Page:A wandering student in the Far East vol.1 - Zetland.djvu/301

Rh Ming Li-sung (before trial) of having tried to sell his land secretly, and insists on the Government's rights of ownership in the subsoil and the necessity for official sanction for all mining work.

"Ming Li-sung was subsequently tried, and the magistrate's decision given that he had only been associated with the foreigner in prospecting operations and had not attempted to sell his land. Nevertheless, his property was taken from him, and ordered to be included henceforward in the joint-stock lands of the Ming clan, on the condition that the latter should 'never arrange to sell or lease it to foreigners.' In the conclusion of the judgment it is recorded that 'Ming Li-sung and his son acted unlawfully in introducing a foreigner to investigate and measure this mining property.' Intimations of this kind from the local yamen are not lost upon the people, and the result in this case is equivalent to complete repudiation of the rights conferred upon the Yün-nan Syndicate—repudiation deliberate and unjustified by any real or imaginary grievance. And, as showing that the central and provincial Governments are at one in this suicidal policy, it should be added that the French Legation's formal protest to the Waiwupu against the action of Wei Taotai was met by his removal upon substantial promotion.

"An idea of the favourable nature of the agreement which is thus nullified may be inferred from the