Letters concerning the Tehchow robbery and killing, 1931

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To set the conditions as they now exist, as clearly as possible, before the eyes of our friends at large, more espes cially those of you in the homeland, I must now tell you of an action taken by the American Board missionaries at Pel Tai Ho, on July 25th, aside from that reported to you in the previous page. I f/rst quote from the press: "Twenty seven members of the American Board Mission, sojourning at Pei Tai Ho, met informally on July 25th, not as an official body, and decided to give expression to their attitude toward the case, as follows: (1) On the legal aspects of the case we express no opinion. (2) Although Dr. Tucker, in protecting the hospital property, felt it necessary to shoot, certainly the taking of life is contrary to the purpose of a missionary in coming to China. As the missionary proclaims the Gospel of Jesus, who sacrificed his life for others, so the missionary's acts should exemplify the Christian spirit. Accordingly the present group absolutely disapproves of this fatal shooting, unintentional though it was, and likewise disappoves of a missionary using deadly firearms to protect property. (3) Furthermore we confess a sense of corporate responsibility in not having previously thought through the Christian principles related to such situations, and not having formulated and announced within our Christian organiza­tion these principles in such a way as to guide a fellow worker in such a crisis. Although it was in protecting the Hospital property and in trying to serve the common good that Dr. Tucker took the man's life, and although now he cannot but feel the deepest sorrow and remorse, yet the act is irrevocable-the life cannot be restored. Oppressed by a deep sense of regret we issue this statement to express our conception of the Christian princi­ples involved in the tragic incident, and we trust it may help to prevent the repetition of such an occurrence." This statement was also sent to the Chinese press. The attempted robberv and shooting occurred on July 11th. By the end of the following week all seemed quiet in Tehchow, both in the city, and at the compound. To this letters from Dr. Wilder bore testimony, as well as Chi­nese letters from members of the staff to the writer. The intervening days and their occurrences have already been reported to you, with the exception of the visit of the U.S.A. District Attorney and the writer to Tehchow, which revealed the most deplorable result of the printing of the above statement in the foreign and Chinese press,-more especially in the latter, as it served to kindle anew the fire of antagonism in the ultra - Nationalist party at Tehchow, which to all appearances had begun to die down. The writer makes no further comment, on this aspect, as the quotations from the press, given later, speak for themselves. Attorney Sellett and myself, both in my capacity as chief accomplice and witness, and as joint interpreter with Dr. Wilder, went to Tehchow, Tuesday evening, July 28th. All day Wednesday, from before seven until midnight, Dr. Sellett, in most minute fashion, went over the entire territory, for evidence, for and against, crossexamining all the Chinese who had in even the remotest way been implicated in any phase of the case. With not the slightest exception, they gave the clearest imaginable testimony to facts, from coolies, up and down, INCLUDING THE FINDER OF THE KEYS, who at this time voluntarily came forward, putting his fear in the background, and leading the attorney to the spot, told his story, which fitted in every minutest detail with correlating evidence from others. When we retired at midnight on Wed. it was arranged that these witnesses, some eight in number, should go to Tsinan, and give their testimony under oath before the Consul and attorney, at the official inquiry. The next morning the attorney and self went over the ground covered by the thief and Dr. Tucker, at exactly the same hour at which the incident took place, 4.30 A.M. This morning it was a clear cloudless diy whereas July 11th was cloudy, but even so, the business office, with the green curtain down, as was the case at the time, was too dusky to distinguish a single feature, and the corridor inky dark. This to refute the accusation made by the tang pu and some foreigners that it was certainly light enuf for Dr. T. to recognize the robber from the first. We started for the train at 5 A.M. with the witnesses who were to appear that day. The rest were to follow tke next morning. Due to the war unrest in the north, the express was eight hours late. We returned to the compound at eight o'clock, for breakfast, to find that the Chinese press had gotten in its deadly work again, thanks to the propoganda irom Pei Tai Ho. In the night a member of this ultra-Nationalist parly had visited one of the staff secretly and warned him that if any Chinese from Tehchow went down to Tsinan to testify on the case, bodily harm would result. As a consequence, all the eight witnesses felt they could not go. God-providentially their witness had all been given, however, the day before, and in his official capacity, Dr. Sellett put each one on oath, to swear that their testimony had been the truth, and so the end-result so far as the legal aspect was concerned, was the same. But it did hurt, to have to return to Tsinan alone, even tho we did understand the difficulty in which our Chinese colleagues were placed. At writing, on Aug. 4th, there appears to have been no new developments at Tehchow, so far as tang pu movements are concerned. On July 31st, the American Association of Tientsin met in vehement condemnation of the action taken by the twe nty-seven American Board missionaries at Pei Tai Ho. Resolutions were passed and sent via the Consul to the State Department at Washington, to the American Board at Boston, and to the Board headquarters at Tientsin. The substance of these resolutions may, or may not, be made public through the American press. Suffice it for us to say, that we deeply deplore the inciting cause for such resolutions being made. At the same time, we can but feel a measure of comfort to know that this representative body of American citizens, of their own volition, cared to so express their attitude toward the manifesto sent to both native and English press by the "27", as well as their comprehension of the motives which impelled us to use extreme measures to meet an extraordinary emergency.