IS IT A RUSSIAN? IS IT A CHINESE?

If it is a Chinese, we can assume that Mr. Jeanbrau was targeted. If it is a Russian, we would be in the presence of a Bolshevik attack

Mr. Jeanbrau, Director of Political Affairs and General Security in Indochina, is Mr. Sarraut's son-in-law. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Colonies have not yet received any direct information from Mr. Merlin since the attack that took place in Canton on June 19.

The only official dispatch that has reached us so far is a telegram from the French Minister in Peking, giving a brief account of the attack. For its part, the Fournier agency published the following dispatch, dated from Canton:

Commander Jeanbrau, head of political affairs in Indochina, who arrived in Canton on June 18 to finalize the reception program, had received a formal promise from the local authorities to guarantee the governor's safety on entirely Chinese territory.

Sun Yat Sen immediately sent his private secretary to the governor of Indochina to express his feelings of condolence and the Chinese authorities did the same. The Chinese police sent large forces to protect the approaches to the Shameen concession and ordered the security services, as well as the river police, to take all necessary measures to arrest the murderer.

Mr. JEANBRAU: We published a dispatch from Hong Kong yesterday announcing that the attack in Canton was probably not directed against Mr. Merlin, but against Mr. Jeanbrau, director of political affairs and general security in Indochina, who accompanied the governor to Canton.

Mr. Jeanbrau, who has been Mr. Albert Sarraut's son-in-law for several years, was, during the war, a colonial infantry officer and was specially charged with the intelligence service in Indochina. After the hostilities, he retained the same functions in a civilian capacity, in which he continued to render eminent services despite the considerable difficulties of the country's situation. He organized, in particular, the repression of piracy on the Yunnan border and the fight against agitators of all kinds who attempted to provoke uprisings in our territories.

It is obvious that his activity must have attracted formidable hatred from those whom it inconvenienced. Under these conditions, it can be assumed that the attack against him came either from the dissidents of Yunnan or from the bands of Chinese pirates for whom Canton serves as a refuge. It could also be that it was organized by one of the many secret societies that exist in China and whose main doctrine is hatred of foreigners.

A correspondent of the Times also claims to his newspaper that the author of the attack was a Russian. This theory has not yet been verified. If it were, it would have to be admitted that we are in the presence of a Bolshevik act. The Soviet government has in fact been deploying, for some time, in China and particularly in Canton, a great deal of activity against Western influence and this would have to be seen as a tragic manifestation of its hostility.

MM. GERIN AND PELLETIER: In Paris, in the American and French chambers of commerce, the merchants who were victims of the attack are hardly known; no more Mr. Desmaretz, director of the general silk import company of New York, than Messrs. Gérin and Pelletier, merchants. However, Mr. Déchaud, president of the silk union chamber, tells us that one of the victims, Mr. Gérin, of the house of Gérin, Devard and Co., was a highly esteemed personality in the great trade of the Far East. Of Lyonnais origin, Mr. Gérin had founded, many years ago, these silk counters which had several subsidiaries in Canton, Hong Kong, Tching-King, Fou-Tchéou, Shanghai, etc. The house that he managed was, our interlocutor tells us, one of the rare ones that had successfully fought against foreign competition.

Mr. Pelletier was also of Lyonnais origin. In various letters, he had not been able to hide from certain friends that the security of the French in the Canton region was particularly compromised. It is an identical impression reported by Mr. Déchaud's nephew, who has just returned from a long business trip to this region.