Peiping, Sept. 2.
Rumours that the art treasures in the Palace Museum, the Government Museum and the Historical Museum and rare books in the National Library of Peiping have been tampered with or secretly removed, have been emphatically denied by Mr. Chien Tung, Director of the Government Museum.
Mr. Chien said that although these four cultural organizations were under the direct control of the Central Government in Nanking, they enjoyed the protection of the local Chinese authorities. The occupation of Peiping by Japanese troops, he added, did not affect these four in? stitutions in. the least. The Japanese had never sent any party to search the museums. Groups of Japanese soldiers visited them for sightseeing purposes and they were full of praise of the Chinese art treasures.
Mr. Chien also denied the report that the managements of these four institutions had secretly removed the art treasures from the premises. He pointed out that since the outbreak of hostilities in the vicinity of Peiping the police had increased the Paoantui guards at the entrances of the four institutions, searching all leaving or entering the premises.
The four institutions, Mr, Chien stated, employed about 600 men who were in a serious plight as a result of the stoppage of $40,000 a month from the Central Government in Nanking.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.