June 15.
The mystery of the missing Japanese vice-consul at Nanking. has been solved after some days of serious misgiving and if the accounts which have reached Shanghai are correct there is nothing with which the Chinese authori ties can be blamed. Nevertheless it has been a fortunate escape for, had Mr, Kuramoto been found dead, it would have been difficult to avoid the blame which it might have been sought to attach to the Chinese authorities. It is not unusual in China for a foreigner to be lost sight of for something less than five days and subsequently to be found and in this respect the disappearance of Mr. Kuramoto for a short space of time has no particularly peculiar aspects. The official statement issued by the Japanese Legation should set all doubts at rest were it not for the significance of one passage con~ tained therein:—
"Mr. Kuramoto's mind appears tobe temporarily deranged, and, as reported by Chinese sources, his actions and words are abnormal, In view of the foregoing clrcumstances, the authorities of the Consulate-General are endeavouring to calm him and will wait until "ne has recovered before Questioning him, From the foregoing it would seem that the Japanese authorities are not yet prepared to accept the version which apparently, comes from Chinese sources. That is not to say, of course, that it is either untrue or inaccurate, but room is still left for the appearance of another version of the matter when Mr. Kuramoto shall have sufficient ly recovered from the excited state of mind which it is admitted fon all sides he appeared to be in when found and handed over by the Chinese authorities. On the face of it, there are some peculiari~ ties about his story which still need elucidation. His reported statements suggest that he had made up his mind to die, when found he bore all the signs of neglect for some days, and there appears to be Uttle doubt that if it had not Been for the inform tion given to the police by a Chinese peasant he might not have been found until perhaps that death for which he is alleged to have said he was secking had The attitude of Tokyo, according toa Rengo message, is not difficult to understand, in view of the statement issued by the Legation. The Foreign Office declines to make any statement until it ha received an official report, The official spokesman appears, however, to have gone somewhat fur-
"The fact that he has been found in no way minimizes the importance of the incident which took place in the capital of the country fo which he was accredited."
He indicated that the Japanese Government would take new measures after the receipt of an official report.
That is a perfectly proper position for the Japanese Foreign Office to assume, It is clear that the whole story has not been told, and from the Japanese point of view it must be a little difficult to believe that one of its officials, presumably well known to the authorities, and certainly recogniz~ able by any Chinese who saw him as a Japanese could have remained unfound for practically five days despite the hue and cry which it is well known was raised, Experience of disappearances of foreigners outside the Treaty Ports in the past investigation that of Chinese were not only apprised of his movements, but also in some instances of his fate. It is true that conspiracies of silence, such as in the case of "The Times" correspondent who was killed at Chengchow in 1927, may result in the creation of an almost unsolvable mystery, but the facts are that it is extremely difficult for a foreigner to disappear without a large number of Chinese being fare of all the circumstances.
perhaps, would account for the pressure which was brought upon the Chinese to prosecute their inquiries with the greatest possible vigour and to offer a substantial reward for the discovery of the missing man, In all the circumstances the sooner the whole of the story is made clear the better it will be for all concerned. At the most, supposing the versions already presented do reveal the complete truth, it is difficult to see that very great blame can be attached to the Chinese. It is apparent on the face of it that they had nothing to do with his disappearance. It is even more sure that once representations were made to them, the Chinese authorities did their utmost to find the missing man. That they were not successful earlier seems to be entirely due to the manner in which he, by his own actions, extended the scope of the inguiry' beyond what would appear to be the immediate locale. Not only that but their task was rendered all the more difficult, it Mr. Kuramoto's story is correct, by reason of the fact that he was arranging his own disappearance,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.