Sept. 5.
Qne of the most remarkable outbursts we have ever read against the British, in that notoriously anti-British publica-ion the "China Weekly Review," appears in its issue of last turday, under the heading "For Gallantry." Under the pretext of congratulating Sergt. Moir for his courageous exploit of Sunday, August 25, when he entered the lair of armed kidnappers, killed three and wounded two of the gang who opened fire on him, the writer of the first editorial in the peri-'Sdieal in question indulges in a scurrilous attack, not only on the brave man in question, but on the whole of the police force Shanghai, We say this advisedly because the application of the word "killer" in an Am Jean. publication to such a man Moir, with all the meaning that the word has accumulated through usage in the American press, is, in effect, opprobrious.
have not at: the moment an example to quote from, but to our memory, the term was applied to such men as the notorious Hickman, while we have ready enough example of the use of a synonym in the "Morn-Sng Oregonian" of August 8. Reporting the case of a man on trial for murder we find in the ing "Slayer follows Mother Wife in Court" and lower down in the report "Slayer's Wife on the Stand." The mean-ug, therefore, of the following passage in the "China Weekly Review" is too clear to need fur ther comment:
Thus although we have little praise to offer for an act which Fesults in such revolting sleighter, yet from a distance, and in a pure-Jy objective manner, the personal gallantry of Sergeant. Moir, who certainly wins the title of' "the Killer," commands our respect, If the meaning were not clear enough the following extracts taken from the same article may Herve to make it clearer: "Exequently we hear of brave con-nct by the men appointed to guard law-abiding society from evils that besiege it during peaceful seasons. Yet in the Jocal police force real gallantry is 0 rare a thing as to be conspicuous and worthy of tribute." An endeavour to praise Moir at the expense of his comrades What is the truth of the matter?
From the beginning of 1924 to date, the Shanghai Police Force, 3n its task of guarding law-abiding society from the evils which besiege it, suffered ninety-five casualties at the hands of armed desperadoes. Of that number forty were killed. If the laying down of one's life Sri the execution of duty is not dhe highest form of gallantry, possibly the periodical in que tion will tell us what is. Real gallantry in the local—police force is not s0 rare as to be conspicuous: forty lives in five-jand-a-half years justifies us in gaying that it is the worthiest tradition of our police. Forty hives give the lie to this traducer at forty cents a week.
But if the above libels were not sufficient to brand the writer the article and the editor
art the following may serve: to published it, for what they! emphasize the vileness of this execrable attack on the service:
We remain at a loss to understand the psychology of a supposed-_ ly civilized "man who voluntarily} will enlist in a unit which advocates murder as a means of ex-forcing law. It is frightful enough to be ordered to kill in an emer-_ gency, such as a so-called "war of defence." At the same time one cannot but recognize the personal heroism of Sergeant Moir, who, single-handed, faced a body of men equally as intent upon killing as the squad of which he was a member. It is true that he wore a Dullet-proof vest—but we understand this did not protect the rest his person, And that it was not} entirely adequate is shown by the fact that he was wounded in spite of the protection, We do not wish to answer the above charge (indicated by, italics, which are ours) by. drawing parallels with the state of affairs to be found in certain other cities, but it ill- become: an American. publication to criti ize the system prevailing in Shanghai, in view of disclosures made with regard to the enforce ment of prohibition, and the no?
19 distant references of President Hoover to the question of, crime in the United States. Whatever the British do not do, they certainly do not advocate "murder as a means of en-foreing law." But they do enforce the law, and, in 1926 alone, five foreigners laid down their lives in that sacred duty; it is because of such devotion to duty that British law and order has} maintained that respect which is accorded it by the highest authorities in the United States. It may not yet be clear to the "China Weekly Review," but it is nevertheless a fact that. the local police long ago learned that an armed desperado could not be dealt with with few kind words, and we have no doubt that, were those! responsible for the article faced by such a character, they would. find that the gentleness the; apparently show for the criminal would stand them in little stead, There is much more in. the article of an equally obnoxious nature, too much of it to be di with in this column, but the whole trend of the writing in question is the same—a contemptible attempt to scandalize a body of men who daily take: their lives in their hands for} the protection of the community. We quite agree that, wherever possible, criminals should be apprehended and subjected to the due process of law, but that is an argument the point of which is generally lost on an armed robber faced with imminent arrest. Nor do we find that} he is any more careful of the; lives of innocent bystanders than' the police are alleged to be. On the other Hand it has been reported time after time that the police have been hampered by the crowds that gather when a shooting affray commences, that! criminals, for whose skins the China Weekly Review" is 80] delicately considerate, have escaped because of police reluctance to shoot in densely thronged streets. And the authorities! have done all in their power to warn crowds to be off. the: streets when, © shooting com-merices. They have not yet] embarked on a campaign—i0 make our thoroughfares safer] for the criminal which the publication in question seems s0 earnestly to advocate.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.