4th January.
Our German contemporary, in the telegraphic slip issued on Sunday, in reference to the trial of "the two Russians concerned in the killing of the Chinese on the Bund," remarks that "the principle has been kept up that the matter does not concern anyone else except China aid Russia; the Consular Body has not acted at all in the matter." Tnis is alittle inconsistent with the previous statement that Dr. Knappe, "as Senior Consul," had most us fully intervened to pacify the excited fellow-countrymen of the Chinese who was killed. Of course, De. Knappe intervening as he very wisely did as Senior Consul, did as the mouthpiece of the Consular} Body, the Senior Consul being merely primus inter pares of the -Consuls by right of seniority, and there being no special power o: authority attached to the post. As' the same time, it would be a great mistake if the Consular Body were; to adopt itas an immutable principle that it has no concern with such matter as this which has so agitated a largo and important section of the population of Shanghai, If the Ningpo community here had not hed at its} ead a wise and cautious statesman, used to hindling matters between Chinese and foreigners, like Taotai Shen Tun-ho, there might very easily have been a disturbance here and if the peace of the Setilements had been in danger, is was the duty primarily of the Municipal Council and secondarily of the Consular Body, to take all necessary measures to put down outbreaks of any kind so that. to say that the Consular Body is not concerned in such matier is to overlook their duty as the indirect guardians of the' peace The decision tardily taken, but better late than never by the Russian authorities to try the two Askold men at the Russian Consular Court with a Chinese assessor appointed by the Taotai, is not only in accord with the wishes of the community, but is strictly in accord with the Russian Treaty of Tientsin, which says in Article VIL: Every affair between Russian and Chinese subjects in the open ports and cities will be examined by the Chinese authorities in concert with the Russian Consul, or the agent who represents the authority of the Russian government on the spot." nis la confirmed by the Russian treaty of|unfurtunate Chou Séog-yn might Peking, which again provides for a joint investigation, though in every case the culp: it is to be judged according to che laws of his own country. In the case of the Askold men, however, the question is complicated, by che fact that these men are prisoners of the Chinese government, though enjoying an amount of liberty which is not accorded by tke British government at Hongkong to the Russian sailors who gave themselves up' to the British authorities at Weihaiwei. The course that is now being taken, however, should be satisfactory to the Chinese, who were naturally doubtful of the resuls if the men were left entirely to a court-martial on their own ship, without the presence of a represemative of the Chinese government. Thus we might well hope that a very unhappy incident, in which there were elements of donger to the peace of the Settlements, is finding an acceptable solution.
There appears, however, to be considerable doubt whether the course now proposed to be taken is as satisfactory to the Ningpo community as it was hoped it would de. 'The Taotai, it is stated, is acting, under the orders of the Waiwupu at Peking in declining to be represented, on the enquiry, and in insisting that the accused should be handed to him' for trial; and it is certain that no} assessor was present at the pre-' liminary court-martial as it was' called, held on Monday at the Russian Consu.ate-General, The tone of the Court, we learn, was hardly consistent with the gravity of the offence that is being investigated and unless the Tuotai can be persuaded to modify his attitude and take a part in person, or by an adequate representative, at the trial, we cannot feel' free from any fear of excitement among the Ningpo men here so deep lead possibly to a demonstration. Instead of an actual demonstration in front of the Russian Consulate-General, with which the police, supported if necessary by the Volunteers, would doubtless be able to deal—the Fire Brigade might be the most effective instrument to use,—there have been threatenings of a general strike among the Ningpo people here, which would cause an amount of inconvenience to our business and in our homes which it is appalling to contemplate. We trust that the utter unreasonableness of the proposed strike, if it is seriously proposed,"will become apparent in time to its supposed promoters; for it is utterly unreasonable to make the whole community suffer, when they are entirely innocent of any offence towards the Chinese, an i indeed have had a good deal of sympathy with them. The blow that killed the have fallen on the most respected foreign member of the community, if he had happened to be on the jetty at the time.
We believe that all this trouble and uneasiness might have been avoided if the Russian naval officers interested had treated the matter a little more seriously at first. If they had shown that they appreciated the grave nature of the offence, and had promptly taken measures to investigate it and punish the offender with whatever penally Russian law apints for such an outrage, the hinese, being an eminently reasonable people, would probably have been satisfied. But they have been naturally irritated a the indifference that has been shown, and contrast it with what would have occurred if a Russian had been killed by a Chinese. Is is now nearly three weeks since the outrage occurred, and all that has been done is to begin the holding of a desultory preliminary enquiry. Timeis doubtless a matter of no regard to the officers and crews that fled here for safety, and ure prepared apparently to spend some years of their lives in the upper reach of the harbour; but while justice logy, the fellow-countrymen of the victim are nursing their wrath, and the peace and good order of the Settlements are endangered, Since the above was written it is announced that a special Chinese commissioner has been appointed to try this case, but whether he is intended to be judge or only assesser is not stated.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.