Major-General Harada was probably much impressed by the scepticism with which Journalists attending the Press Conference on Monday received his account of the results of his investigation into the USS. Panay incident, There was every indication that his statement, that the Panay fired three three-inch shells at Japanese land forees after she had been attacked by aeroplanes, was not believed.. That the newspapermen were $2] justined in that attitude is revealed by the fact that at yesterday morning's. conference he stated that "Personally, I have come to doubt whether these shots were fired." It! is regrettable that he should have been so misled during his investigations, but that probably arose from a very natural desire on the part of junior officers to gloze over their regrettable mistake and by endeavouring to throw some of the blame on the USS. Panay seek to divest themselves of a portion of the responsibility for an altogether deplorable affair. It would not have mattered very much the Panay had fired such shots as at first alleged. She had, according to the Major-General's original' statement, been already attacked by the Jsipanese naval aeroplanes, and from the very commencement of that attack the incident had been created, and regrettable though the sinking of the vessel was, the gravamen of the offence lay in the! onslaught upon a war vessel of a friendly! neutral state, what followed being incidental to that important fact, That some of those on board were killed and wounded magnifies the seriousness of the matter, and if the Panay had opened fire, which was denied, and now admitted probably to be not the case, her officers would have been justified in doing so. They were perfectly entitled to take whatever! steps they considered necessary for their own protection.
With regard to the allegation that the American war vessel was. machine-gunned, Col, Nishi, as the result of his investigations, Insisted yesterday that such could not have taken place. A. direct issue is, therefore, raised between the foreign correspondent who made the original statement, corroborated by' others who saw what happened, and Col, Nishi who was not present on the scene of the incident, and has to base his opinion upon what others told him. Hearsay evidence is not always as bad as it is held to be by some! Tegal systems, and a very fair amount of value may be attached to it in certain instances, but in this case it has to be accepted with every possible reserve, The fact that a Japanese army officer exchanged cards on. that fatal morning with the captain of the Panay precludes all question of there having been any mistake so far as the Japanese Army is concerned, for the identity of the vessel had been clearly established by such procedure, and the only possible defence to the allegations made is the complete denial which Col. Nishi received and transmitted to the Press Conference yesterday morning. Major-General Harada's failure to give the Conference the result of his investigations into the Wuhu incident involving British war vessels is quite understandable, It was probably the correct procedure in view of the conversations proceeding between Whitehall and Tokyo and there can be no criticism of what appears to be a perfectly proper reticence. His. denial, however, that Col, Hashimoto had een given orders 10 fire on all vessels. on the Yangtze irrespective of nationality, does not quite meet the matter. Col. Hashimoto is reported to have said that he had orders to do so, and, whether he had or had not, the fact remains that in the Colonel's mind that appeared to be his duty, and would certainly account for the strangeness of the] conduct of the men under him, especially if] he had conveyed such an understanding. to them or given orders along stich lines. It may be true that language difficulties made it possible for the Colonel to have been misunderstood, as has been suggested, but this excuse is becoming more than a little threadbare through too much facile use.
That misunderstandings do arise from such a cause is readily admitted, but it should bbe impressed upon the Japanese that in the existing highly delicate state of affairs the onus is thrust fairly and squarely upon them to do everything possible to prevent misunderstanding, for their forces are where they ought not to be, Nevertheless, in fairness to! the officers who made the stalements to the Press Conferences, it has' to be pointed out that their attitude has been one of complete: frankness, and the quick withdrawal of erroneous statements is ample evidence of their desire not to attempt to glaze matters: over. It is to be hoped that the same line' will be adopted by the Japanese Government in response to the protests which have been made to it, The readiness with which regrets were expressed to the British and American Governments encourages the hope that the demands which have been formulated will be met with the same promptness. That a certain section of opinion in Japan favours such a course is testified to by the writings of the doyen of Japanese journalists who, writing in the Tokyo "Nichi Nichi," urged the Japanese government to seek a fair and equitable settlement of the two incidents referred to. In the circumstances the demands which have been made are quite reasonable, and the general attitude of the Japanese in connection with the most unhappy offal would be all the more clearly demonstrated by following the line which this noted publicist suggests. It should be done quickly' too. The delay in replying -to~ British' representations on the subject of the attack fon the Ambassador's car created no little resentment, and promptness in this instance! would do much to discount that feeling,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.