Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-25
RELATION BETWEEN AMERICAN
MISSIONARIES AND DIPLOMATS

Gen. John W. Foster CT Secretary of State, to
student volunteer convention at Nashville. Tenn.
The greater part of the entire foreign
mission effort now being put forth by the
Christian churches of the world is directed
toward Asia. Across that vast continent
from west to east stretch series of nom
Christian countrfes-tho Turkish empire,
Persia. Tibet, China. Korea and japan. The
first two are ruled by tyrants inspired by
bitter hatred to Christianity, and none of
them except Japan has any of the re-
straints of constitution or an orderly ad-
ministration of justice and law.
For these reasons the Christian nations
have found 1T necessary to exact from them
the observance of what is termed the prac-
Jice of exterritoriaIity TBS is the ex-
emption under certain conditions of the
citizens or subjects of the Christian na-
tons In those countries from th..ir laws
and jurisdictions. 1t Is based unol the
theory that for certain purposes they carry
with them the territorial status they YOU'D
have if in their own country. This excu.p-
ton is regulated by treaties or other dlpio-
matte agreements and is not uniform for
all the countries In general. IL may be
stated subject to certain exceptions that
an American citizen resident or found IN
those countries, when charged with IL crime
or an offense against the loyal Law or Gus
tom, must be tried by his own diplomatic
or consular representative, and, If found
guilty, the punishment must be melted cut
by such officer. American citizens also Gu
joy other privileges in non-Christtan cGun-
tries which | have not time to detail On
this account American diplomatic rcpre SEN
tatives in Asia have more intimate and
SponSlDle duties toward their country men
than those accredited to Christian powers.
The system of exterritorialty is one
which makes the governments where it IS
enforced very FESTIVE, and they :ook fer
ward more or less iTnpaticntly to the time
when 1t may be abolished. For nearly half
a century after Commodore Perry opened
the gates of Japan that country labored
under the extelritorial disability, and 1t
was not until some years after she had
adopted Il constitution which guaranteed
freedom of religious belief ana worship and
the other civil rights, and had put in opera
ton a system of Jurisprudence and an adj
ministration of justice nodded after that
of the Christian nations was she released
from hat thralidom
The resentment of on-Christian coun-
tries because of the practice of eNte~ri-
tUriality is more like Y TO manifest itself
against missionaries than other classes of
foreigners, and the diplomatic representa-
tiVes of some governments are more on the
alert for the maintenance of their rights
than others. The French representatives In
Asia have shown special zeal for tie de-
Tense of their missionaries, who are almost
exclusively Catholics Whether their con-
duct will he affected by the abrogation of
the papal c3ncordat remains to he seen
Germany made the murder of two German
Catholic missionaries the occa sion of the
seizure OF an important Chinese port a
large area of territory and the practical
control of an entire province. The govern
ment of the United States las he d that
American missionaries IN foreign lands
We're entitled TO the same protection as
American merchants or any other class law
fully in such lands.
But in most of these Asiatic countries
sFeciat privileges have from time to time
been obtained for missionaries. In the
bigoted empire of Turkey for instance the
zeal of the French government for the
Catholic missionaries has forced the Otto
mans to grant them one concession after
another, and under the favored nation"
principles the Protestant missions have
shared in these favors. In 1853 the United
from China an express stipulation that the
missionaries might teach their doctrines
without being harassed or prosecuted and
Chinese converts should in no case be in
terfered with molested In the same
year our minister to Japan negotiated
treaty which granted freedom of religious
worship, and some years later the repre-
vened to bring about the abolition OF the
Old anti-Christian edict
The diplomatic and consular representa-
tiyes of the United States and the Ameri-
can missionaries must necessarily have i'm
portant and close relations with each other
This would be SO If the practice of ex-
territorialty were the only bond for bring
ing them together. But the precision with
which our treaties have been drawn with