The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-11-26

the territorial and administrative
integrity Of China is not to be con-
tinued the matter demands imme-
diate solution. / should like to
point out a few of the serious OBJ
jections to the extraterritorial sys-
tenn. In the first place, 1t is in der
Ogation Of China's sovereign rights
and Is regarded by the Chinese peo-
pie as a national humiliation.
Causes Legal TnngIes.
There is a multiplicity of courts
in one and the same locality, and
the INTERPOLATION of such courts has
given rise to a legal situation which
is perpleIing both to the trained
lawyer and to the layman.
The disadvantage arising from
the uncertainty of the law. The
general rule is that the law to be
applied in a given case is the law
OF the defendants nationality, and
so, in a commercial transaction be-
tween, say, Y and Y, of different
nationalities. the rights and liabili-
Ties OF the parties vary according
as y sues Y first or Y sues X first
When causes of action. civil or
criminal, arise in which foreigners
are defendants it is necessary for
adjudication that they shall be car
ried to the nearest consular court.
which may be many miles away:
and so it often happens that it is
practically impossible to obtain the
attendance OF the necessary wit
nesses or to produce other neces-
sary evidence.
Claim Tux Immunity.
Finally, it is a further disadvan-
tage to the Chinese that foreigners
in China, under cover of extrater-
ritoriality, claim immunity from To-
cal taxes and excuses which the Chi
nese are required to pay. Sir Rob-
ert Hart. who worked and lived in
China for many years, has this to
say in his work, These from the
Land of Sinim:' The extraterrito-
riality stipulation may have relieved
the native official of some trouble
some duties, but it has always been
felt to be offensive and humiliating
and has ever a disintegrating effect
leading the people, on one hand, to
despise their own government and
officials, and on the other to envy
and dislike the foreigner withdrawn
from native control
Until the system is abolished or
Substantially modified. il is mex
pedient for China to open her entire
territory to foreign trade and COM
merce- The evils of the existing
system have been SO obvious that
Great Britain in 1902. Japan and
the United States in 1903. and
Sweden in 1908 agreed, subject to
certain conditions, to relinquish
their extraterritorial rights.
Progress I'm Legal Reform.
Twenty years have elapsed since
the conclusion of these treaties, and
while II is a matter of opinion as
TO whether or not the state of
China's laws has attained the stand
ard to which she is expected to
conform, il is impossible to deny
that China has made great progress
on the part of legal reform. A few
facts will suffice for the present. A
law codification commission for the
compilation and revision of laws
has been sitting since 1904. Five
codes have been prepared. some of
which have already been put into
force. First, the civil code (still in
course of revision). Second. crimi-
nal code Gin force since 1912. Third,
code of civil procedure. Fourth.
code of criminal procedure. both OF
which have just been promulgated
Fifth, commercial code, part of
which has been put into force.
These codes have been prepared
with the assistance of foreign ex-
perts, and are based mainly on the
principles of modern Jurisprudence.
Among the numerous supplementary
laws may be especially mentioned
Drtla # ha
Application of Foreign Law which
deals with matters relating to pri-
vate international law. Under these
rules foreign law is given ample
application
Judges Trained in Law.
Then there is a new system of
law courts established in 1910. The
Judges are all modern trained law
yers. and no one can be appointed
a Judge unless he has attained the
requisite legal training. These are
some of the reforms which have
been carried out on our part. 1
venture to say that the China OF
today is not what she was twenty
wears ago when Great Britain en-
couraged her to reform her judicial
system, and a fortiori she is not
when she first granted extra
territorial rights to the treaty pow
ers. have made these observa-
lions, not for the purpose of ask
ing for an immediate and complete
abolition Of extraterrltoriality, but
for the purpose OF inviting the pow
ers to cooperate with China in TAX
ing initial steps toward improving
and eventually abolishing the ex-
listing system which is admitted on
all hands to be unsatisfactory both
10 foreigners and Chinese. 1t is
gratifying to learn of the sympa-
thetic attitude of the powers toward
this question as expressed by the
various delegations at a previous
meeting of this committee.
Ask for Modification.
THE Chinese delegation, there
fore. asks that the powers now rep
resented in this conference agree to
relfnuuish their extraterritorial
rights in China at the end OF q
definite period. Meanwhile, the Chi
nese delegation proposes that the
mowers represented at this confer
ence will, at a date to be agreed
upon, designate representatives to
enter into negotiations with China
for the adoption of a plan for =
progressive Modification and ulti-
mate abolition of the system of ex.
Internationally in China, the carry
in govt of which plan is to be dis
tributed over the above-mentioHed
period"
After disposing of this subject by