CRITICAL DAYS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19695, 29 July 1938, Page 14

CRITICAL DAYS

CHINA IN WARTIME BANDITRY FLOURISHING PERIL LOR MISSIONARIES TRAIL OF THE INVADERS "The Chinese people on the whole are marvellous in their patience and their powers of endurance. Of course, all the bad elements are at liberty to do as they please in those places where there are no authorities to control them, and there are many verv selfish people, and many traitors. Those spies are the cause of more grief and distress to our friends than any other thing. But the simple goodness of the peasants is very, evident. Their powers of endurance and spirit of resistance are probably something of a surprise to ‘certain people, writes a British medical missionary in China, communicating with relatives in Gisborne. The letter, written on May 3. depicts vividly the conditions in which the work of the missionaries has to be carried on, if it is to continue at all, There is no suggestion of heroics in the phrases used, but they convey clearly the atmosphere of uncertainty prevalent wherever the regular Chinese authorities have had to abandon their posts in the face of invasion. “It may be disappointed fury, cr perhaps just the endeavour to cow the people into submission and make them turn against their own armies, that is behind the terrible things that are being done all over the country, the mission worker writes. “Small garrisons of ‘certain people hold the railways, and constant raids are made on the lines, sections of the rails torn up, and perhaps rifles and ammunition captured. Then the garrisons come out in their motor-lorries —their country must have been buying up cars for years in preparation for this war—and they go to nearby towns and villages within a days journey of "their bases, and kill men, women and children, afterwards burning their homes. Terrible Brutalities “I could not believe that the soldiers of ‘certain armies’ could do such brutal things had I not seen them myself; the burned villages, and the wounded—though mercifully, perhaps, the people more often seem to be killed outright instead of being left to suffer and die. But the wounds are sometimes terrible. “Just imagine the old people and the children- They are fighting a peace-loving people, byt they seem to be doing their best to sow seeds of terrible hate. “Apart from the brutality, I cannot think hew they can be so foolish. Sometimes I fear for the revenge which may come on them when the tide turns.' But China’s present leader is a Christian, and 1 feel that his faith is a power of strength to him. It is enabling him to carry on and half the country together as it never has been before. I hope that the Chinese may yet teach us the way of forgiveness.” The writer has a word for the immigrant families who have come into the sea-coast provinces of China in the wake of the invading armies. Immigrants Follow Armies

“Immigrants are coming in and travelling down the railways away into the interior,” the writer states. “They are often accompanied by their families—brave women with • little children. They are taking possession of the deserted shells of small shops and rebuilding them in a jerry-built way. Seeing the coming into this already crowded North China does make me think again of the empty spaces of the British Empire! How I wish we could learn to do more sharing.” Referring to the peril of banditry, the writer says that in her experience, there is no banditry where the Chinese armies are in control. In many places, however, the civil authorities had had to leave, and the armies of “certain people” were in control with nominal civil authorities, appointed by the invaders. Disorderly elements thrived under these conditions, and there was a danger that the usually decent farmers might turn bandit in sheer desperation. Salvation Hospital Tragedy As an instance of what the missionaries face, once the normal control of the country is dislocated, the writer describes a visit which she paid to a Salvation Army hospital on the road to Pekin, where it had been the practice of the medical mission to take patients for operations. Finding the hospital closed and abandoned she made inquiries, and found that tlie officer in charge of the establishment had been shot by bandits only a week before. “I arrived at the hospital to find that terrible things had been happening there,” the writer continues. “About two months ago the place was visited by bandits who threatened to carrv off Major Dempster s little boy, but in the end were satisfied with all the money in the place, which happened to be a large sum. as an officer from Pekin was there on his rounds, paying money at the various stations. “At that time, the Salvation Army authorities thought of transferring the hospital into the city, but proper quarters couid not be found, and in any case there was no certainty of being unmolested in the city itself. “The Worst Has Happened" “Eventually we were all very glad when they decided to stick it out, to carry on the hospital as it was, and to accept the risk of further trouble. It seemed wrong to close a hospital because of threats or danger. Major Dempster and his wife and child also remained there. "Now the worst has happened. About a week ago the bandits came again. They shot a watchman who tried to resist them, and went to Major Dempster and again demanded money. When he could give them no more.' they shot and killed him. I just can’t grasp it. Those good and kindly people who have '.been carrying on there, trying to help the suffering!” The writer feels fortunate in being stationed in a district where Chinese Government officials still exercise control, but tells of strangs journeys with sick people who look to the missionaries for confidence. An old and much-mended cycle was a treasure, for it enables her to cover considerable distances, and was light enough to carry across streams and push through deep sand. "I am learning to know the country side-roads and short-cuts, and how to avoid trouble,” the writer adds.