Douglas daily dispatch., 1927-02-06
KELLOGG MAKES
CHINESE,
TREATY OFFER
Secretary OF State Seeks
To Protect Americans
In Shanghai.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5.-1P9-A for
NAL proposal by Secretary Kellogg to
the warning factions in China for
elimination of the international settle
ment at Shanghai by agreement be-
tween them from the theater of hos
tilities has injected new element in
to the tangled Chinese situation.
The proposal has been forwarded to
Minister MacMurray at Peking for
textual delivery both in Peking and
Kankow. Pending it's receipt by the
leaders of the two factions, publica-
ton of the text was withheld today
at the state department. The only in
formation given as to it's nature was
the statement that it contemplated the
exemption of the Shanghai interna-
military operations in the Chinese civil
war. So far as could be learned,
the immunity from attack or incidental
damage to foreigners and their prop
erty would be confined strictly to the
international settlement and not ex-
tended to include any zone or territory
outside the boundaries of the settle
ment which would be neutralized.
For that reason state department
officials drew distinction between
the Kellogg proposal and reports that
he had suggested a neutral zone
agreement to the Chinese leaders.
The new American move to protect
American and other foreign nationals
in Shanghai and their property from
violence came as complete surprise
There was no previous intimation that
an effort was contemplated to get
the northern and southern leaders in
China to agree to a course that would
make unnecessary the evacuation OF
Shanghai by foreigners or require ex-
tensive landing operations by foreign
naval forces to guarantee protection.
Undoubtedly the Kellogg plan is
founded upon the repeated public
declarations of Foreign Minister Eu-
gene Chen of the Cantonese factions
and Wellington Koo, who holds now
similar position in Peking, that both
sides desired to protect foreigners
from molestation and had no desire
to bring about an actual exodus of
foreigners at Shanghai. 1t is to be
expected that Minister MacMurrary
has probably already taken steps to
present the proposal directly to Chang
Tso Lin, Manchurian war lord and the
dominating figure in the alliance OF
northern provincial military governors
which is opposed to the Cantonese ef-
forts to spread the power of that
faction over northern china. The gov
ernment machinery at Peking has no
firm constitutional background which
would justify the usual methods OF
diplomatic exchange being relied upon
exclusively at HankoW, however,
which is now headquarters of the
Cantonese regime, it is assumed that
Foreign Minister Chen has sufficient
authority to commit the Cantonese
government to course of action such
as Mr.. Kellogg has proposed
In the absence of the proposals them
selves, or of the detailed negotiations
whcih their acceptances by both sides
probably would involve, it is not pos
j suring the protection of the interna-
tional settlement might be required by
foreign naval forces concentrated in
| that vicinity. The line of demarka-
tion between the settlement and the
native city is no more than a narrow
street running through a congested
section of city,