Oct, 7.
Tue Chinese-Government appears to have been trying to make firienis, against the future, with the mammon of unrighteousness in its agreement regarding the Chinese Eastern Railway, with, at the same time, a keen eye on the importance of barring out the stealthy insinuation of Japanese control.
Reuter's telegram of October 4 from Peking outlining the agreement is substantially correct, but betrays one or two misunderstandings. It speaks rather as if the Russo-Asiutic Bank and the Railway were in some way under the same management, at any rate a sort of joint affair. This is wrong. The Bank and the Railway are quite separate concerns, and the former's interest in the C.E.R., though admittedly an important one, is only that of principal shareholder. Tt was in this capacity that the Bank authorities approached the Chinese Government when the latter broke off relations with Prince Koudacheff. So far back as last February the repeated and obvious attempts of the Japanese militarists to annex the railway— there is no other word for it—had caused alarm; and a scheme was put before the Legations for ing the C.. R. under international control. As usual, the Legations frittered away time, delaying to make up their minds until it was too late. The outcome the present agreement, which appears (o be a very work. able scheme, confirming the raily's status as an ordinary Russo-Chinese company well defined and secured.
The important point in it is} that 3 riy important decision must be signed by seven of the ten directors, of whom five are Russian, five Chinese, one of the latter being the President of China, who previously exercised a casting vote: the preponderating power of this vote is thus neutralized by the new agreement. It is in this respect that we say that China seems to have remembered the mammon of unrighteousness. While she steals Russian extraterritorial rights with one hand, she would be able to say to any future recognized Russian Government: ''See how careful was to safeguard the C. E. R. and the fall share of its control by Russian shareholders."
In one other respect Reuter's Peking correspondent speaks loosely and misleadingly. 'No provision has been made' in the agreement"
as regards the Russo-Asiatic Bank flying the French flag (which it does not but will certainly continue, to do) for the simple reason that the two questions have nothing whatever tu do with each other. So far back as in 1918, for reasons connected with the internal state of Russia, the French Government informed the Chinese Government that the Russo-Asiatic Bank was under its protection, whereof the French flag is merely the ensign necessarily shown vow in view of the chaos in Russian afproduced by the rupture with Prince Koudacheff. China neither objected in 1918 nor had done so ap to the time of that rupture and therefore has no possible excuse for objecting now, While the interests of these two great concerns are thus safeguarded, the extraterritorial rights of the Russian people are as much in danger as ever, wore so indeed, as every day during which the Powers fail to awaken to the extreme seriousness of the position increases the chances of its becoming irrevocable. The British Legation is apparently still without any instructions -from Home. The American Legation is reported to favour the Russian community in China being left under the charge of their old Russian officials, the latter, how-to be subject to the Chines this, of course, i volition of Russian ity. As regards one of the Shanghai Rus-1 Hewspapers stated yesterday, we believe, that it had been pr tically decided that the French Legation should assuve the pro-But this we pretty sure is ina te, the ench "Legation holding the view that such a job is too much for it and can properly be executed only by the five big Powers. The Japanese Legation is believed to be rootedly opposed to China's predatory exploits, but has. certainly made no such vigorous proas is customarily expected Japan objects to anything Peking desires.
The whole situation is so simple in outline, so dangerous in its ultimate consequences, that it seems almost incredible that a fortnight can have elapsed since the rupture was announced by Mandate and the Legations not-to have stirred. Let it be repeated {ed without permission.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.