothe danger of the public, and hav-Jing no driving idence, wilt probably come as a surprise to readers, on Account of its apparent severity, the maximum fine of £50 being inflicted fon each of two of the charges and $25 on the third. "Recent eases: which have been brought in H. M. Police Court should be a suMeient warning to Britons that offences of this des cription will be punished with just the same degree of severity as they could expect if they offended in like manner in their own country. The obvious remedy is for Britons to keep out of trouble of. this nature and the method of doing s0 ts clea. Tt may be argued by some that similar punishments are not inflicted in other Courts in Shanghai, and that, consequently, no severer penal-tes' should be imposed than those Inficated "on other nationals, The argument is not a good one, for 2 very simple reason. While it is true that the existence of extraterritorial ity trees certain fore'mers from the jurisdiction of laws and courts which fat least in the past certainly proved repugnant to them, it also entalled upon them the duty of observing the laws of their own countries. The laws of Great Britain in recent years have been considerably' tightened up with regard to certain offences in connection with motor cars and those laws have been extended {0 China Tt would be as well for those, who are still disposed to regard" such matters as these lightly, to realize that the law does not necessarily stop at the imposition of a fine. A guilty defendant can be sent to prison with: out the option, while in some cases magistrates at' home have debarred the defendant from over holding."
Dremature to suggest that this step licence again. 1 migh.pethaps, be could or should be taken by British Courts in China, but the fact remains that the magistrates here are amply equipped with powers to deal with such cases as the one under mention Further it is not to be hoped that the magistrate will scale punishments down to the level inflicted in other Courts, but that as time woes on the latter wil, where possible, increase their penalties to a standard somewhat commensurate with the stand ard now set.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.