A SAMOAN CRIME.

Hokitika Guardian, 20 August 1921, Page 4

A SAMOAN CRIME.

1 ATTEMPT ON LIFE' of CHINESE , INTERPRETER. ! .-WELLINGTON, August 15. I Official records indicate that a remarkable story attaches to the aiiivul in Auckland of six Chinese who have j been sentenced in Samoa to imprison- : meat for having attempted to murder ! an official Chinese interpreter named Wong at Apia about two months ago. It was suggested in the course of tin Court proceedings that a Chinese Secret Society was responsible for the attack on the man, and an extraordin ' ary feature of the affair was the apt pea ranee in the dock of the Chine;; Consul, Dr. Ah-Lo, who was charged with being concerned in the outrage. I The main evidence against the tonsil! was that of a coolie named Flo Ip. Tim Court accepted the statements of Ho Ip as truthful, but found that the , persons who had given information t< . this man possibly made use of the name of the Consul as an additional inducement to certain coolies to commit a j crime. The Court considered that the j Consul noted somewhat unwisely in not I being more open as to what was going ' on, but it found him not guilty. | transpired in the course of the evidence however, that the Administration had { asked for his removal from Samoa and the Chinese Government had arranged I to transfer him. j The f</cts of the ease arc not mad I fully clenr in th<> published reports of the proceedings. Tt appeared that | Wong claimed to be the representative to President Sun Yat Sen head of tin ' Southern Government of China. Tin Consul represented the Northern Government. There was a quarrel at tin j Consulate in the presence of a large number of coolies, and it was suggested in evidence that when the coolies made ' a demonstration against Wong the Con , sul said “Do not strike here.” The j meeting at which this incident occurred ! had been called for the purpose of forming a society. The Consul stated that I it was to he a Chinese benevolent sni ciety, which would look after tht Chinese cemetery and care for old and disabled Chinese, but some of the evid | once suggested that tin* organisation was of quite a different character The Consul went into the witness lm to give evidence on his own behalf, but ! he did not throw much light upon ~i< matter. One of the witnesses against j him had been Wong Yee. and the Con ' sul told the Court that it was common i knowledge among the Chinese in Apr j that Wong Yee was an informer. Tit official report continues. The ludge; Do you imply that yet share the common knowledge of t Chinese P I Dr Ah-Lo: I share the common knov | ledge. I knew that if was a matter | of common report so T had no special informer Mr Woodward (Crown Prosecutor) Yon have a common knowledge the I Wong Yee was an informer. Who doe he give information to, and what Inn lie ever informed about? Dr Ah-Lo: All 1 know i< that lc was sneaking round getting information from labourers. That is the leport that came to me in niy official capacity. Ilis Honour: Someone did report m you til on? Dr Ah-Lo: Yes, but I cannot put my hand on any one man. Later on ibe Consul was questionoi' closely by the Crown Prosecutor iogariling a secret society called "The Triad.” lie said lie laid fell the necessity o! rooting out any organisation of the kind, and lie had posted up an official notice* in tlieCliinese merchants stoics forbidding labourers from tunning secret societies. Mr Woodward: This "Triad is a criminal society is it not? I)r Ah-Lo: I do not say that, but the majority ol the members are cri-< initials, and it is a society which m\ Government lias forbidden. They arc alwavs of the criminal classes. It lias been made illegal ever since the organisation came into existence. It is illegal in I long Kong. Mr Woodward: I think its methods (if gaining its ends arc sometimes by terrorism and sometimes by murder. l)r Ah-Lo: I do not know much about it. My influence lias always been on the side of law and order. Mr Woodward: There were thes< men in Samoa belonging to tins society Did you tell the Administration Ilia those men were here? Dr Ah-Lo: There was no society and there is no society now, to m; knowledge. Mr Woodward: You bad ibis mmknowledge that you issued notices about it r* Dr Ali-lo: It,'was rumoured that, an attempt was being made to organis< the ing. The references to informers in tin* evidence seem to have been connoetc with the importation of opium im* Samoa. The drug is prohibited there but a certain amount of it finds its way to the Chinese compounds.