The only proper course for the {judicial authorities is to grant bail the accused. Adequate security, in hundreds of thousands of dol lars, was forthcoming, for the Bourse Committee representing the Jeading business men in Harbi-, fand numerous well-to-do and. respectable residents of the town came afterward months ago to vouch that [Gstroumoft would not leave Harbin until the trial had taken place. addition to this the representatives fof various foreign Powers approached the higher Chinese authorities on Ostroumoft's behalf.
Yet every effort to lighten the of of Ostroumof and his colleagues nes been without avail, no explanstion being given why and numerous telegrams that have been despatehed from time to time by official anc private persons to Peking and elsewhere being ignored.
Nor did Ostroumoff and his ool-
Teagues benefit by the mandate of amnesty issued on January 1 by Marshal Tuan Chi-jui, which sccording to the exact text and the fhterpretation of all the Harbin Jadiclary institutions, also applied to" Ostroumoff and" his railway colleagues. Very soon after the mandate of amnesty had been received in Harbin the local Court authorities began setting free a Range number of prisoners confined both Harbin" and Fuchiatien prisons and among them @ number fof Russians, yet under one pretext fad another they put off the re-Teusing of Ostroumoff and it war nly on February 1 that a telegram was received from Marchal Chang Teo-lin stating that owing to the special position of the. District of the Three Eastern Provinees he considered it nieetsary to make the following exceptions from the amnesty mancute of the Chict Executive (1) For cases referring to an lover threw of the existing govern-mont system in China.
(2) For forging of banknotes.
(8) For graft by officials.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.