Miles Lampson has got into touch with Dr. C, T, Wang in regard to the British Government's recent representations on the disappearance of Mr. John Thorburn, The intense interest which is being taken in this cas has not died away with announcement, of the British Foreign Office's firm support of the views taken by the foreign community here and by public opinion in England. Mr. Henderson's precise instructions to Sir Miles Lampson have been warmly appreciated. It is felt that now the Chinese Government have unmistakable proof of the gravity with which the issue is Yegarded, it is possible to hope that appropriate action will be taken to remove the reticence hitherto adopted by the military authorities in Soochow. Th fact, however, that there has eon a cessation of the comment which a few days ago was flooding the correspondence columns of this journal does not indicate a subsidence of relentment among the foreign community over the manner of Mr. Thorburn's treatment. Rather is this due to the conviction that Sir Miles Lampson, fortified as he has been by the strong expression of his countrymen' Views and by the unequivocs attitude of his departmental chief, will be able to exercise his diplomatic gifts to good pose. There i also the feeling that the Chinese Gover ment, unwisely no doubt, have been lured into a false position by the unruly temperament, of their military subordinates. This does not excuse the palpable unreality of their official report to the British Minister. It suggests, however that it should not be diffieu them to extricate them: from an admittedly danger position without any loss dignity and yet supply Sir Mites with the information to which he is entitled, putting forward these aspects of the case it is neces sary to lay stress on the importance of keeping public opinion in touch with what is happening. No reasonable m: will demand the irreverent unveiling of the course of conversations between the two Ministers at Nanking. There has been so much anxiety over this case, there is still so great a desire that it should not be allowed to develop into a stalemate, that the avoidance of misunderstanding of—official proceedings is of special ment.= It will be agi the "information available to the British Consulate in Shanghai was readily disclosed: to the Press on inquiry made. Tribute has indeed been paid to the energy and devotion of Mr. A. L. Scott, without whose efforts such details of Mr. Thorburn's adventures as are now public property would not have been forthcoming. Sir Miles Lampson has now arrived ea the scene. It is probable therefore that the dissemination of information will in future. be an obligation: which he wilt regard as peculiarly his own or; that of Downing Street. From the sudden absence of information at the Consulate it may. deducted that he has already taken this view. It is to be hoped that he will realise that whatever merits it possesses do not depend on the observance of a secrecy beyond the. ordinary Fequirements of the task before It is often urged that the public and the Press are apt unfairly to judge and still more unfairly to criticise the doings of Governments and officials. The justice of that contention must inevitably depend on the extent to which the institutions criticised endeavour to keep ab-toast with modern standards of intelligence. To-day the sthtesman who complains that he has been condemned without just cause, finds it difficult to obtain sympathy if it be shown that he has neglected the ordinary means of keeping the public in tune with his policy and actions. It often happens that measures taken, after public criticism has vented itself in the absence of guidance on the subject, are attributed, quite wrongly, to the pressure of that criticism. It is. always dificult to prove that post hoc is not necessary proper hoc. While therefore it ig reasonable for the British Government to maintain that the action which they have taken has been consistently indicated from the first moment that Mr. Thorburn's disappearance was known to them, they will not be surprised if,' in no small measure, the expressions of pubic opinion forthcoming from Shanghai and London in various guises are considered to have acted with stimulant effect. No one would pretend that conditions in China can be compared satisfactorily with conditions in more press-ridden countries. There is a danger however in treating this difference as xodsent opportunity for the continued taciturnity of conscious rectitude. No Goveraut department in England or jew here to-day would find such an opportunity palatable, "e-cause of experience of the benefits of maintaining a_ proper: olson with the press and, 0, public opinion, There is little doubt that much acerbity discernible in the public discussion of political controversies here might be avoided were these principles borne in mind with due appreciation of their worth. It will be admitted that only too often the communicativeness of the Chinese Government on certain phases of diplomatic cussion has thrown into si relief the silence of foreign governments on matters the disclosure of which would have been not only free from objection but positively vital to a proper public appreciation of the issues involved. It is useless for Governments, on the one, hand, to deplore the ignorance of public criticism and, on the other, to take zealous steps to prevent that ignorance from being removed. And, in the last resort, the Governments are the servants of the public and are rightly expected to render an account of their doings, in good season.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.