THE FAR EAST.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 269, 6 August 1908, Page 9

THE FAR EAST.

THE CASE OF MR. E. T. BETHEL. MURDER OF TWO AUSTRALIANS. (PROM OUIt OWN COItHISPONDENT.) Mong-kong, July 10. Two Australians, Messrs. A. H. Fearby and M. Sutherland, both mining engineers, rrero cruelly murdered in tho Tramoui district of Tonkin on Juno 24. They both arrivod in llong ICohg from Melbourne about two months ago, under engagement to a local syndicate to report on certain mining shows in French territory. They wont from HongKong to Haifong by boat, and then on to Hanoi by train. From there they wont to tho Tramoui district. Tho natives thereabout are very dissatisfied with French rulo, and an insurrection has been in progress for some time. AVhilo Messrs. Sutherland and Fearby were at dinner a mob of rebels suddenly entered the shed and shot them dead. They pillaged the shed and took away tho arms, money, and any other things available.

Mr. Fearby was well known on all tho mining fields of Australia, and lias reported on many of tho mining snows out in China and in tho Philippines for local wealthy syndicates. I had mot him here often, and discussed matters' Australian with him. Ho know the fields of every State, and had been particularly associated with West Australia. Ho expected to shortly receive a lucrative appointment under the Chinese Government, who seem disposed just now to their great mining wealth to be developed. Further details of tho tragedy are not available for this mail.

■ AN ENGLISH JOURNALIST. IMPRISONED.. A caso of remarkable interest to residents of the Far East has just been concluded in Korea. Among those who went to Korea soon after the Japanese occupation was Mr. Ernest 'l'hos. Bethel, who is a well-known pressman out here for tho last twenty years, especially in Japan. At one time lie was a •correspondent for the "London Daily Mail." Arriving in Korea ho started three-papers— the "Seoul Daily News," and two vernacular papers. These ivere all run under his name, and were pro-Korean, upholding the Government ( of tho ex-Emperor, who, as all. tho world knows, was deposed by the Japanese last year. About soven months ago Mr. Bethel was, on tho complaint of the Japanese Govornment, at the instance of tho Resident Gcnoral Prince Ito, bound over .by tho British Counsul, under an Order-in-Council, to find security in £300 that ho would refrain from publishing matter calculated to injuro tho Japanese administration in Korea. For six months all went well. At tho end of that period a sorios of highly inflammatory articles appeared in his two Korean papers, and greatly enraged the Japanese. Diplomatic representations from Tokio wore again mado to tho Privy Council, and the British Govornmont took tho extraordinary step of sending Judgo / Bourne, of tho Supromo Court of Shanghai, to Korea to try Mr. Bethel on the - chargo'of sedition that tho Japancso had preferred against him. Mr. Wilkinson, Crown Prosecutor ' of. Shanghai, •was sent to conduct tho prosecution, and Mr. C. Neville Cross, a barrister of Kobe, dofendod Mr'. Bethel. Mr. Muira, Secretary to the Japanese Consulate, was the nominal complainant. Mr. Cross elicited in crossexamination that thero actually existed no government in Korea at the present timo! Tho Japanese too'k the stand that they were only acting for tho Koreans, while t-hoy admitted that tho Korean Government was still •in csso. Further interesting ovidenco was tjio fact that Mr. Bethol had been offered a subsidy by the Japanese Government, but ho declared' that,' after ho became acquainted with their methods in Korea, ho felt compelled to tako a definite stand as an_ absolute supporter of the-propa-ganda of Korea for tho Koreans. Judge Bourne .found Mr. Bethel guilty, and sentenced hjni to tlireo weeks' imprisonment in Shanghai gaol as a first-class misdemeanant. ■ Mr. Bothol offered to serve his scntenco in .tho coll at the' rosidenco of tho consulate, but this was not. pormittcd. Instead ho was sent from Chemulpo in tho British warshjp Clio to Shanghai,' where' lie is now in prison. The whole caso has caused remarkable resentment throughout tho Far East, not morely among newspaper men, but' in all British, chiles where tho freedom of tho Press is .something acknowledged to be of national. benefit. Tho Koreans "sent floral tributes and addresses to the consulate before Mr.- Bethel was removed to serve his sentence..