Now.
'With the oral announcement! to the Nanking Government that' the settlement of what is now Imown as the Thorburn case, as outlined in the Chinese note to HIM. Minister, published in another column, is acceptable to the British Government, a matter which has excited the attention of the British public at home and abroad has been officially closed. The Note con: firms the worst fears which] were early felt as to the fate which had overtaken the young aman, He was shot on June 8 week after he was captured, by a military official who, provoked aby the behaviour of the prisoner, drew his pistol and killed him. Colonel Huang realizing what he had done destroyed all the evidence available and enjoined silence on his men, The very mature of the story is the best internal evidence of its general truth and it is not possible to refuse to accept the explanation which Nanking, as the result of the inquiry ordered by General Chiang Kai-shek, has been able to make of the occurrence, In deed, in view of the very distressing facts ultimately disclosed no little credit attaches to the manner in which the Chinese government have frankly wid what happened. Naturally some hesitation will be felt at accepting all the statements contained in the note, especially the reported discovery of articles the possession of which would import a quality of criminality into the doings or plans of the dead man, In the absence of material corroboration this por: tion of the explanation may quite properly be taken little colouring matter imported by junior officials to explain thei course of action between June 2 and. June 8, and to that extent seek to secure some mitigation of the criticism to which their procedure must be subject, The reasons given by Nanking fox the delay in supplying the British Government with their version of what, actually haypenvd cast no reflection upon the Chinese Government, They do, however, call into question the amount of control over their subordinate officials and their general handling of foreigners who happen to come into their custody, It is clear that a person of the peculiar temperament of Colonel Huang, who, provoke ed by an unarmed prisoner, shoots him out of hand, was not the type of person best fitted to occupy a position of command, and it points to the danger that foreigners do encounter when it happens that they fall into the hands of subordinate officials as irresponsible as they are ixrational. It cannot be too clearly emphasized that the avoidance of such incidents in the future can only be ensured by the devising of adequate machinery for the purpose of dealing with foreigners who may be unfortun~ ate enough to come into the hands of the Chinese authorities.
There is something even more serious. Whatever may or may] mot have been the charges against the late Mr. Thorburn, it} is clear that he was not brought before a court of law at the earest possible moment—that he was held for a period of a week in the custody of a military branch of the government without} any opportunity being given him, apparently, to secure advice or comfort. "He was not handed over to the jurisdiction of court where his interests might] have been better protected, for, even if he were guilty of the charges levelled against him in the note, he still had interests which it would be the duty of a thoroughly established judicature to care for, Had "Thorburn been handed over to the Courts, however efficient they may or may not be, he would not have been subjected to interrogation by Col. Huang and the opportunity for feommitting the murder would never have occurred. Thus while the frankness of the Chinese government is to its credit, it] must not be surprised if the foreign communities in China view of the abolition of extraterritoriality with no little en. Extraterritoriality did not in this case, and probably! never will convey all the protec: tion that is sometimes desired of it, But so long as it is possible for prisoners to be held outside the law, as Thorburn was held for seven days—even leaving the other important considerations jaside—so long will people, who are accustomed to being taken before a magistrate at the earliest Possible moment, feel considerable nervousness at the prospect of a possible transfer to a jurisdiction where such incidents as the Thorburn case are rendered osaible by the system which ists,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.