punishment, unless of a more serious nature than the former, and then only the difference between

the legal punishments will be inflicted. The case of Lü Mei is an interesting 盧美 one. The offender in that case, in order to destroy traces of an abduction, set fire to a house in which he had committed the offence, and thereby caused the death of four persons in one family and two in another. The prisoner was found guilty of abducting a married woman, of malicious arson causing the death of two persons in one family, and of malicious arson causing the death of four persons in one family being sentenced under the statute applying to the last (P. A. S. P. vol. XIV. p. 43).

Commission of another offence after sentence pronounced. The general rule as to the commission of several offences seems, also, to apply where an offender commits a further offence after sentence

has been pronounced the punishment due the greater offence will always supersede that due the lesser. Where an offender has already been transported, whether temporarily or permanently, the punishment due the commission of a subsequent

offence

entailing

temporary

or

permanent transportation may be commuted for an additional period or additional service as the case may be. But, in general, in such cases, inasmuch as escape is usually involved, it is customary to merely punish this breach of etiquette: so a thief who, undergoing his sentence of transportation, runs away and commits a second theft, will merely be bambooed or cangued for attempting to escape, and sent back to the original place of punishment. This latter leniency seems frequently to receive a strained application, as in the case of T'an Ya-fu, an offender transported for incorrigible theft, who ran away and committed no less than six several thefts of small amount: for this the offender received a year's cangue (H. A. H. L. vol. III. p. 75). In these cases also it is, however, the rule that where the offence committed by the runaway be of a more serious nature than that for which he is suffering punishment, he may, under special circumstances be tried for the former and sentenced anew to the graver penalty it entails (H. A. H. L. vol. XVI. p. 51).

PREVIOUS CONVICTION

By this is understood previous conviction for the offence in question and after the convict has been branded, though as regards the latter point it has also been counted a previous conviction where the criminal had been convicted of the same offence (theft) but excused the branding because the person robbed was a relation (H. A. H. L. vol. III. p. 53). The conviction also holds where the offender had been sentenced upon another and more serious count in the same indictment. (H. A. H. L. vol. III. p. 51).

The above seems to be very strictly construed, and even where a person is convicted of highway robbery a previous conviction for theft will not in general be taken into account (H. A. H. L. vol. III. p. 54 - v. infra however).

Hardened offenders. The general rule on this point is a combination of those regarding the commission of several offences and previous conviction, i. e. the consideration of but one count of several and previous sentence on a precisely similar charge, and hardened offenders

C. E. G.

4

are on the whole treated with considerable leniency. Of course the rule does not apply to capital cases, which stand by themselves, and if a person is a "Jack the Ripper", his family as well as he may suffer, or the capital penalty may otherwise be increased (Commission of Several Offences), be it in regard of homicide or other offence. Nor does the rule extend to larceny, for when a person is shown to be a professional thief and generally dangerous to the peace and good order of the community he may be dealt with either as an habitual offender in larceny , and sentenced to military servitude

for life under the statute 匪徒區合事主出 錢贖贓 (Case of Wang Hua-lung 王化 M, H. A. H. L. vol. XVI. p. 58), or as a dangerous rowdy, and sentenced to transportation for life (H. A. H. L. vol. XVI. p. 14). There must however be seven or eight cases of larceny or several previous convictions therein proved to bring an offender within the first category, and five or six cases and an element of violence to bring him within the second. In the case of larceny by several, two previous

convictions of the same persons will cause all therein to be treated as principals. It may be added that in Kwang-tung province an offender guilty of eight distinct offences, whether theft, robbery, holding to ransom, or extortion, will be considered as an habitual offender in larceny and sentenced to military servitude, and though the number of offences be but four or five, and any violence inflicted be but slight, yet the offender will also be sentenced to military servitude under the statute 搶竊拒捕傷人