Vigorous Action by Chamber in Shanghai: Violation of Treaties and Heavy Less Shanghai, June 15.
The severity of the Chinese boycott in Japanese goods, and the immense loss it is involving for Japan are revealed in a lengthy communication which has just been despatched by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai to the Foreign Office at Tokio. The following is, in part, a rough trans-Jation of the text of the document:
The anti-Japanese movements which are prevailing in various parts of China demanding the re-procession of Port Arthur and Dairen and the abrogation of the so-called 21 Demands, are acts ignoring legitimate treaties and should not be allowed to continue.
The policy of the Japanese Empire-towards China in the past has been one of leniency, fairness and justice, but in recent years the people of China have been misled by the action of political parties, the intrigues of demagogues seeking their own personal interests, and by unfair competitors, as well as all those who blindly follow them. There is a tendency to mistake the! shouting of.anti-Japanese propaganda for patriotism. In the past there was an anti-Japanese movement at the time of the Tatsu Maru affair; a more recent one when the Sino-Japanese negotiations were in progress in 1915 and a further one in 1919, the severest of all, in connexion with the question of Shantung. On each of these occasions the blow to Japan was heavy, and, with these experiences in mind, the people of China consider a boycott td be the only weapon to embarrass Japan, and whenever there is any question in dispute, they try to use it. This is indeed' lamentable for good relations between the two countries.
Japan has sacrificed a great deal politically in the past and now is threatened with an incalculable economic sacrifice. As international relations with China are becoming very complex, we are unable to estimate the exact effect. It is highly desirable that the Imperial Government should pay special attention to the large economic loss to the State and the sufferings which are now damaging and will in the future cause loss to the interests of Japanese business men and manufacturers in China.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.