A MISSIONARY SCANDAL.
A
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
"A scandal in connection with mission work is at present being ventilated at Shanghai. In the July number of the United Presby terian Missionary Record (published in Scot- land) appeared a letter from the Rev. Join Ross, of Moukden, headed “Manchuria-- Persecution by Roman Catholics," in which grave and almost incredible charges are brought against the Roman Catholic Bishop, Monseigneur GUILLON. It is said that a man who had formerly belonged to Dr. Ross's mission went over to the Roman Catholics in order to secure protection in the courts in connection with some proceedings he expected to be taken against him; that, disgusted with the utterly unprincipled "character of the Roman Catholics," he soon left then and after a long probation was taken back by the Presbyterians; and that, after an unsuccessful attempt had been made to get him into trouble in court, he was one day seized by a band of over twenty, led by two native priests and two Roman Catholic deacons, who, after beating him savagely with a bamboo, bound him with ropes, placed a noose round his neck, threw him on his back, and dragged him to the Roman Catholic Church. He is said to have saved himself from choking by holding the rope on his neck by his hand, but as it is also stated that he became apparently insensible it is difficult to believe that if he were being dragged by the neck as alleged he could have held the rope with sufficient strength to prevent strangulation. However, to proceed with the narrative. After being dragged to the south gate, and when he was apparently insensible, a cart was hired, and he was taken to the "Roman Catholic Church. The Bishop "reccived him, ordered him to be suspended by his queue, and struck him several blows on the mouth. The bishop has a stone pillar in his compound for this pur- The man who has offended any pose. "Roman Catholic, or is worthy of being
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squeezed,' is taken to this stone pillar. "His long queue, growing from the back of "his head, is tied firmly in a hole in the
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[October 22, 1896,
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ABOLITION OF EXTRATERRI TORIALITY IN JAPAN.
cost, or
રી make manly retracta- | Bishop's
practi "ition. Dr. Ross's reply to this invita- | torture to tion took the form of a brief letter would seem that an to another paper, as follows:-"I under beam would better "stand that a good deal of interest has been pose.. Mr. PUNG is allege "excited over the photographer who was up to have said to his tormentor "suspended to a stone pillar by his queue "want my blood, as His enemies "in the Roman Catholic Bishop's compound "that of the Saviour," which in itself "in Moukden. A not unnatural curiosity improbable as coming from a Chinan "would like to have fuller details of the especially one who had already twice, if no But as it, with the whole matter of thrice, changed his religion. The explana "Roman Catholic persecution of our con- tion of the whole thing would seem to be "verts in Manchuria, is referred to Peking, that Dr. Ross has accepted a cook and bull "this curiosity must remain meantime un- story and rashly published it, vouching for "satisfied. Were I to give incidents re- its truth with his own name, without suffi- "lated to me of the outrageous conduct of ciently investigating it. For the present "Roman Catholics supported by their ec- he elects to withhold his explanation, but, "clesiastical superiors a whole copy of the as it is said that in default of an apology, an “N. C. Herald would fail to contain them action for libel is to be brought against all. It seems to me now that attention him, it is probable more will be hear
It is to be hoped, has been directed to this fertile source of of the matter. anti-foreign feeling throughout China, however, that an arrangement may be those who have well authenticated cases effected without the scandal ofn public The methods of the Roman Catholic in different parts of the Empire should trial. "publish them so that general public in- missionaries are, we believe, often open to dignation might effect the cure of the objection, but the present case is not a ques- "evil." It seems rather inconsistent of Dr. tion of discretion but of direct allegation of Ross to ask other missionaries to publish acts repugnant to humanity brought against Very excuses himself a high dignitary of the Church. their cases, while he from going into the particulars of his strong evidence would be required to make own case when his original details are the public believe that any such acts were challenged. The fact of the matter having committed. been referred to Peking does not seem a Meantime a letter has sufficient excuse. been addressed to some of the Shanghai papers by a Roman Catholic missionary, "For the information of the who says:-
public, we are glad to say that, being "anxious to have the Moukden case cleared "and examined, we obtained that Monsieur "le Comte DU CHAYLARD, Consul-General "for France at Tientsin, should go to New- "chwang and Moukdeu, where he remained “from the 4th to the 18th of September. He carefully investigated into the whole affair, and his conclusion was that he asked "and obtained at once the release of some Catholic converts incarcerated on the "direct request of a certain Consul having charge there of French interests, and on the indirect demand of Rev. Joux Ross of his fellow-workers. The charges have been found and proved false. In answer to the question of the Comte DU “CHAYLARD about such irregular proceed "ings, the Newchwang Taotai and the
" both of Moukden "Governor-General
'These Christians equally answered : have been incarcerated on the request of Consul at Newchwang.' We must "in justice say that the above mentioned "foreign Consul made a personal apology "to Mgr. GUILLON, regretting that he had "been sadly misled." The foreign Consul referred to is the English Consul, and if it be true that he has apologised to Monseigneur GUILLON and stated that he has been sadly misled, it would seem that he must have satisfied himself that Dr. Ross's statements were unfounded.
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or upper part of the stone pillar, the man meantime standing on some bricks. His arms are also bound behind him, and the rope fastened round the stone pillar. "When the fastening is complete the bricks r are removed from under the feet, and the man is suspended, hanging by the hair of "the back of his head. At times the skin of "the head is torn away. PuNG was then suspended about 9 a.m., and kept in torture "there till about 5 p.m. He became un- "conscious at one time, and was taken down. "He revived, and was again suspended. The Bishop, after striking and interrogating him, went in to prayers.
After the chanting he came again with another Frenchman, a priest, to continue the torture of the man: And why? To 'compel him to join the Roman Catholic Church. In the evening he was takeu down, taken into a room, allowed to sit on a kang, his arms bound behind his back by a rope, which was fixed to the top of a "window."
Dr. Ross, on learning of the case, applied to the Chinese authorities after some trouble, owing to the resistance of the Bishop, obtained
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The majority of foreign residents in Japan still regard with some trepidation the prospect of being brought under the juris- diction of the native courts. This feeling finds expression from time to time in some of the English papers, but is, of course,
In a recent ridiculed by the Japan Mail. issue that paper, referring to au article which had appeared in the Kobe Herald, "Assume that there are two thou- says:- "sand British subjects residing in Japan,
temporarily or permauently. How ni
miany
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Taking the case as it stands the impres- sion created is not favourable to Dr. Ross. The tone of his letter to the North China Herald is not calculated to inspire confidence in him as an impar- tial witness, and it is curious, if there really was anything in the case, that he did not in the first instance publish the particulars in China, where the publication would have This extraordinary tale was repro- been calculated to answer some useful purpose, duced the other day by
instead of sending the tale for publication Shanghai contemporaries when Dr. Ross in a home religious journal of limited circu- was in Shanghai attending a religious lation and that only amongst a particular conference, and he was invited "to class. Home readers can swallow a good come forward with the whole evidence of deal, but even they we think will have "the truth of this terrible indictment at any some little difficulty in negotiating the
the release of the sufferer.
one of our
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of them will ever see the inside of a criminal court? What on earth-- does "criminal law or erimiual procedure matter "to the vast majority of us? Police tribu "nale, gnole, and forced labour have no
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place in the life of a respectable individual, except in so far as they contribute to the preservation of the good order essential to his comfort and to the undisturbed "prosecution of his daily avocations. This is an argument that will hardly commend itself to a liberty loving. people like the British. There may be many sound arguments why extraterritoriality in Japan should be abolished, as indeed there nro, some of which are suggested by the Mail in the article to which we refer, but the par ticular argument which we have quoted, in our contemporary's own words cannot be included amongst them. Consider to what it leads. Foreigners in China are no more likely to find themselves in the Police Courts than foreigners in Japan, and there- fore, if we are to accept the Japan Mail's argument, extraterritoriality might safely be abolished in China. But we know thi the course which is about to be adopted i Japan could not be adopted in Chin because there is any essential dif between the characters of the foreig munities in the two countries, but be of the inferiority of the admi justice in China. Our conte also argues front false premiség he assumes that respectable peopl have no fent of the Police Court, though the trils are conducted
thing regard to justice. There are such t
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