Aug. 1.
Witt readers pardon one more} article about the Chapei Waterworks? We promise to be as brief as possible. First, in connexion with Mr. Liang Yueng-li letter to-day, we have to correct some comment made in our fir leader on this subject. We were not quite fair to the Chinese! press in respect of publicity given to the condition of Chapsi water. We do not quite agree with Mr. Liang in describing such publicity as "almost daily." But there have been a fair number of letters to the editor from private individuals and some organizations, some editorial comment, and at one time, though not, we think, recently, the street unions to their credit' devoted a good deal of attention to the scandalous state of the water. We believe we are right in saying that the students have never bothered themselves about matter in which an educated! lead would have been particular-_ ly valuable, while the Chapei Chamber of Commerce have been conspicuously silent. On the other hand, in our reference to the fuss made over the hawker Who met his death on the Mann Maru, there was no "confusion of issues" as Mr. Liang avers, but a simple and natural comparison. The uproar created over this man was wholly out of proportion to the attention paid to the Chapei Waterworks. To put the very worst possible construction on the affair-of Chen An-dong, the hawker, (we are putting a purely imaginary case, for which we believe there is not the slightest foundation) more cannot be said than that he was killed in a moment of hot blood; and ni one can suppose it was done intentionally.
But the Chapei!
Waterworks for several weeks have been contributing to the slaying of hundreds of Chinese by gross neglect of their duty' and cold-blooded indifference for public welfare.
Furthermore, whatever pubplicity the Chapel Waterworks may have had in the Chinese press, no improvement came of it, "Among the Chinese, it is popularly declared that' ways and means were found of stopping the mouths of protesters. We merely mention that as an instance of what is being said without attaching more importance to it than it deserves. But} the plain fact is that until the Health Department of the International Settlement took action and brought home to the Waterworks Company the appalling filth that they were distributing, nothing was done to cleanse the supply of water. That, as one correspondent points out to-day, is the main point and it must} not be lost sight of in side issues. Whether we were right, or wrong in saying that the conduct of the Chapei Waterworks authorities was typical of Chinese official and semi-official management, does. not, for the moment, matter two straws. What does matter is that for weeks, probably for months, the Chapei Waterworks Company had been supplying water literally poisonous; that in spite of publicity, official notices and protests, nothing was done to amend matters until the foreign authorities took action; that the quality of the water was unquestionably at the bottom of the unprecedented epidemic of cholera; and that gross neglect of the most ordinary supervision and of care of plant was the cause of the water being what it was. We have been accused of exaggerating the condition of the plant: we repeat that those responsible for know perfectly well—or, if they don't, they ought to—that,.|if there was any inaccuracy in our article, it was on the side of under, not over, state mei We rejoice to learn that in consequence of our exposure, the Taoyin has ordered an investigation to be held. One correspondent to-day, who gives a graphic account of affairs as he has found them up country, suggests, that we should not bother about the small fry but go for the big. But the Chapei_ waterworks a pretty big affair as a public utility company, holding a charter to supply a district containing hundreds of thousands of their fellow countrymen. And in this connexion may we venture one more remark? We do not know who is to blame for the state of the works; we only know that it was as we described it, and even worse; and if ever there was a case for' the application of the time-honoured Chinese doctrine, that here is somebody dead and somebody must pay for it, this is one. It is not altogether unknown that in such instances, when inquiry has been, held, the big men have somehow. slipped through the net and vengeance descends on some wretched underlings, who are probably as blameless as they are defenceless. We trust there! will be no possible ground hereafter for thinking that the inquiry ordered by the Taoyin equally miscarried. If good is to come out of evil, as it may do; if the case of the Chapei Waterworks is to have the beneficial results that it may have; then it is the men at the top who must be made to suffer. For! assuredly, as we said at the beginning, in any civilized country, they would be indicted for manslaughter. The Chapei Waterworks scandal is a test case. It is being watched in other countries besides China.
We understand that a meeting of the conservative and extreme elements of the Kuomintang soon be held to settle the differences which have strained their relations and brought about a breach in the party.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.