( 30 )
APPENDIX R.
Letter from Mr. H. B. Graybill, of Canton Christian College, to Rev. A. Baxter, Vice-President of Canton Christian College. (Reprinted from the South China Morning Post.)
Dear Mr. Baxter, May I say that your published statement implying some measure of responsibility for the resolutions passed by the Americans at the Canton Christian College, June 24th, and published in the papers as such, must have been due to some confusion as to the various meetings, held and documents drawn up.
These resolutions were those of the American staff and were drawn up and passed at a meeting held just after you had left the grounds. They should therefore in no way involve you.
I should like to add that the Americans in that meeting did not know that their own nationals, the American Marines, were not responsible for a full share of the fighting. At that
time we supposed that they most probably were, but we had no idea that the British would afterwards be singled out as the responsible parties. I still see no reason for that development since other nationals were involved. Yours sincerely.
( 31 )
APPENDIX S.
Letter dated the 30th June from Mrs Pugh. (Reprinted from the Hongkong Telegraph of 1st July, 1925.)
Sir, Since your representative interviewed me, I have had several chats with three or four members of the staff of the Canton Christian College, and I am sorry to say that they appear to still persist in their attitude proclaimed in the surprising letter signed by "Seventeen Americans. + One of them told me that it was necessary to defend the Chinese, right or wrong. "Right or wrong?" I replied, and the answer I received was, "Yes, because if we didn't the Chinese staff would ask us to resign upon our return when the trouble is over.
Mr. Baxter, who bore the brunt of the whole thing, has not received any support from the other signatories; in fact, one of the seventeen told me that Mr. Baxter has already been requested to resign. I am writing this because I believe that it should be widely known that most of the signatories to the letter of protest are still defending their action as just, although how they can reconcile their consciences is quite beyond me-Yours, etc.
HONGKONG, June 30th, 1925.
ELIZABETH PUGH.
HONGKONG, June 27, 1925.
(Sgd.) H. B. GRAYBILL.
504