Peking, March 93.
The Peking Government takes it wary much to. heart that attention thas been drawn. to Prince Tuan's return from exile by your correspondent. In the "Peking Daily News," the former Anfu organ, which has been. limping along under Government patronage since January 1, there has been printed a studied personal attack upon the writer, which at the end is made to include all the others who have had the presumption to continue writing upon Governmental affairs in Peking uninfluenced by subsidy ies, and which reads as follows:—
Reports asour Prince Tuan.
Inacivation versus ACCURAG
In "The North-China Daily News'" of the 15th instant we noticed a zeport, from the Peking correspondent of that paper, to the effect that Prince Tuan had been brought back to Peking by his clansmen with the consent of the Chinese authorities here. After exhhaustive inquiry in such Government viroles as were likely to be informed on the matter, we are unable to find aay support whatever for the statements lo, and of course the insinuations and innuendoes based om the report fall altogether to the ground, and do not need to be denied in detail. Unfortunately this is not the first time that the correspondent in question has trusted rather to current gossip than to ascertained and ascertainable facts, Inquiry in the proper quarters would quickly have demonstrated the incorrectness of the reports. The incident is regrettable, because such reports encourage mischievous attacks on the Chinese Government and may lead to a breach of the peace, There are Governments that would not have hesitated to deal with a matter of this kind in a way that would not have been at. all pleasant for those concerned; and there can be little doubt that hada like indiscretion been committed by one of cur vernacular contemporaries it tcf any of the foreign Legations, some official notice would have been taken of the matter.
In this connexion we may point out that recently there has been a good deal of criticism of the Chinese Government which, whether in substance justified or not, has not been temperately expressed; and this criticism has by no means been confined to the less repute able section of the Chinese Press. As wwe recently remarked, in another connexion, fair and, if justifiable, eve severe criticism, and healthy Government will welcome, but between that kind of criticism and mere violent denunciation there is a difference; and even in the case of the former, those who are enjoying the hospitality of tie country should recognize that there ave limits set by common courtesy.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.