Once more the officials are acting in a very high-handed manner in trying to. prevent foreigners from. obtaining obsession of land which they honestly might and paid for. Enrlier in the year Mtissionary Society. it originally belonged lot of lund was bought by the Wealeyan to & mandarin named Sung who built on it slargesemi-foreign house for himself and his wives, During the Japanese war Sung fell into disgrace and the house was reuted. A big fire took place and in a few hours the new house was a ruin, Last year the Viceroy talked of widening the streets and removing the small hucksters from the rons and making them carry on their trade in markets or public courtyards, Suvg's plot was one of several others selected as suitable sites for such markets, Sung was dend_but his son agreed to sell the plot to the Viceroy. Just about that time came the coup ut Peking, and the Viceroy, for the time, became a Conservative and. nothing more was stid_about markets. In consequence none of the plots referred to lave been purchased by the government nnd young Sung looked out for another purchaser. Thia he found in the Wesleyan Missionary Society, but before he sold, he made repeated attempts to ascertain if the Viceroy were still willing to purchase, Ashe could obtain no reply the land was sold to the W.MES. In the ordinary course the deeds were sent to the local magistrate to be sealed, There they remained for about three or months, then and only then, when pressure was brought to bent to hasten the sealing, the excuse was made that land was needed by the government, English Consul has taken the matter firmly in hand, but #0 far no sutistactory jussion lias been arrived at. The Chinese officials however are ad ina very high handed and illegal way. Although the Tand is certainly not theirs, they" never having paid a cash to buy it, they live for-elbly taken possession and' insisted upon the tenants on the plot paying their rents over to a public office, and this in spite of the protest of the Consul against any such steps being taken whilst the cuse was snd judice. The local magistrate is a notable foreign official, and has more thin once in causing anti-foreign trouble. In connection with this case he has stated that he will not, on any consideration, seal the deeds of any land sold to foreigners.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.