Most People Convinced of Need of Firmness in a Protective Way The following is an extract from a letter recently received by a gentleman in Sh from a friend in Londoi Very many thanks for the pross cuttings and "Chind in Chaos" which has arrived lately, These have given me a much clearer idea of the position, and I have seen to it that as many people as possible have been similarly enlightened, In spite of any contrary impression our newspapers may have given you, the despatch of the troops to China was in accordance with the desires of the majority of people here and the general opinion was that it had been delayed too long. Indeed most of us thought two oF three years ago when the boycotting of Hongkong started that something should be done to restore British prestige in China, Of course there is a section whose slogan is "Hands off China" but the greater number realize that there is no intention to put "Hands on China" and that our greatest wish to trade in peace with the Chinese. Naturally the old country is war weary and the people dread any action that might. precipitate trouble, but I cannot think that a show of firmness in a purely protective way would be likely to do 4 Regarding China, a remark made by Mr.—some two years or so ago remains in my memory. The ocean sion was one when a gang of Chinese pirates had burnt down a missionary station belonging to-serve them right", said he. they will persist in endeavouring to turn perfectly good Confucians into indifferent Christians what must they expect". I do not altogether agree with those sentiments but there is a dickens of of of food for thought in them.
Ignorance, Hence Misunderstanding, Of course m good deal of 1 understanding is caused over here by the fact that the majority of people have very little knowledge of our Settlements in China. They know little or nothing of their tory and indeed I, until a few nths ago, did not know that the city of Shanghai for example was a city of stone-faced buildings "built in western style and by western enterprise on a mud-flat", and think that i€ it were more general ly known how the Settlements have sprung up and have been advanced by European and American enterprise alone 'a much greater interest would he taken over here in the tribulations of those Settlements, As it is, the impression that we are trying tu "pinch" something that doesn't Lelong to us is bound to enter into the thoughts of the many, and though their sympathy may he with their own countrymen. the British iden of justice prevents their giving full effect to that sympathy while the doubt exists as the—rightfulness of our interference in internal affairs China, So that "China in Chao: is an extremely useful publication, Tie Bombay police recently rald= ed the Central Y.M.C.A, and in a room occupied by a European called Spratt found a quantity of proscribed communist literature relating China. Spratt was immediately. turned out of the building by the secretary. Spratt's activities have been closely followed by the police singe he arrived about a year ajo as a delegate of the Labouy Research Institute, London, professing that he was to organise labour in Indi and open an institute and branches, THe Hankow "Republican Daily ws" publishes a delayed telegram from Peking which states that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has received a cable from Tokyo which states that a large quantity of we: ons. and ammunition, destined for China from Japan, has been det ed at Kobe and other ports by the Japanese authorities. Some forty Japanese merchants are reported arrested, and the fact haz been di covered that a large company wit capital of ten million yen has been, formed for the sole parpose of xupplying arms and ammuni China.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.