The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-09
Japan and China Seem Fated to Fight Whether They
 Want To 0r Not
RECENT TROUBLE IS
 FAR FROM SETTLED
Act Of Capturing and Holding Vessel Loaded With Arms Is Considered an Insult By Japan and Apol-
 ogy Is Not Sufficient.

TOXIC, March S-The fates seem almost resolved to embroil Japan and China by fair means or foul No sooner does ona diplomatic issue appear to be on the eve Of satisfactory settlement than another one crops up to prolong the agony and keep the Tokio foreign officers and the Chinese foreign board more or less busy. boundary dispute. the Tsin Min Tun- fakumen railway, the Northern Man churian customs and the telegraph oues- tions-all these have now ceased to ex
 cite much concern in the minds of those Who can see below the surface of the po- litical current, but on the other hand if seems as though the Chinese themselves Were determined to furnish the Japanese [ opposition with it's strongest argument in favor of more spirited policy, the mid die Kingdom, whose Chinese warships seized Japanese merchant steamer, the Tatsu Maru, in Chinese territorial waters just outside Macao harbor, and escorted her to Canton on the charge that she was engaged in an attempt to smuggIo arms and ammunition into China. To add to the irritation, inseparable from such a. course of action, the Chinese commander hauled down the Japanese flag en route and ran up the Chinese dragon ensign in its stead. The Japanese foreign office had demanded the immediate release of the Tatsu Maru and the punishment of the officials responsible for her seizure. Quite irrespective of the merits of the case the Japanese minister maintains that the ac- ton of the Chinese authorities in seizng the steamer and hauling down the Japan ese flag was an insult to Japan.
 Facts In the Case.
 The facts of the case, as nearly as can be ascertaned from both sides, appear to be these:
 The Japanese contention is that the ves- sel left Kobe on January 26 with 94 cases of rifles and 40 cases of ammunition con- signed by the Ataka Shokai of Osaka to Messrs. Kwong To & Co. of Macao, who are licensed by the Macao government to deal in arms. It Is asserted that the Ataka Shokai had obtained the necessary permit from the Macao officials without regard to the arms and ammunition. and that the usual customs and police formal ites had been complied with at Kobe. The
 
 Macao harbor is explained by the state ment that her draft was too great to per- init her to enter the harbor in safety, and that the intention of the captain and the consignor was to have the cargo dis charged into lighters
 According to the captains story the lvesse' --s surrounded by four Chinese gunb. was shortly afterwar1 boarded ,i Chinese commander, who declarN lat although the steam CT was in pS pSssession of a certificate lissued by the Portuguese auth critics at Macao, the Chinese government was in- formed that she was bound for Macao with cargo of 134 cases of arms and ammunition consigned to a Chinese, and that he had been ordered by the Taotai of Canton to stop the discharge of tho cargo. Later two custom officials and 20 blue jackets boarded the steamer. The incident created no small excite ment among the steamers passengers, some apprehension being entertain d that the Japanese cruisers in Hong Kong harbor might attempt rescu. lin 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. 1t was to safeguard the jVeSSel dSdlDSL any attempt to escape that the Chinese commander ran up the dragon of the Chinese, this techni- |callly placing the vessel under arrest.
 Cause of Seizure.
 Further inquiry has elicited the in formation that the seizing of the Tatsu Maru was brought about through a 'report sent from Kobe or Osaka to the .Chinese auth critics to the effect thar |although the rifles and ammunition |were consigned to firm in Macao, they |were really to be smuggled into the hands of insurgents in the interior of DChina. Acting on this assurance, the lChina auth horities took immediate steps Ito seize The steamer. It is surmsed Ithat t information of the Chinese |go- .ient may have been Chinese |resioing in Japan.
 In the meantime, the situation re- Harding the captive steamer has been Hound impossible of adjustment and Yesterday high official of the foreign {nffce had the following to say with Aregard to Japan's course of action "Japan will not resort to force in with the seizure of this {yessel, unles~ oelled to do so by the