Nov. 24.
Mr. Anthony Eden, who at times is positively revealing, has given the House of Commons another of those brilliant glimpses into the obvious in his reference to the position of the western trading nations in' China:—"One used to regard China as one of the great expanding markets of the world, but whatever else happened in the Far East there is going to be great im-[poverishment. They have gone through untold suffering, and when it is over I think the position of western nations will not be better than when it began." The Sino-Japanese hostilities have been responsible, for ari enormous amount of suffering, great that its utmost limits may never be [known, so lasting that it may be generations before' China again reaches the condition which existed at the time of the outbreak fof the struggle. The devastation which has been wrought, the trek of millions of Chinese in destitution from their homes where they could manage to eke out a meagre living, the death and misery which has {been inflicted upon them, can have no lather effect than to administer to the country a setback, the recovery from which will jof necessity' be slow. That even the Japanese recognize. Hence the grandiose} schemes for the speedy rehabilitation of the districts under their control, schemes, which Jat any rate at the moment give no great signs of any bewildering rapidity. Shanghai and its environs may be taken as an example, for though the Japanese have been in possession for just over a year if anything towards restoration thas been attempted, what has been done barely touches} the fringes of what is necessary. The establishment of a provisional government; Jat Nanking and a new municipality around [Shanghai has progressed little beyond the formation of administrations which have] not got into any sort of stride, and give no signs of immediately doing so. A few men who can properly be looked upon as leaders} have come forward, but, with all the best; intentions in the world, they are hampered] by what has been inflicted upon their people, jand the poverty which has resulted.
Any who believe that the touch of some magic wand can restore conditions to what! they were before last August are bemused in their thinking. The process of rebuilding this portion of China cannot be reasonably expected to be any quicker than the slow restoration which took place after] the catastrophe of the Taiping Rebellion. That Japan is anxious to be about speedy rehabilitation may be readily _believed. That she will do her utmost to achieve it may also be accepted, and while the plans which have been revealed up to the present) jate obviously designed for a profitable exploitation of the military successes which, thave been gained. there is at present little show that the Japanese are much con-learned in any scheme of rehabilitation of the Chinese which does not bring to themselves an immediate return. Indeed Japan is financially unable to undertake all of the huge task of a quick rehabilitation leven if the Chinese would enthusiastically ico-operate, which is by no means sure,—fand utterances of their leaders and their newspapers indicate that it is hoped event~ ually to attract foreign capital to participate jin the task. But that is all they want,—foreign financial assistance for a trade to be made as exclusively Japanese as possible. The meaning of Japanese statements in this respect has all along been perfectly obvious. They wish the western Powers to relinquish their trading activities and adopt the role jot money lenders, wiping out the very sub-' stantial interests which have been created, jin the past century and providing financial] assistance for the policy of the Closed Door. [Unless this scheme can be thwarted, Mr. Eden will have been proved to be perfectly: correct when he thinks that the position of western nations in China will not be better than when hostilities began. Indeed it will be very demonstrably worse, and the only way of saving what still remains after a year's enthusiastic wrecking is to insist upon the fulfilment of those obligations so clearly set forth in the Nine Power Pact.
Successful insistence upon that essential of benefit not only to the western nations whose interests are now threatened, but also to the Chinese themselves, who, if Japan is permitted to proceed unhindered with her present plans, will in a very short time bbe reduced to a state of economic helotry for which it is not easy to find a parallel in history. The eradication of free competition for China's produce, and in the sale of imports would deny the ordinary benefits of commerce, foreing the Chinese producer to accept whatever the monopolistic buyer chooses to pay for his goods, and obliging him pay inordinately for the imports which van would send to this country. It is for Feasons such as these that there is every justification for Mr. Cordell Hull to hold that the Japanese reply to the American Note on the subject of the violation of the Open Door policy is unsatisfactory. There is very Jittle likelihood that the further explanations. which Tokyo promises to give will contribute anything towards the improvement of the situation, for in the reply itself there is sufflcient indication that Japan is rejecting the principles established by the Nine Power Pact upon grounds which will not bear the slightest critical examination. But even if the pressure which the western nations must bring to bear upon Japan in order that she will better and with sincerity appreciate the position succeeds, foreign interests need not expect a very rapid improvement in conditions in China, So much has been destroyed, so much' wealth has vanished that the work of rehabilitation may very well prove a slow process. It will be quicker if all nations interested in the China trade are enabled to ce-operate upon the old basis of free and open competition permitting the Chinese to buy and sell in the best markets, for it is quite obvious that only by such means as will permit the Chinese, quickly to regain and improve upon their former standards of living can there be anything like the re-establishment of that former prosperity upon which the foreign trader so greatly depended.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.