893.00/10248
The Consul at Shanghai (Spiker) to the Minister in China (MacMurray)28
Sir: In reference to my unnumbered despatch of September 29, 1928,29 in which certain observations were made as to the safety of foreigners in Nanking at the time of my visit on September 26th, I have the honor to enclose a self-explanatory news article,29 “The Assault upon Mr. Johnston,” and an editorial,29 “The Attack on Mr. Johnston” from the North China Daily News (British) of October 9, 1928, both dealing with a brutal assault made upon Mr. C. F. Johnston, a British subject, who is Commissioner of Customs at Nanking.
Personal investigation of the incident substantiates the newspaper account of the assault, as well as the very evident efforts of the Nanking Government to hush the matter up. So successful were they in their efforts to suppress this damaging piece of news from the capital of the Nationalist Government, that no intimation of the attack reached Shanghai until five days later, while confirmation of the account was not received until yesterday, October 8th. Inquiries addressed by the undersigned to responsible parties yesterday indicated that up to the present no serious efforts have been made by the Nanking authorities to search out and punish the soldiers responsible for this outrage, although, according to the same reliable source of information, there is every reason to believe that the Nationalist [Page 277] authorities are in a position to ascertain the names of the soldiers responsible.
In the memorandum30 enclosed with my despatch of September 29th, the general situation at Nanking was stated in just as favorable a light as was possible under the circumstances, although certain incidents were cited as an evidence of the unwillingness or the inability of the Nationalist authorities to control the troops at Nanking. The attack on Mr. Johnston only serves to accentuate this fact, and the failure of the Chinese authorities to take prompt action in the matter of the punishment of those responsible for this murderous assault has created a considerable feeling of apprehension among the foreigners of Nanking. At least two American missionaries, who at the time of my visit on September 26th, viewed the situation with a considerable feeling of optimism and stated their determination to bring their wives and children to Nanking, have, since the attack on Mr. Johnston, abandoned such plans and have arranged for their families to remain in Shanghai until there is more satisfactory evidence of the ability of the Nationalist authorities to control the troops which swarm both in Nanking, and in the immediate surrounding area where bandit activities continue with apparently little, if any, abatement.
I am further reliably informed that at least one British resident of Nanking has abandoned his home in the more remote part of the city and has moved with his family to the Yangtze Hotel (British), which is on one of the well-policed main roads of the riverine suburb, Hsiakwan, and within a few dozen yards of the “official guest house” of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A British resident of Nanking has informed me that foreigners in that city are now exercising much care in the matter of leaving their premises during other than day-light hours, or in proceeding alone at any time to points off main well-policed highways, since there is no reason to believe that foreigners will not be molested further, especially if alone and unprotected by the police.
There is no evidence to show that the attack on Mr. Johnston was part of any prearranged plan for attacks on foreigners in general, but the incident has proven sufficient as a warning to those foreigners who were inclined to believe that residence in Nanking at the present time is attended by little risk.
As stated in my memorandum of September 29th, the Chief of Police at Nanking has shown every friendliness toward foreigners and has been most solicitous of their welfare. In this regard, it is interesting to note that according to reports made by reliable parties it was the result of the boasting of the assailants of Mr. Johnston in a [Page 278] nearby village, to the effect that they had killed a foreigner on the city wall, that led to immediate police investigation of the matter. This report is apparently confirmed by the fact that the police sent a party to search for the body of Mr. Johnston prior to any report made by him. This boasting on the part of the soldiers is further sinister evidence of the dangerous attitude on the part of certain of these men, who, knowing of the brutal excesses committed by Chen Chien’s troops at the time of the Nanking outrage on March 24, 1927,31 and knowing that no punishment was meted out to them, now feel little restraint in attacking foreigners, whose authorities unfortunately have no recourse other than the filing of protests with a Government which cannot or will not attempt to punish the guilty parties.
That part of the enclosed news article telling of the murder of a Nationalist officer on the streets of Nanking by his own troops has been the subject of inquiries by the undersigned, but no information has been available locally, nor has any mention of the matter been found in the vernacular press of Nanking or Shanghai. This, however, is not surprising, since the Nanking authorities obviously would see to it that no newspaper account of such evidence of lack of discipline on the part of its troops would appear in the native press.
Opposed to the above evidence of the present unfriendly attitude on the part of certain of the soldiery towards foreigners in Nanking, evidence has been received by the undersigned, no later than yesterday, to show that the attitude of the populace in Nanking continues to be one of general indifference towards foreigners but with a tendency towards friendliness on the part of the merchants and other responsible classes resident in the city.
The police continue in their highly courteous attitude, and the Chief of Police appears to be very genuinely concerned in according to foreigners every protection. It is unfortunate, however, that the police are apparently quite helpless once the military become involved in any situation, the Nationalist authorities, as stated above, apparently being unwilling or unable to control the soldiers in most matters, although it is quite true that they have been successful in bringing about the evacuation of American mission property which had been occupied by Nationalist military and party organizations since the Nanking outrage in March of last year. On the other hand, at Tsingkiangpu, Hwaianfu, and other points within a short distance of Nanking, the soldiers continue in their insolent and highhanded occupation and spoliation of American and other foreign property, while Nanking apparently does nothing to remedy the situation.
[Page 279]In summing up, the civil authorities at Nanking, with the earnest support of the police, are apparently exerting every effort to protect foreigners in that city, but so long as the military are permitted to commit outrages such as the one upon Mr. Johnston, without prompt and condign punishment being meted out, foreigners in Nanking are not safe, and until there is definite evidence of a greater control over the troops in that city, and especially over the disbanded troops who, to use the words of the editor of the North China Daily News, are “unpaid, uncared for, under-nourished, unhealthy, sullen creatures,” the undersigned would strongly recommend that the American Government’s policy in reference to the return of women and children to the interior continue in full force in so far as Nanking is concerned, quite irrespective of any reestablishment of the Consulate in that city.
This latter point is raised because of the fact that a number of missionaries—apparently lulled into a false sense of security attaching to the presence of Consulates, which have been proven far from inviolable—have made the statement that they plan to bring their wives and children back to Nanking just as soon as the American Consulate is opened, and such action, in my considered opinion, would be most unwise until there is a marked change in the situation vis-a-vis active and disbanded military units now in and about the Nationalist capital.
It is earnestly hoped that the Legation and the Department fully concur in the views expressed.
I have [etc.]