893.00/10286
The Consul at Foochow (Atcheson) to the Minister in China (MacMurray)23
[Extracts]
Foochow, January 4, 1929.
No. 109Sir: I have the honor to inform the Legation
that an open show of anti-foreignism in Foochow occurred on December 27,
1928, in the form of a parade organized by the party delegates from
Nanking who have been “stationed” here since early October, and composed
of students, representatives of guilds and various organizations and,
according to the Chinese press, officials.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
At my suggestion the French Consul and Senior Consul, with the approval
of the other members of the Consular Corps, addressed a note to the
Provincial Government Administrative Council protesting the unrestrained
broadcasting of these incitations to antiforeign sentiment. This note,
dated December 31, 1928, a copy of which forms Enclosure No. 3,24 was delivered today. …
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure—Translation25]
The Dean of the Consular Corps at Foochow
(Soulange-Tessier) to the
Provincial Administrative Council of
Fukien
Foochow, December 31,
1928.
Sir: In my capacity as Dean of the Consular
Corps of Foochow, I have been charged by my colleagues to draw your
most serious
[Page 436]
attention to
an article in the Chiu Shih Pao of December
27th and to various placards of propaganda which were posted on the
same date in the streets of Nantai (Nantai Island, Foochow).
You will find these documents annexed.26
The Consular Corps declare on this occasion that the repeated
requests which they have made during the year 1928 to all the local
authorities, to point out the danger of a propaganda of violence
against foreigners, have remained without effect.
Public appeals such as “Take back the Concessions,” “Drive out the
imperialist troops stationed in China,” “The unequal treaties are
sharp instruments used by the imperialists to kill the Chinese,”
cannot but excite the population to disorders involving the
responsibility of the authorities just as has happened in the
past.
At a moment when new treaties are being signed with the Nationalist
Government, at a moment when this same Government is declaring its
desire to maintain peaceful and friendly relations with foreigners,
the Consular Corps of Foochow point out with displeasure and regret
the discrepancy between the deeds and the declarations of the
authorities.
In the interest of all, Chinese as well as foreigners, it is deemed
necessary that the protestations of good will of the Nationalist
Government and of the local authorities translate themselves into
deeds, and that in the future all provocations to violence,
whencesoever they proceed and whatever their nature, be made an
object of public repudiation and legal repression.
Accept [etc.]
