To the Editor of the "NontH-CHiNA Datty News."
Sir—The warm hearted, but mis-golded letter written by Mr. King aman deserves a reply, and as one who comes into contact with, and has to handle a number of graduales, i.e, the "finished product" of the Universities, I think I may be entitled to say a few words.
(2) There is not the slightest doubt that all colleges and Universities now in the latest years turn graduates the greater number of whom have not the slightest con" ception of what discipline and res poet for elders mean, nor have they] any understanding of their ows Jimitations or that duties should Lefore pleasure and service. before relfaggrandisement. There are, course, exceptions, no cloud without its silver lining, but the above in the sad rule at present and as the nature of boys presumably is the same now as before, "ithe responsibility. rests with the "teachers and parents, primarily the first, as they forted the misguided and" min guiding so-called "-Gemoeratic and humanitarian move-dent which the teachers or "Professors" are Joreigners, special blame attaches to them as they should have Known better; but also to the par-"ents who seem completely to have forgotten their responsibility as. uch carry a heavy responsibility. Vinally, the fact that public bodies Uke the Bankers Association and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce let} themselves be led and dictated to by boys speaks for itself, That be-Wind the boys stands (well hidden perhaps, but not xo well as not be discernible) the sinister power 8 the third internationale, does not make the picture any brighter, (2) Mr. Kingman asks us to remember our own youthful college days and try to understand the students. viewpoint. Well, yes we id, T did in any case, no doubt at commit a number of foolish and we were at times both unruly and misbehaved; but at each fuel instance we were at once Drought sternly to book by our parents and responsible authorities and no way was our conduct con doned by the public, (I am spenking of course of "students" as we understand the term, not schoolboys, "preparatory school men," oh ye who simply had no chance masters cane saw to that). any "raging" outside the school—However, even the instances Tam. thinking of were at worst but youth Sol pranks, we did not incite to Mikes or disorder nor advocate or attempt resistance to lawful authori ity. In the few instances where each has been the ease with students in Europe and America. the youthful malefactors have been made to feel the strong arm of the Jaw—even to the point of losing their lives as justified by the riot net, nor has in such cases anybody dreamt of making the authorities responsible for the consequences—even if fatal—to the rioters.
We can all understand that it is possible for young men to be led fat ray, we can allan one man deplore the sad result in the present fares but we cannot with Mr. Kingman try to justify. their un: Iuowful act oF hold that they should Hat have suffered the consequences. They" may have been. misled: by those amongst them who were, even Mr. Kingman. thinks, bought Yy the Third Internationale. But that does not alter the fact that the law or its servants didn't harder' means in preventing their vnlawfal acts than' necessary.
(3) And that brings me to the third point, what does in Mr. Ringe saan's eyes' constitute a riot? When students: openly om publigstreata azeach against the authorities and against the foreigners. in whone Settlement they live, when they, opon being ordered to do so, refuel ore are arrested, when their fel to stop this or to disperse and there-
lows, "strengthened by lot. loose rabble attack and rash: th Polie, Knock down and trample on ficers doing their daty, and. tempt to take their weapons from them under vies of "Kill the foreigner," when they rush ani try to storm the police station Hiberate prisoners—if that is not, riot, then what is?
Mr, Kingman and our Chinese! {friends make much out of the fact that the students were not armed:
What mob is in such a case? They Jwere thousands to a few police, {2} they had been armed not one officer would have been alive to tell the tale and it would not have been riot, but organized revolution. We had experience enough in 1905 what the result was of disarming the police jand forbidding them to shoot, at least this time it was the malefactors themselves who suffered, that is better than when it was the other way around All wit-ree that the police only'
last resort. It is very, very \d that it should have been necessary, but it is no good trying hide the fact that it was necess-ery, and the sooner the Chines: are' made to understand this and that, if necessary, it will be done again, the better for all concerned, Tam, ete,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.