Tientsin, Dec, 4, 1938 addition to the difficulties and restrictions of their trade, both actual and threatening, the foreign communities of Tientsin are much worried over the general situation with regard to the British and French Concessions, and their fate in the near future. An atmosphere of foreboding seemed to be hanging over the port.
__Jn August last, in accordance with orders issued by their military authorities, Japanese residents began to move out from the two concessions in large numbers.
And the ensuing excitement and irritation came to a head in the riots of a Japanese mob against the French authorities, which culminated in the invasion of the French Municipal offices.
However, after a time things quieted down again; it was given out, doubtless in reply to official enquiries at Tokyo, that no official orders had been issued for the evacuation of the British or French concessions} and after a considerable number of Japanese, including the Consul-General, had actually transferred their residence from the Concessions, the exodus gradually ceased.
The local Japanese newspapers, inspired no doubt by military circles, made no secret of what all the trouble was about and what they believed to be their grievances against the two Concessions. They put forward three main grounds of complaint. Firstly, the Concessions were accused of giving shelter to Chinese guerrilla leaders who, from the safety of these neutral areas, conducted the operations of their bands. Secondly, the Chinese banks holding the remaining reserves of silver belonging to the National Government keep these stocks in their premises in the two Concessions and refuse to hand them over to the Japanese who require them, as they say, in order to build up a reserve for the new currency in North China. Thirdly, the refusal of the foreign banks to recognize the Federal Reserve notes or tq sell foreign currency in exchange for them, an attitude that they are only able to adopt because they operate in the Concessions.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.