Not a great amount of value will be attached to the statement made by the Japanese Embassy spokesman concerning the refusal of the military authorities to permit the landing of 100 tons of beans shipped to Nanking by the International Relief Committee. It was claimed that the "obstinate" stand of the committee in insisting that it should deal exclusively with the distribution of the beans, was at the root of the trouble. When all is said and done, the fact remains that the International Relief Committee purchased the beans and were to all intents and purposes the owners of them. Money for relief had been given that body and they were engaged in providing a dietary for the Chinese depending upon them calculated to remove any danger of beri-beri. In all good faith they transported the cargo to Nanking, and then on what appears to be a mere quibble, as to who should distribute the beans, valuable help for the Chinese refugees had either been denied them or at least postponed. There is something unreasonable in the Japanese demand that the Committee should hand the beans over to the Nanking Autonomous Commission for distribution. The Autonomous Commission has more than a little work before it to establish its own authority, and it would be better employed in seeking to do that than in branching off into side issues such as relief, which is being quite efficiently handled by the International Relief Committee. The Embassy spokesman'. remark that 100 tons of beans was an excessive quantity, "as we are not aware that there are so many cases of Chinese suffering from beriberi" is entirely beside the point. It is not the number who are suffering at the moment that is the concern of the Committee, but the fact precautions should be taken to prevent the disease gaining a hold. Once that aspect of the matter is seen, the question arises as to whether 100 tons is sufficient for the preventive work they are designed to do.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.