At the first glance there would nat seem to be much connexion between the Pan-Pacific Conference and the Huai Valley Conservancy scheme. Probably at one time the same may have been said about the American Red Cross and their flood protection works. One is accustomed to associating the Red Cross more with work on the battlefield, but the organization has tackled one of the greatest civil engineering problems in China. The agenda of the conference bears the item "Stops to be taken toward prevention of crises in the world rice situation" and this has led Chi Hsieh-yuan, the Military Gov ernor of Kiangsu, to write to Mr. G. A. Fitch, one of the delegates, pointing out that last year, as a result of the serious floods in the provinces of Kiangsu and Anhui, approximately 62,920,800 mow - of land were inundated and the total joss in this district was not less than $188,762,400. Through the proposed reclamation works an additional area of 50,000,000 mow would be brought under cultivation, with a total revenue of not less than $375,000,000.. He adds:—"There is yet another important consideration. In America and there are constant and serious strikes and general industrial unrest and strife. This state of affairs is gradually being imported into our country and will grow worse if famines and the cost of living continue to increase. It will perish, however, and commerce and industry prosper if we take the proper steps at this time."
Here is real work to do. The conference proposes to discuss improved cable news services and we may be pardoned for doubting whether it can really effect much in that line, at least in the nature of what most newspapers out here want, If the conference could put this great schemes through for China, it would not need to "boost'® itself any more, for it would have done the finest thing possible to secure the gratitude of the biggest Pan-Pacific country.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.