The anonymous contribution to the *North-China Daily News" of the 20th inst., entitled "Weihaiwei under Colonial or Military Goverment," has been read by members of this community with surprise, and on the part of most with some indigns tion. The writer, it apy would like to make the present Commissioner responsible for the acts of his predecessor, as well as for the decisions of the Colonial Office in London.
have nade inquiries and find there are certain inaccuracies in your contributors article to which attention should be drawn:
He states that the second applicant for mining licence "made no map at all." This is not only not the case, but the fact is he sent ina map that indicated most clearly what he wanted, which is more than can be said for the map sent by the first applicant. The latter made a village the Former indicated a certain hill very near, principal point in his application, and the
but separated by a stream of considerable consequence. Again the writer states:—"* If the Commissioner could go out. with the second applicant to be shown the spot, surely he could have done the same... with the first applicant." But he ignored the fact—in ignorance it is to be hoped—that the two applications went before different Commissioners, and the present Commissioner is scarcely responsible for his predeceesor's acts or omissions. The claims of the two applicants as interpreted by the authorities here are distinctly traced out on the oficial chart kept at head-quarters, When the first applicant asked for an extension of his mining license, it was found that it would infringe the rights already granted to others. He then complained, I understand, that his original application had been misinterpreted. The Commissioner referred the whole question to the Colonial Office, and the final decision is in favour of the second applicant.
tapeism" may be, the recent dispute ap)
However disastrous and deplorable red-tohave bee ona question of fact and. th interpretation to be placed on the two maps. If the claim of the first applicant was misunderstood by the authorities, it was as much his fault ax anyone's." A business man and one endowed "with a few grains of common sense" would have been more careful to send in a more detailed map.
In conclusion, as regards license to undertake mining operations, I am given to understand that all these documents state most clearly what powers are conferred."
29th September.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.