Prime Minister, said he was aware of recent rumours concerning "such demands, but Mr. Anthony Eden, the Foreign Secretary, had not received any reports. confirming them.
The Japanese Foreign Minister, he stated, had recently informed" Sir Robert Clive, the British Ambassador in Tokyo, that Japan was not supporting the establishment of a special Customs tariff by any local authority in_China, The Prime Minister added that the British Government was of course keenly interested in the maintenance of the integrity of the Chinese Customs administration, The China Commiitee of the House of Commons will meet on May 10 to consider the smuggling prevalent in North China with n vi ance in checking the smugglers, The Committee will be assisted by a number of experts, "The Times" today gives prominence to a report detailing the extent of the smuggling now going on in North China and its prejudicial effect on Customs loans and legitimate Ddusiness, The report that the Japanese milltary authorities in Tientsin forbid Chinese customs cruisers to enter the three mile limit in pursuit of smug-siers is much criticized, especially as the Tangku Truce provides that the Chinese "police be responsible for order in the demilitarized zone.
The opinion is widespread that the Japanese military authorities are using smuggling og a means of pres: sure on the Chinese Government in order to secure concessions in which they ore Interested.
At the same time, no doubt existe that the Japanese Government realizes the danger of anything calculated to Impair the integrity of the Customs.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.