In September alt Customs Prevontive ships had to withdraw from within the three-mile limit of the demilitarized zone by the order of the Japanese authorities acting, 25 they claimed, under the provisions of the undisclosed terms of the Tangku Truce. These Customs ships were not allowed t operate within the three-mile limit, and to make things even easier for the smugglers the Jupanese authorities announced that any interference with Japanese vessels "outside the three-mile limit would be treated as an act of piracy and dealt with accordingly." This meant that preventive work along the coast between Lutai and Shan-has been greatly curtailed, and then, too, financial stringency in administration has made demands on the individual pocket which were unheard of in the bad old days, Yet it is by no means clear that the 75 clubs full all the yearnings of the socially inclined citizens of this great city. Hardly a day goes by without someone proposing to form another club, and even if the proposal is speedily wrecked on that horrible rock, the provision of ways and means, some schemes manage ingeniously to survive, There are literary clubs, there a1 mutual admiration societies, there are self-denying institutions, and go-as-you-please outills. There is no club for red-haired men, but the blondes whom gentlemen were once supposed to prefer are said to have contemplated an organization to preserve their existence, Art clubs and music clubs have played their part in Shanghai's social life, and then, of course, there are various dramatic clubs, of which it were Atting to speak with bated breath, Local authorities are not always helpful to the Preventive Service and occasionally are definitely obstruct live, indeed encouraging smuggling themselves. But the Customs polley to exercise persistent tact "with the "object eventually of wearing down, opposition and securing co= operation, and this polley has not the present situation in the North the polley has no hope of success because the smuggling Issue there is not a matter fiscal consideration but has clearly become a major problem of Inter= national politics. This is virtually admitted by Japanese commentators who frankly say that the Japanese military authorities are, in their opinion, legitimately using this smuggling campaign as a lever for securing the compliance of the Chi reso Government with certain und ned conditions for cementing Sino-Japanese relationships. While, there fore, the Customs Preventive Service' has done its utmost within the limitations imposed upon it, it cannot bbe in any way blamed for the situntons which has arisen, for without the protection of Its own Govern ment it obviously is powerless to fact against the display of military force by a foreign aggressor.
this struggle proceeds the integrity of the Customs is being endangered, the foreign loan service gravely imperilled, and foreign trade likely 10 be ruinously disturbed.
Tur newly completed Soochow-Kashing Railway has been put in charge of the Nanking-Shanghai and Shanghai-Hangchow-Ningpo Railways Administration,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.