Evening star., 1925-07-03
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

"All men are created equal'-except
Asiatics and "barbarians" in general.
That accounts for extraterritoriality
"a long word meaning that might
gives right, for II is backed by ma
tional assertion with navies and
armies and the greed Of commerce.
Extraterritoriality establishes for
eign courts in the offices of every
Ambassador, Minister Plenipotentiary
and consul accredited to an inferior
| nation" like China and, formerly,
like Turkey, and even Japan. Those
nations, being barbaric, are supposed
not to be actuated by the Golden
Rule such as Christian nations rec
ogniZe in dealing with foreigners
within their lands. They cannot be
relied upon, therefore, to deal Justly;
hence they must not be permitted
to administer their own laws within
nationals Of the respective Ambassa-
doris. ct cetera.
China, being a Buddhist nation,
where the religion forbids killing of
human beings Except when some
petty leader so directs in a revolu-
tion), is the greatest example of the
exercise of extraterritoriality that
civilization has ever known. In China.
IL a foreigner commit any crime
may arrest, try and punish the for
eigner; the criminal is exempt from
Chinese law, and may be punished
only at the discretion of representa-
tives Of his own country, according
to the laws of his own country, and
not those of the country where the
act was committed.
1t would not require a great strain
upon ones imagination TO reverse such
principle. Imagine that the people
Of China-nearly four times as numer-
Gus as the Americans-were to rise in
their might and take over" Califor-
mia, establishing in San Francisco an
extraterritorial court where all China
| men should be tried IL accused Of muir
der or arson or any heinous offense.
Californfans, in such q case, could nev.
er appeal their cause to our Supreme
Court, regardless of any guaranty of
rights in our Constitution.
| Later, for some rebellious act of
Californians, China might seize" New
York City, all of New England and
| Pennsylvania, and mark off a zone of
| Washington City which, thereafter,
would be a foreign zone. In all this
seized territory only Chinese courts
would try Chinese offenders. though
they tyrannized over the native Ameri-
cans, forced them to drink bootleg
poison or consume morphine, in order
| that the tax might the Golfers fill for
Chinese aggrandizement.
Furthermore, these Chinese might
decide that our tariff commission
should be abolished, and that the tar
| if on imports, especially of goods
shipped from China, must not exceed
per cent ad valorum, with valuations
| fixed by Chinese appraisers and the
proceeds devoted according to the wis
dom or cupidity of Chinese dictators.
| Our great transportation systems
would next be taken over by the in
vaders. freight and passenger rates be
fixed by them, and extensions be so
controlled as to prohibit development
of new territory. except to the advan-
| tage of the foreign tyrants.
Perhaps all such aggressions are not
technically termed "extraterritorial-
| ity." but the alleged justification Of
every such encroachment leads back
| to the identical principle of Chinese in
| feriority and the right of the followers
| of the lowly Nazarine to exploit where
exploitation Is possible.
plate asked, rhetorically, What is
| truth?" Suppose some modern Plate
should demand What is civilization"
What principle of European or Amer
| lean civilization entities the Western
Hemisphere to assume an attitude of
| supreme superiority over Eastern civ
ilization, even granting that its stand
| ards differ from ours?"
Who would associate classic Greece
| with barbarian? Yet dishonesty and
| trickery were counted as a Greeks
| highest virtue, even at a time when
China recognized the benevolent teach
| ings Of Buddha as proper inspiration
and guide. For centuries the rulers
| of the hundreds Of millions of Chinese
| looked upon all the outside world as
| tributary to Chinese power and obli-
gated TO pay tribute in exchange for