Rumours of Soviet Regiments CER: What Japan Could Ready to Rush in and Seize] pei Never Allow: No Truth in Why Merchants Api prove a Russian Check From Rooway Gusert g, Nov.
'A rumour that is traceable to 'Manchuria and has reached Peking' through the medium of a well known White Russian, has it that regiments of the Red Army are being eld on the frontiers for an invasion of the Chinese Eastern oilway: zone and the occupation of Harbin. Wis will sound to most readers ike just one mere manifestation of 'a familiar and harmless ghost, and perhaps thet is what it is; but it Imost certain to reach the Gninese, appear in the native press fas news and prompt a deal Speculation. Te will be assumed that the Reds will seize the railway land. the railway towns when the {Kuominchun and the Kuomintans armies are occupying all of Chang Tso-in's energies and attention; and the wide publication of this. azsumption, without any partidalar foundation, would be. enough to fake a Tot of the assurance anit punch out of the Fengtien military operations inside the Wall. Know: ug thie well enough, the Reds them elves would not be incapable of spreading the rumour nor, if it failed to have the desired elect, of bringing a few battalions up to the order to give it a semblance of fact.
resident of the East who paused to think could take such 2 Tumour or even " threatening movement of treeys very seriously. Ths Soviet isn't ready to fight Japan, and Japan could not for an instant tolerate a Soviet occupation of Northern Manchuria. Japan gave up a for in China to concentrate upon the development of Manchuria Assn source of supply in time of war and her hold upon Manchurian resources Is absolutely essential to hor status as a first class military Power. When you have the Soviet propagandist and the Red soldier immediate neighbour, your hold upon nothing is secure, ao {is hard to conceive of Japan' adopting any other attitude towards a Red occupation of Harbin and the CER, than. a hostile one. Nov is anyone here ready to believe that Russia is going to defy Japanes hostility.
Something Jin the Russinn Check On the other hand, strange it rey seem, it is doubtful whether the Japanets merchant, or the merchant of any other nationality, would care to see Soviet influence eliminated altogether from the Chinese Eastern Railway zone. One hears from all manner of folk who have lately been in Nota! Manchuria that the last thing the commexeial communities want unadulterated Chinese control of the CER, These communities are an; thing but Red, they are not even Pink, They have no sympathy whatever with Mosechv's © agiir tions, Moscow's pernicious politico! propaganda, nor Moscow's unseru: pulous agents. Yet they not only admit but assert openly that the existing degree of Russian control fon the railway is a most efficient check upon conventional Chinese! methods and alone accounts for the:
solvency, its excellent credit, its honest' administration, freedom from military abuses ant its highly efficient service, as coutrasted with the gruesome mes: that the Chinese make of every railway that they run themselves.
'These opinions arz corroborated not only by travellers but by every' dealer in railway supplies, (from machine tools up to locomotives. The comment that one hears almost every traveller who comes from Europe vid, Siberia is something like this: "It was easy andi comfortable all the w2 a reached Mukden. Everything was clean and the service was good, on: the Trans-Siberian, on the Chinese Eastern, on the South Manchurian'—ail O.K, until we got on the ing-Mukden." At this juncture the traveller usually wrinkles his nose and makes the gesture which me: that words fail him, Two Ways of Dealing When a doder in railway mater-tals in China is now approached by an agent of one of the so-called!
Government lines or of the Ministry of Commonitions with an order for essential supplies, he makes it hhis business first of all, to remind the purchasing agent that China's} credit is dead and that there is n9 tuse in quoting prices unless it is to be a cash deal, The agent looks duly surprised and grieved, rocks in his chair a few minutes, them goes away to see if it can be ar-Tanged, He comes back with a reduced order and an offer to pay half with the onder and half delivery. Tae foreign salesman says no with finality and makes a counter offer. He will agree to. three payments, one with the placing of the order, one when the goods are shipped from the factory and one on delivery. If the purchasing] agent agrees they then table price The foreign salesman figures out cost, freight and profit, sums them up and then adds 50 per cent. If the deal goes through, the order ant all costs are paid' before the} consignment leaves the country of origin, If the extra 60 per cent, is paid, it is something against ear-Her defaults on credit sales; if it isn't puld there is no real loss. representative of the san firm in Hazbin, when approached a purchasing agent, quotes cost, freight and profit and if he is told] verbally that a written order will reach him in a few days, he doesn't quibble about advances, but places the order with his firm by cable, Knowing that the order will come fas promised and that there will bs no difficulty about payment.
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