The only news in the statement by a spokesman of the Waichiaopa which Reuter's Nanking correspondent reports to-day, relative to a Powers on the abolition of extraterritoriality, is the intimation that, when this note has been sent, the' Powers' replies to' the former note will be releas~ ed, They are certainly long overdue and one hears that % good deal of pressure has been used be-Thind the scenes by foreign representatives in China to ge: them Published, Since the American reply has actually appeared there' can be no possible reason for further withholding the others. As regards the second note which the Chinese Foreign Office is preparing, frankly, it is not easy to see what purpose it can serve. It may be presumed that the Powers know what they were doing in declining Dr. Wang's proposals, they certainly took their time in replying to him, and it hardly seems likely that he can produce more reasons than he has done already to induce them to change their minds. Furthermore, it could not be argued with any chance of success that the ministration of justice in China is such as to enable extraterritoriality to be surrendered, With all proper sympathy for her ambitions, it has' to be recognized that there is a wide discrepancy between good intentions and hard facts, Two cases fare reported in our, columns to-day which deserve attention, In the opium ease at Kiukiang, the question whether Andersen was or was not guilty is immaterial compared with the way in which he was treated. He was kept in prison fox several weeks before being tried, apparently under very bad conditions; the judge at the trial practically acted as prosecutor and it seems clear that Andersen's guilt was assumed from the outrer; part the evidence brought against him was obviously trumpery, namely. that of a policeman on the hulk who was never en the abip; and the most important witness of "li the Commissioner of Customs, to. whom Ardersen says that he roporte: l the the dieeovery of the opium. was never called to testify to the truth of this all-important state, nent "of the defence. The second ense is tint reported by a corres; onitent of the "Hongkong Daily "Press, of a British resident of Swatow, having illed a work, is said to have been shut up in a Chinese Police cell and made to pay extort tionate compensation. "We de fo our correspondent's assumption that we are "apparently inclined to endorse the view" that the British Consul in Swatow acted in a weak-kneed manner. 'That was not the Intention of our reference tp the lent in Monday's issue. As we {ioe implies it has yet to be ar} certained whether the facts are reported to the "Hongkong Daily' Press" and reprinted from it by us. We think that from any point of view the ease calls for serupufous inguiry and full ventilation. Supposing the story has been exaggerated and the Consul's action misrepresented: then, as matters stand, he lies under an undeserved Stigma, he should be exonerated and deserves an apology, which ire sure the "Hongkong Dally Press" will give him as readily we shall. But supposing the story true: then surely it. should be Known. why the Consul failed to support his countryman and tolerate obvious an injustice and breach of the foreigner's rights by the Chinese. If the explanation is, suggested on Monday, that the Consul. despaired of getting, any support from the Legation in Peking, then it has to be asked, what has the Legation been doing, leaving undate, to induce "this dispirited frame of mind in the Consulir Service? "If, in-turn, the Legation feels that it can count on no support from the Foreign Ofice in defending British subjects the most elementary matters of Justice and treaty rights, then the China Association, or the Associated British Chambers. of Commerce, or both, should exert all their power to have the matter fully ventilated in the House of Commons. For, to sum up, if the report given to the 'Hongkong Daily Press" is true, a great injustice has been done. treaty Fights violated and British prestige impaired. It is in ways like' this that the foreigner's extraterritorial status is gradually being undermine fed, and we do not believe it is the will of the present British Government that' such encroachments should be permitted, and its representatives in China compelled to feel that they will not be sup-Ported in standing' up. for the fellow-subjects of His Majesty. A full investigation is called for. if the facts are not as whose dog had killed a work and who was shut up all night ina. Chinese police cell and forced to ay $50 compensation, which was probably quite unmerited and certainly was vastly beyond the wonk's value. In this case the behaviour Tt the report is true, the ultimate responsibility must be shown, It is a test case, which must not be allowed to pass into oblivion. the British consul, if indeed it was as reported, calls for inquiry. We do not know his name and write entirely without prejudice; the story may be exaggerated; or the consu) may have grown so di couraged through years of failure to get support at headquarters, that may' simpl crests, that it calls for further inquiry and, if the facts are correct, for action. The alleged behaviour of the Chinese police and of the faked witness could be paralleled many times over, The suggestion made in the American reply to Dr. Wang's first note, that discussions should be held with a view to the ment of extraterproof of reduction of effective reforms in China's judicial system, is un-Jdoubtedly the best and most practical course. This was the suggestion of the Strawn Commission. It is the method followed after the Opium Convention of 1908 for the extinetion of the import of Indian opium, when the Manchu Government was putting down cultivation in China; and Jong before the stipulated time Great Britain was enabled, by the progress of actual reform in China to out off the altogether.
"The End of the Woodlark There is sometimes an excuse to preface the story of the wreck of a [ship with the customary "we regret to announce", and surely if there. were ever such an occasion it is in [connection with the grounding of the str. Cassum. She was not always) 30 called. Once she was Ibs Majesty's Ship Woodlark and in this, Power she once offered to blow Silver. Island in the Yangtze "out of thi water" unless such and such wa: done. And lo! such and such was done. Her career of usefulness to His Majesty drew to an end in 1927 she was fitted out as a minesweepers to cope with the mines. which, rumour had it, were to be floated down the river from the Reds. in Hankow. But she-was not need-odin thie capacity and eventually came under the hammer, being refitted as a river boat—boarded up as to the sides and generally disguised, Her adventurous trip to Hongkong will not soon be forgotten; all kinds of things happened to her but she weathered them and her skipper detered her safely into the care of Mr. S. A. Cassumbhoy, her present owner. Hence, presumably, the name 'Cassum. 'During the recent. typhoon' la Canton she was driven ashore and after it was over she was discovered in Capsuimun Pass.
ith her back broken and her ere In answer. to the reader whose lotter on the above case we print today, we have telegraphed to South' China to try to get more information on the' affair of the foreigner at Swatow who, his dog ig. And what an added indig-1 Thieves had boarded her and removed an iron safe and most of her fittings, valued at about $470, Could anything further happen to her? It is possible that salvage experts can mend broken backs if they are worth it; but in the case of the, Cassum it is to be doubted. She
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.