July Sir, since the very beginning lof the present unhappy crisis in China, nothing has occasioned more remark than the admirable iway in which you have kept order jin your province of Hunan. While passion was being fanned by misguided men all through China and many deeds of vioence were committed against, wholly innocent foreigners, we) read with respect and pleasure lof how you refused to allow public meetings, inflammatory speechjes, dangerous and hatred-rai ing posters. At a meeting lealled at your yamen on June 6 lyon are reported to have said—latter expressing your commiseraition at the lives lost in Shang-thai, a feeling which indeed all foreigners truly share:—'What influence can we have in telegraphing counsel to other provinces, if we cannot keep order here in Hunan? We must watch jand keep order, lest we have another outburst similar to what oclourred in the Boxer year and lest, jas a result, we find China broken jup and her integrity destroyed."
But now, Sir, another report! reaches us. We are told that you have "led the way," by sending)
circular telegram to other proes, pointing out that as negotiations so far have been fruitless, it is now high time to call together delegates who shall lcrente a National Defence Asso-lation. Other countries have their National Security Leagues jand similar organizations. Why not China? A preliminary meeting, the report goes on, was cal in your yamen on July 10, including members of the provincial cabinet and other responsible tizens, to carry the plans for a [Defence Association along to completion. If this be true, than presumably it was as the result of this meeting that the Hunan Provincial Assembly sent to other provinces the telegram of which lwo get this translation:—i"Words only have characterized up Il now the discussion of the Shanghai case. Let action now follow. [Let the Will of the People go before jas and Military Strength bring up jour Rear. Those who kill our countrymen are really upsetting world peace. Let us have done with them, Since negotiations on a diplomatic leases have broken down, let there be preparations for a declaration of In the drys to come the movement for Redressing National [Disgrace will yet shake the whole country! *Let all legislative assembles take note and prepare, Let all civil and military officers iveady! Thus shall we bring into beling an awakened national conseious-
All this is so much at variance \with what you said in your yamen lon June 6, that we would fain believe there is some misunderstanding and that you have been itraduced. But if the report is correct, then, Sir, we would cai Inestly ask you to pause for moment and to reflect that first thoughts are sometimes better than second.
We certainly cannot be surpris-fed that you are indignant because some of your countrymen were shot on May 30; nor can we [blame you for listening to the students' account of what happened on that day. It is natural for men to give most credence to their own nationals: of the same levant, a foreigner will instinetively' prefer the foreign version land a Chinese prefer the Chinese, But we would ask you, as we late sure you will do, to remember that there are always two sides to every question. And in this respect we venture to assert that foreigners have proved themselves more open-minded than the Chinese. The "North China Daily News," in common with all forleign papers in Shanghai, has published many letters, some of them very long, from its Chinese readers, allowing them freely to state their point of view. But Ino Chinese paper would accept larly statement from a foreigner; land when, Inst week, the "Sinlwanpao" and the "Shunpao" at last_published a foreign version lof the events of May 30, the students and strike-leaders'comipelled these papers to desist land, it is even said, made them pay a fine to the strike funds for having dared to publish anything contrary to what the stud-lents had said, This paper has always admitted that the Chinese "have a lease" as the lawyers say, in re-Ispect of May 30. Men were kill-fed, and we know well the Chinese saying: "A beggar has no friend; la dead man has a hundred relations." But the Municipal Counil also has a ease which must appeal to y Governor of a great province, responsible for the welfare of millions of your fellow countrymen. No doubt the Jstudents who came out to make la demonstration on May 30 in ithe Nanking Road were just misguided, thoughtless, excitable. But you, Sir, know well how such demonstrations collect crowds; and how crowds work themselves up to passion; and thow bad men appear as if by magic to take advantage of the excitement and to destroy and Ncot: and so there comes a mo-Iment when those. responsible for ithe general welfare are obliged to take the strongest measures, even to the killing of a few,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.