The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-04-04
Is Marking Another Sarajevo?


Sundays news from China and Washington is
far from reassuring.
Consul John K Davis, at Marking, in report
to the State Department says the foreigners killed
there the day the city fell killed "by soldiers
In the uniform Of the nationalist army"
Says he in summing up his conclusions:
1T is proven that the outrages were planned and
could not possibly have been the accidental getting
out of hand of few troops"
If these CONCLUSIONS" of Consul Davis estab
lished as facts beyond reasonable doubt, the duty
of the United States is clear. The Cantonese must
be responsible
But no utimatum is called for at this time Still
less are we justified in participating in against
China, nif the outrages committed "by SOL
diers in the uniform of the nationalist army" And
blockading the Yangtze sending punitive expe-
dition into the interior would be just that: War,
stark and grim
Has not Eugene Chen, nationalist foreign minis
ter, already and spontaneously informed the great
powers that If the acts complained of COM
mtted by his troops indemnity would be forth
coming? And has he not expressed regret that such
thing had happened, matter who committed the
deed? Does this not show that the nationalists
inclined to make any reasonable amend possible in
the event their forces are found responsible?
Why should the United States, then, allow itself
to be hustled into against the nationalist sim
ply because certain other powers in the nation
alist program menace to their own selfish hold
China?
Everything about the situation shrieks warn
ing to go slow and use caution. The whole thing
requires close inspection.
Any policeman can tell you that every pre-
meditated crme-and Consul Davis tells us this
crime was premeditated-has it's motive What,
then, was the natonasts move?
Surely no nationalist leader could have been
stupid as not to know his cause had everything to
lose by wanton massacre of innocent foreigners
and everything to gain by maintaining order
Has it not been the cry of foreign powers all
along that no faction in China could maintain order
~ that country? And have not tie nationalist in
SISTED all along that they could maintain ORDER and
proved that they could, by doing it month after
month as they fought their way toward Shanghai?
Then why should they deliberately cut their
own throats play into the hands of their enemies
and completely nullify every single thing they have
accomplished to date, by act of disorder?
Marking rather disagreeaby recalls similar
incident in 1914 when, at Sarajevo in the Balkans,
the Austrian grand duke and duchess were assassi-
mated.
Austria accused the Serbian government of in
stgating the crime Serbia denied she guilty.
Without waiting for the matter to be cleared up,
Austria sent ultimatum to Serbia formally accus-
ing her Of completely and making humiliating almost
impossible demands. Austria did not want Serbia to
comply. What she wanted was to wipe Serbia off
the map as an independent power. The World War
was the
Is Marking another Saraevo? Are the great
powers seeking an to wipe nationalist China
off the map? If so, we've no business in their COM
pany, and no amount OF wheedng pushing should
put us there.