Dr. Lo Wen-kan glossed lightly lover the political disunity confronting his Government. That }was natural but it undoubtedly Jdeprived his speech of value guide to public opinion He therefore laid on the factor of resistance considered in the abstract. than jon the practical measures for learrying such, resistance into effect. The rigid disciplining of public opinion in Japan may give'
false impression of solidarity but. in China, where public opinion has yet, to acquire tangible significance, there is a lack of. discipline - which—how-jover meritorious in one sense—places an unduly heavy premium fon political courage.
This is! shown in the tacit encourage-iment of the boycott as a suitable weapon for China's employment, in the present circumstances. Dr. Lo Wen-kan would have done public service if he had been moved to point out that the Jattempt to boycott trade with a country which is China' best lcustonier, while maintaining technical state of peace, is desperate blow at China's power of recovery.
Taking Japanese imports as amounting to Hk. Tls. 300 million and China's exports to Japan ~at Hk. Tls. 200 million—a total of Hk. Tls. 500 million as compared with the Hk. Ti 364 million of the next country on the ist—it must be obvious that any indulgence in boycott of such a trade must involve an enormous number of Chinese merchants and workers in heavy loss and even ruin, If learned to its logical cone jon, frankly it would mean the paralysis of China's foreign trade and the important internal industries, dependent thereon. Nothing. could expose more clearly the {fallacy of the argument that the boycott is the proper weapon the weaker nation. It is the most deadly incentive to those {issiparoug movements of which Count Uchida spoke and to which Dr. Lo Wen-kan, however softly, had to pay attention, When therefore the Foreign Minister jat Nanking so admirably phrased China's sense of grievance, he left a serious hiatus in nogi ing to point out that that griev-. lance cannot, be redressed by' jection which tends further to weaken China's resources and to [perpetuate internal strife. Parafdoxical as it may sound, the best way of meeting the present Sino-\Japanese crisis is not by action or fulminations against Japan [but by close concentration on the task of domestic rehabilitation which, if successful, would. undoubtedly guard against fur-{ther encroachments on the ights 10 eloquently championed by the spokesman of the Government at
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.