I also enclose a copy of a note which I presented to the Minister for
Foreign Affairs on March 7th, in reply to his note of February
10th,49 rehearsing the situation and reiterating my
demands in respect of the most important of the unfilled conditions. I
also enclose a memorandum49a of the conversation I had with the Minister for
Foreign Affairs on the occasion of presenting this note and which had
largely to do with the question of the punishment of the guilty
officers, in the course of which the Minister for Foreign Affairs stated
that he had received information from Kalgan direct three days before
that two of these officers had been dismissed. …
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[Enclosure
1—Translation]
The Chinese Acting Minister for Foreign
Affairs (Huang
Fu) to the American
Minister (Schurman)
[Peking,] March 2,
1923.
F. O. No. 380Sir: I have the honor to recall that on
February 10, 1923,49 this Ministry addressed to you a Note
in reference to the matter of the American merchant at Kalgan,
informing you of the measures taken in connection therewith, which
communication I have the honor to assume you received and noted.
A despatch has now been received from Military Governor Chang
Hsi-yuan, as follows:
“At the time this case originated I was not in Kalgan, being
absent on official business, and in consequence of this fact
an incident was created wherein an American merchant was so
wounded that he died. For this I desire to express sincere
apologies. At that time the American Consul at Kalgan was
present at the scene of the occurrence. This was certainly
most unexpected and is the cause of even greater regret on
my part.
“I have prepared this special letter of apology and request
that it be transmitted to the American Minister in
Peking.”
I have the honor, Mr. Minister, to inform you of these facts and to
express the hope that you will take note of them.
A formal despatch.
Seal of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs
[Enclosure 2]
The American Minister (Schurman) to the Chinese Acting Minister for Foreign
Affairs (Huang
Fu)
Peking, March 7,
1923.
No. 432Your Excellency: I have the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency’s note of February 10th
in reply to my note of January 3rd, which demanded that the Chinese
Government make atonement, so far as might be possible, for the
shooting and death of an American citizen, Mr. Charles L. Coltman,
and the affront offered to the American Government through the
firing on Mr. Samuel Sokobin, the American Consul.
Of the six demands made by me under instructions from my Government
for the expiation of this crime the first, namely the apology by the
Chinese Government, has already been complied with. I understand
also from Your Excellency’s note that there will be no further
attempts on the part of the Chinese authorities to prohibit the
transportation of currency by American merchants for use in the
conduct of their business. If this be corrected the fourth of my
demands has also been satisfied.
With regard to the sixth demand contained in my note of January 3rd,
while formally reserving the right of my Government to present in
the future claims for damages suffered by American merchants in
consequence of the interruption of their business. I am not desirous
of going further into the matter at the present time.
Of the six demands made in my note of January 3rd there remain
unsatisfied the following, namely: the second, which calls for an
apology from the Tutung to the Consul; the third, which requires the
summary dismissal from the army and permanent exclusion from the
Chinese service of the Chief of Staff, the Chief Adjutant, and
Adjutant Wang, and, in addition their punishment under Chinese law
for the killing of an American citizen; and, the fourth, which
stipulates for the payment of an indemnity, to be determined by the
American Government, to the family of Mr. Coltman.
In Your Excellency’s note of February 10th the following substitutes
are proposed in lieu of compliance with the foregoing demands,
namely:
- “1. The Tutung of Chahar will in accordance with the
spirit of this Ministry’s note of January 3rd to Your
Excellency prepare a note apologizing to Your
Excellency, but he cannot apologize to the present
American Consul at Kalgan, Mr. Sokobin.
- “2. This Government will issue an instruction to the
Tutung of Chahar to examine thoroughly the Chief of
Staff of the Tutung’s office, the Chief Adjutant and
Adjutant Wang who was sent to the
[Page 730]
place where the affair
arose, and to punish them according to law as a warning
for the future.
- “3. Out of pity and regard for the family of the
American merchant, Charles L. Coltman, it is permitted
that the Chinese local officials shall in conformity
with precedent consult together and give his family a
compassionate allowance as an evidence of
sympathy.”
As to the first of these proposed substitutes it must be observed
that the affront to the American Government having been publicly
offered to the American Consul in Kalgan the indignity cannot be
obliterated without public expiation by the Tutung in Kalgan.
In view, however, of the objection urged on the ground of difference
in rank between the Tutung and the Consul, I am willing so far to
modify the second demand contained in my note of January 3rd as to
agree that the Tutung’s apology shall be made to the Government of
the United States and presented by him to my personal
representative, who will be the Counsellor of this Legation, at the
Consulate in Kalgan, on a day and at an hour to be named by me,—the
form and terms of the apology having also been approved by me in
advance.
As to the second substitute it is understood that up to the present
time no punishment has been inflicted upon the Chief of Staff and
the two other officers. Yet whether they intended it or not, they
and especially the Chief of Staff who exercised that day the highest
authority are responsible for the greatest crime which could be
committed against a friendly nation, namely, the killing of its
citizens and the firing on its officials. That retributive justice
moves so slowly in China must be a source of profound astonishment
and regret to jurists all over the world who follow the history of
these proceedings, and their anxiety will not be allayed by the fact
that Your Excellency in desiring to settle this case is moved, not
by a sense of outraged justice, but by special considerations
growing out of the friendship between China and the United States.
For my own part, while I am gratified with this manifestation of
good will to America and shall in the future as in the past seek by
all legitimate means to promote the friendship between our two
peoples, I make my appeal not to friendship but to justice when I
demand in the present case for the Chief of Staff and the other
offending officers a punishment commensurate with the enormity of
this crime they have committed against the citizens and government
of the United States.
[Page 731]
As to the third substitute, namely the permission to the Chinese
local officials to give, out of pity and regard, a compassionate
allowance to the family of Mr. Coltman, I have only to observe that
it is altogether inacceptable.
I have already indicated the modifications I am willing to make in
the first of the unsatisfied demands, namely, the apology from the
Tutung. For the rest I have, in the circumstances, no alternative to
renewing, as I herewith formally renew, the two remaining
unsatisfied demands in the form in which they were made in my note
of January 3rd, being as follows:
- “3. The summary dismissal from the Chinese army of the
Chief of Staff, the Chief Adjutant and the third officer
described above and the permanent exclusion of all of
them from future employment in the military or civil
service of the National or the Provincial Governments of
China; and, in addition, the punishment of these three
officers for the unjustifiable killing of Mr. Coltman by
inflicting on the principal offender and also on the
abettors or accessories of the act the respective
maximum penalties prescribed by law for such
crimes.
- “4. Indemnity for the family of Mr. Coltman as
determined by the American Government.”
In requesting an early reply, I avail myself of this opportunity to
extend to Your Excellency the renewed assurances of my highest
consideration.
