The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-03-09
SITUATION IS CRITICAL China and Japan at Outs
 Again. WAR CLOUDS HANGING LOW Japan Makes Demands For Insult
 to Her Flag. sei.ure of Japssese Vessel sy chin- ese wsrships Has Brought
 About All The Trouble--
 Awaitihg Developments.


 China by fair means or foul No sooner
 does one diplomatic issue appear to De on the eve of satisfactory settlement. than another one crops up to proicng | the agony and keep the Tokto foreign office and the Chinese foreign board more or less busy.
 A boundary dispute. the Tsin Min run Fakumen Railway. the Northern Man churian customs and the teieBrapn ouestions--ali these have now ceased | to excite much concern In the minds l of those who can see below the surface 1 of the political current, but on the | other hand, as though the Chinese | themselves were determined to TUT l nish the Japanese opposition with US strongest arguments In favor or nor | spirited policy. the middle Kingdom,
 whose Chinese warships seized Japan ese merchant steamer--the Tatsu Maru in Chinese territorial waters just l outside Macao harbor and escorted her to Canton on the charge that she was engaged in an attempt to smuggle arms | and ammunition into China.
 l To add to the irritation tnseparaoie l from such a course of action, the Chin l ese commander hauled down the Japanese flag en route and ran up 1 the Chinese dragon ensign in its stead | The Japanese foreign office has de- l manded tho immediate release or the | Tatsu Maru and the punishment Of the l officials responsible for her seizure. Quite irrespective of the merits of the 1 case, the Japanese Minister maintains | that the action of the Chinese authori- | ties in seising the steamer and hauling down the Japanese fiag was an insult
 to Japan. -.--
 Facts ia Case.
 The facts of the case as nearly as | can be ascertained from both sides I appear to be these;
 l The Japanese contention Is that fne
 vessel left Kobe on January as with l ntnety-four eases Of rides and forty f cas6s of n1nntnnition c0nsignsa ny the l Atalxa Shokai of Osaka to Messrs l Kwong Yosand Company of Macao, who l are licensea by the Macao government l to deal lns arrnas It is asserted that
 the Ataka Shokai had obtained the | with regard to the arms and ammuni- | tion and that the usual customs and polIce formalities had been compiled 1 with at Kobe. The fact that the Tatsu Maru anchored outside Macao harbor is explained by the statement that her | draft was too great to permit her 70 enter the harbor in safety and that l the, Intention of the captain and the 1 eonsiRnees was to have the cargo dis | charred Unto lighters. According to 1 tha captaIn's story the vessel was sur l rounded by four Chinese gunboats and was shortly afterward boarded by the | Chinese Commander who declared that | althoukh the steamer was In possession | of a certificate issued by the Portu- l Ruese authorities at Macao. the Chin | eaa government was informed that l she was. bound for Macao with a cargo 1 of l34scases of arms and ammunition consigned to a Chinese and that ne l had been ordered by the Taotai of Can 1 ion to stop the discharge of the cargo. | Later. two customs officials and l twenty bluejackets boarded ths steam" CT. The incident created no small ex- | citement among the steamers passeu- | gers. some apprehension being enter- 1 tained that the Japanese cruisers ID Hong Kong harbor might attempt 1 rescue, in which event 1t is deemed probable that the Chinese gunboats would have sent the Tatsu Maru to the bottom without further ceremony. The | fat then would have been in the fire with a vengeance, It was to safeguard l the vessel against any attempt to es- l cape that the Chinese commander ran up the dragon of China, this technically | placing the vessel under arrest. | Guns for Insurgents.
 r Further inquiry has elicited the in- | formation that the seizure of the Tatsu Maru was brought about through a re- port sent from Kobe or Osaka to the Chinese authorities to the effect that although the rifles and ammunition
 were consigned to i firm in Macao. 1 they were really to be smuggled Into | the hands of insurgents in the interior of China. Asting on this assurance. the | Chinese authorities took immediate | steps to seize the steamer It is sur missed that the informant of the Chs-
 nese Government may have been Chi
 nese residing in Japan.
 In the meantime the situation regard | ing the captive steamer has been found | impossible of adjustment, and yester- l day a high official of the Foreign Ofice had the following to say with regard
 to Japan's course of action:
 Japan will not resort to force in
 connection with the seizure of this ves- | sel unless compelled to do so by the
 action of China"
 What action Japan will take in the
 event that she decides immediately to
 take Independent action" Is q matter
 of speculation in diplomatic circles in | Tokio. It is believed that 1t Is en-
 tirely improbable that Japan will make
 any effort to retake the Tatsu or send
 war ships to Canton waters. While
 war is regarded as most improbable. the naval base at Sasebo is extremely
 active.
 It is annoumced that part of the | first squadron Will leave port on March | IA. The armored cruiser Chl Yoda sud- | denly left port last night. Coaling
 is proceeding rapidly and a number of | torpedo boat destroysrs have already coaled Enormous supplies in storage
 at Sesebo are hurrying aboard the ves- sels.
 At the once of the admiralty It is
 pointed out that the first squadron ex-
 pected to start on training manouvers | this week. a fact announced two mopths ago: therefore the activity at sasebo should not necessarily be com sIdered in connection with the Tatsu | incident.
 Case Not Settled,
 | Pekin. March s.-The Japanese and
 Chinese Governments have not as yet | come to an understanding in the mat