The sun., 1908-06-03
THr cHINssE rNDswsrrY.

Il
providing for the remission Of a portion Of
what Ia known az the Chinese indemnity,
The story, In brief. is as follows After the
BoNer troubles In 1900 the Powers oon-
cerned made demand upon China for in
demnity to cover their respective Losses
| caused by that disturbance including the
Losses OF companies. societies and private
individuals. It was finally agreed that
China shonld pay total amount Of approx
itnately sssa,0OO.00o. payment to be made
out OF the Chinese revenues In annual install
ments extending over period Of more than
thirty years. Although the expenses and
Losses OF the United States and Its citizens
did not reach such a sum- nearly ta5 600 900
was awarded TO this country.
The expenses OF the War Department
for the campaign were fixed at $7, LOO. SIC. rs.
and for the Navy Department at u. 400. .lSi 81.
Two commissioners were appointed, Mr..
Bainbridge. the Second Secretary Of Lega-
tion at Pelsin, and Mr.. Raesdale, tho Ameri-
can Consul General at Tientsin, to hear
and consider the various private claims Of
American citizens Claims to the number
Of $50, involving In their aggregate
%, s0s. .0s0.ls were presented, investigated
and adiudicated. They included death
claims commercial claims and the claims
Of missionary societies and individuals.
The total awards. including interest.
amounted to 31,5i4.2o2.sS Later awards
made by the Department OF State have
increased this total to q, ,se4, ,o2eis.
Tho figures quoted during the debate on
the bill In the House do not compare ex-
actly with those quoted in the Senate, but
tho difference 10 not material. For all nsc-
essary purposes 1t II enough to say that the
cost to the United States and the losses Of
American claimants amount to approxi-
mately 1850. 900. and that there Ia sur
plus Of approximately $12, 800. 900. which it Is
proposed to remit as an act Of generosity
and justice to the Chinese. The Senate
gave its approval to. the Lodge bill with
commcndable promptness and the measure
went TO the House. where 1t was sent to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs on january
1e On February 81 the committee re-
ported the bill TO the House with an amend
ment providing for the reservation of
%. 900 for the payment OF such sums as
may he awarded by the Court of Claims,
which, by another proviso. is Invested
with jurisdiction to hear and adjudicate
claims. without appeal. and to render such
Judgments de novo or In addition to any
allowance or allowances heretofore made,
az in each case shall be fully and substan-
TALLY compensatory for actual losses and
expenses OF the claimant"
1t 10 to be noted that the commission sub
mitted its final report in November, 1902.
The Department Of State reviewed the
findings. added some $4sO. 900 to the awards
and regarded the matter Of claims as finally
settled and all claimants as amply paid.
Acting on that supposition and regarding
such q cause as right. just and honorable,
the Administration about a year ago notified
the Chinese authorities that the surplus
would be RENTED. 1t now appears that
five years after all cases were supposed to
have been finally closed by fair and COM
petent adjudication the claimants are TO
have hearing before the Court Of Claims
Commenting on this matter Secretary Root
has declared:
Any legislation which treats tho action of tho
Department Of State at that time nuilty Ia
without Justification. Such action cannot be main
Mined upon any theory which would not absolutely
prevent the Government from receiving ever, under
any circumstances. the protection OF the maxim
that there must some time be an end Of litigation
IL such course Is to be taken In this case fne
judgment can ever be protection to the Treasury
OF the United States.
The action Of the House robs the whole
proceeding Of Its special merit by making
the proposed remittal niggardly instead
OF generous. Admitting that the Admins
tration acted prematurely in even a con-
ditional assurance of release Of claim, 1t
acted justly and generously and in full
conviction Of support. 1t acted in belief
that all claimants had been fully and fairly
paid. Their claims had been passed upon
by an authorized commission. The de-
oisions Of the commission had been re-
viewed by the Solicitor of the State Depart
ment and approved by the Secretary OF
State. No injustice should be done to any
American claimant. but all such have had
their day In court. fair hearing. and pre-
sumably final Judgment Of their cases.
Their temperance at this time after their
earlier rejection by an authority so COM
petent as the present Secretary Of State
is against them rather than In their favor.
Speaking Of them on tho floor Of the House,
Representative Stafford declared that "if
any person will examine these claims he
must come to the conclusion that nearly
all Of &hem are outrageous" and the State
Department. after Investigation. has de-
clared them without merit.
The money involved Ia @ trife. Only n
part Of the award has been paid. The bal
anoe is TO be paid In the future, unless the
claim s released as proposed. There are
probably few who will object to such re-
lease and still fewer who will not agree that
II the release is to be made at all 1t should be
made freely and in full without petty hag-
Cling and holding back. There is grave
Importance in the legal point raised by Mr..
Root. that OF -an end of litigation and
consequent protection to the Treasury Of
the United States" A third point is that,
admitting premature action by the Admin
istration in its statement to China, not for
many times the amount involved can this
country afford to let the Executive and the
Department OF State be put in position
so awkward az that into which they are
forced by the House amendment to tho
Senate resolution In the matter Of the
Chinese indemnity.
African Natives Drum signals.
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