Nov.
Lixz Chinese journalists guardedly upbraiding the misdeeds of "'a certain Power,'' our correspondent to-day laments the misunderstanding of ''certain foreign papers' with regard to Russian status in China since the breach of relationships. But as every sentence he quotes comes from our columns; as we take pride in the fact that no paper in China has fought harder for the sanctity of Russian treaty rights than the ''North-China Daily News''; and as we are not in the least afraid of Russians misunderstanding our efforts or "resenting the editors' patronizing attitude," we readily accept the cap which Mr. Chiwan offers and wear it without fear or misgiving.
One preliminary word. He speaks throughout his letter of "China's'' doing this and that. We prefer to say Peking." What China, the great business world, the farmers, the shopkeepers and artisans, would do in the case under discussion we do not know because neither in this nor any other instance has she a chance of showing. The Chinese instinct for justice and the fine reputation of the Chinese business man for honourable dealing suggest that she would behave very differently from Peking. But between China. and her so-called Government there is no connexion. And the character of the latter, its general, utter untrustworthiness, is sufficiently shown by the chorus of insistance from Chinese and foreigners alike that not one cent of famine relief money shall be allowed to pass uncontrolled through the hands of any Peking official.
We say that Peking has stolen the Russian people's extraterritorial rights, and we repeat the word, because, in the first place, it has done what it would never have dared to do if Russia had been able to resist or if it had not had a pretty good inkling that no united protest by the Powers was to be dreaded. Those rights were secured by the Treaty of Petrograd, last renewed in 1881 and running automatically until August of next year. Now the one provision of extraterritorial rights which everybody can understand is that the people en-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.