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Show November 6, 1930. 1> Dear Rowland, And still another bulletin. The day after the meeting whose actions I related in my last letter Dr. Hsu and I, taking along Pastor Shih, went to see the Hsien chang, In accordance with the vote of the executive ©ommittee. We told him in considerable detail and quite clearly the difficulties the hospital would have if it continued to obey the order of the chief of the constabulary to the effect that we must report all cases of gunshot wounds. He seemed to understand us, and said he would do something about. He gave the impression that he has some authority over the chief. That afternoon Dr. Hsu got a letter from the chief of the constabulary enclosing public notice to be placed at our front door, telling of the bandit outrage at the hospital, and the measures wlich the constabulary had taken, with the names of the people arrested. It specially spoke of the patient siezed in the hospital, and of his attendent, as bandits, and of Mr. Wang as an accomplice. The letter suggested to Dr. Hsu that he telegraph to the provincial government and give a complete report of the whole matter. About the same time a third party came around to Dr. Hsu to intimate that the chief of the constabulary would be very much pleased if we would, send him a congratulatory tablet in gratitude for his help. The idea of our sending a telegram seemed clear. He evidently wanted to pave his way for promotion. So Dr, Hsu went down to his office and found out just what he wanted telegraphed, and did so, for no harm could be done that way. Yesterday Dr. Hsu heard wuite authoritatively that Chang, the bandit, was at home in Hsiaching, unmolested, that the chief of the Hsiaching constabulary had no intention of arresting him, and that he was not likely to be detained. The Lintsing constabulary has no jurisdiction there, and can get him arrested only at the pleasure of the Hsiaching official, and evidently Chang had fixed it up to keep qofg Yesterday Pastor Shih began to hear rumors on the street that the Church had gotten the prisoners into trouble and was persecuting them, and was not in fact philanthropic, and a lot of that sort of talk. So he called another meeting of the Executive Committee, and last night we talked over what could be done about the growing ill-will of the general populace towards the Church for having caused the arrest of Mr, Wang, the Sung Lin patient, and his attendant. The general opinion seemed to be that they were £*£ innocent. Many people had been to seek the colonel of the garrison, into whose hanas they had been given, tc get them cut, and Mr. Shih Chi Ju said that unless the church was a* largely Instiramental in getting them out as any one else our name would be bad, and the chance of our being persecuted by bandits almost a bad as if they did not get out at all. We talked the matter over wuite a while, and we decided to act today as a body, to eooperate with the chamber of commerce, various aldermen and so forth to try to get the men released, Mr. Shin's job was to be to make arrangements for cooperation with the other people. This morning we all assembled to go down street to the chamber of commerce to see what arrangements could be .made. I had some misgivings about Mr. Wickes* and my going at all, but it seemed difficult to refuse to go along with the whole membership of the |
