Feb. 6.
Although there has been no official disclosure on the foreign side, enough is known of the results reached at the conference on the future of the Provisional Court to give cause for very grave anxiety. On Jai uary 28 Dr, Wang Chung-hui, President of the Judicial Yuan, broadcast an epitome of what had been done by the Chinese and foreign delegates. He does not appear to have mentioned, or, if he did, that part of the speech not reported, the slight securities over the functioning of the Court which have been retained. The most important of these, we understand, is that the police would still be municipal police, appointed by the Court froma list supplied by the Council, and under the charge of a foreign superintendent, through whose hands all orders would pass. In extreme cases a check upon abuse might thus be exercised; but it is easily understood that the Council would be chary of forbidding the police to execute the Court's orders. For all practical purposes the Court would be under uncontrolled Chinese management, the Deputies being withdrawn, the foreign chief cle ship abolished and protests only able to be made in writing after the event. Whether any pledge has been given that the Municipal By-laws shall be enforced and previous judgments of ti Court upheld, we do not know. There is reason to believe that considerable controversy took place over the question of the but there is no infor-to the result. There is a report, which appears likely to be true, that the agreement—if that can be called an agreement which looks s0 much like simple surrender—is—supplemented by an exchange of letters, But the value of such addenda is always doubtful.-The documents have now gone to Peking, where it is understood the Diplomatic Body have power to sign them without reference to their Governments.
We would urge very carnestly that the Ministers will - not sign the agreement until its contents have been made known to those who ate conversant with the Court and those who will be affected by its operation. It is to-be emphasized that no Deputies took part in the conference at Nanking. We believe we are right'in saying that permission. there was no one on the foreign side who had any first-hand experience of the working of the Court during the past three years; and further, that neither the Deputies nor ' the Council were ever consulted on points under discussion nor permitted to know anything of the course of events, It must also frankly be said that there is a distinct tendency in some official quarters to.assume that there has been much exaggeration in respect of the Court's mismanagement, In controversial matters, when men feel strongly, there not infrequently is exaggeration, But when all possible allowance has been made on that score, there remains more than enough unquestionable fact in respect of the handling of the Court, justify the most serious misgiving of what it may become in future through imprudent concessions. No reflection is necessary to show that an uncontrol-Jed Chinese Court functioning in the Settlement could, if it pleased, effectually wreck the Council's authority. We do not say that under the present Government it would do so. But governments in China are not 40 absolutely stable that we can afford to take any risk on a matter of such vital importance. Surely it cannot be proposed to present the Council and rate~ payers, among whom are most emphatically to be included the whole body of Chinese resident in the International Settlement, with the fait accompli of a signed agreement, on whose contents they have never been allowed to express an opinion and against which it will then be too late to protest?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.