Celebrations marking the return of the! "Peace Preservation Army" were noted in the Mukden press and the explanation of this return was that this Manchoukuo force had been assisting the Japanese Army in northern China. No official announcement of the strength of the force or the-extent of its activities was given in these notices.
The Ching An corps was of course officered by Japanese. In accordance with the custom sending back to their homeland the ashes of those Japanese who die in foreign service, five dozen packages were recently carried through Mukden on their last homeward trip. As the' slow train to which the two cars of the funeral party had been attached drew into the various stations, Japanese connected with military establishments, with women's defence associations, and with the railway were drawn up onthe station platform.
At some stations a small incense burner placed on a square topped stool over which a white cloth had been draped, was placed Just opposite the platform of the last car of} the train, and thin curls of smoke drifting up from the tiny impromptu altar marked special act of reverence to the memory of the fallen by the small Japanese community resident there, Whether the last remains of all who fell had been recovered, whether others had gone by the shorter northern route, through Kirin and Tumen, was not stated, but the number of boxes of ashes carried by this party ssu gests that the total casualties of the Manchoukuo forces to which these officers had been attached must have been a considerable number, Many foreign readers in this district had little clear conception of the extent to which Manchoukuo forces had been used inside of the Great Wall, and were surprised by the information, which appeared in an account of the occupation of Wuhu, that a joint Japanese and Manchoukuo force had entered that southern city, No ambiguity exists, however, in the statements of the extent to which the man-power and the resources of this country may: be! utilized for "defence" or "the event of} emergency," since the publication of the new "National Mobilization Law of Manchoukuo, "No sudden drastic changes in the structure of the national economy, is dictated by this reads the explanatory statement issued from Changchun when the Jaw was promulgated, Nor is the exact date for the enforcement of this Law announced, The basic relation between Japan and the Changchun Government rests upon the] protocol which provides for joint defence, At the beginning of this regime the contribution by Manchouleuo to this defence scheme can best be described as negative, The Japanese Army had defended these territories, never forgetting that the best form of defence {s attack, before the name of Manchoukuo was made public, and there can be little dispute of the fact that an early, complete withdrawal of that defence would have resulted in the prompt dissolution of this: regime, Considerable advance has been made sisice those days and one finds a Manchoukuo army not only ce-operating for the setting up of] that new regime in Inner Mongolia which announced a severance of all relations with' the Republic of China, but also ce-operating in "defence operations" against an important] city in the Yangtze Valley.
Now, a step ahead of Japan, the junior partner in this mutual defence pact has promulgated its Mobilization Law, which in 29 articles of most wide-sweeping scope, stipulates the measures that should be taken war-time or peace-time to muster the] entire resources of the land, and in a further twelve articles lists the severe penalties for! any violation of this law.
The informal statement from the Changchun Government recognizes the absolute necessity of perfecting the various systems for] mobilizing man-power and material resources to the fullest extent, because of the present international situation and the scale and characteristics of modern war. "Modern war! is a general conflict between the powers military and otherwise of belligerents," pon derousiy proclaims the oracle, and "The whole nation must share the responsibility."
National mobilization commodities and resources are defined in broadest terms. Arms, ammunition, aircraft and similar] resources head the list. Clothing, food, meat, medicine, medicalyinstruments, other sanitary commodities, and veterinary' articles, con-' tinue. the categories, which Yead like a card-catalogue of a quarter-master's departmental] files.
Ships, rolling-stock, horses and other! means of conveyance are included in the list] which. apparently embraces everything from automobiles to zebras, including sedan chairs and skates, Facilities for communication purposes, are duly nated, the details being!
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.