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542 of Sir A. Kennedy's administration, had not only failed to reduce crime, but that on the contrary crime had been rapidly increasing in Hongkong since that time. In spite of voluminous arrays of figures, and notwithstanding the most dexterous handling of plausible deductions from them, placed before the Council and the public with the consummate skill of the orator and the special pleader, the community stoutly maintained that, whatever might be logically deduced from Sir John's statistics, their own personal and practical experience was, that life and property had been more secure in Hongkong all the time before the arrival of Sir A. Kennedy's successor, than it had been ever since. The more Sir John insisted upon the accuracy of his statistics and the correctness of his analysis of his figures, the more was the distrust of both, on the part of the community, converted into positive irritation. Now it so happened, whether in consequence of the Governor's treatment of criminals or otherwise, that the year 1878 was extraordinarily fruitful in serious crimes. On 1st February, an armed attack was made by a large gang of Chinese burglars on the village of Aplichau. On 10th May, the Superintendent of Police and several constables were wounded in the streets by armed burglars whom they had intended to intercept. On 30th May a woman was murdered in town. On 31st May again a woman was murdered at Sheko. On 14th July a third woman was murdered at Taipingshan. On 8th August a Portuguese was murdered by a European. Then, on 25th September, from 40 to 80 armed burglars attacked a shop in Winglok Street, when these marauders took forcible possession of the thoroughfare, held it for some time against armed Police and finally escaped with their booty in a steam-launch. When the news of this night attack spread in town next morning, public indignation, which had been gathering for some time, owing to the palpable increase of serious crime, burst out into strong condemnation of the Governor's systematic lenity to criminals and of the encouragement thus given to crime. A public indignation meeting was called for. Before it could be held, another crime occurred which added fuel