The splendid lead given the foreign c munities a short while ago by the Ame: Chamber of Commerce in connection with the various problems confronting it a result of the Sino-Japanese hostilities has been enthusiastically followed up by the}; chambers and associations of other nationalities, and as a result simultaneous commu:
a local common policy has bet ed to the Governments concerned.
are seve issicns to be found the list of bodies which have taken that ste two of the abstentions being due it i believed rather to political reasons than any failure to realize conditions as they stand present. In ancther column will be found a list of nine points upon which common agreement between the assenting organizations h been reached, They cover questions burel local to Shanghai as well as those other and more important ones which deal with matters of general policy, and they may be summed up as demanding the full restoration of all foreign rights municipal ell as national in China, and the payment of due respect to them by the Japanese. The formulation of a list of common objectives such as has now been presented shows to the goverments of the world' the solidarity of and it must be made quite plain to Japan that any attempt to modify or reduce the rights of foreigners in China by unilateral action by herself will be resisted. The monotonous complaint that the western Powers fail to appreciate the situation carries no conviction. Tt never did, for those concerned have realized from. the ' very commencement that their rights are being infringed by a Power which has definitely committed itself to respect them, not for a limited period or during the existence of a particular set of conditions, but permanently, Even if that were not the case, it would still be contended with perfect justice that whatever new conditions are being brought about are occasioned by the wrongful action of the Japanese, and the plea that, therefore, they should be allowed to benefit exclusively by it has nothing in reason to justify it. While much representation has been made to the various home governments by individual chambers and associations, the production of this document enunciating a common policy, and emphasizing the community of interests in Shanghai, should carry very considerable weight with the authorities to which it is addressed. It should serve to bring home to them the very real anxiety with which the situation is regarded by the people on the spot and damage which arises from these Japanese sponsored irregularities. The traders of western nationality have behaved during the past sixteen months with exemplary patience. They have unavoidably formed the idea that the Home Governments have not been quite so emphatic in the protection of their rights as they would have liked them to be. There are undoubtedly very good, and overwhelming reasons why this should be so, but the time has certainly come when it should be impressed upon the respective governments that the enormous damage to which foreign interests are being subjected by Japanese action should not be permitted to continue indefinitely, Anti-Aircraft Defences Coming from such an authoritative source, the statement of Mr. Here-Belisha, the War Secretary, in regard to British anti-aircraft defences should have a reassuring effect on a public which hes registered much dissatistactien on the subject, The War Secretary said Britain could put into action five times the number of anti-aircraft guns available in 1936, and whereas the ni x of Te orials at the beginning of 1936 was 5,000, ten times that number was available for anti-aircraft defence during the recent crisis. These figures in themselves: re not impressive be se in the two years which have elapsed since 1936, the ai pro-rammes of various powers have been greatly increased and what the public wants to know [is not statistics but whether British anti-aircraft defences have reached a point of superior-juy over aircraft attack. The recent Sandys in-[vestigation furnished disturbing aspects on this "point. It was not so much an attempt under the Official Secrets e e with the constitutional priv Member of Parliament as it was action to prevent a layman from forcing attention to an important matter of defence which he felt had been neglected. The recent European er which saw the country plunge into elaborate precautions against air raids has left in its trail accounts of disappointments and deficiencies ch have tended to undermine public confidence. In fact, the threat of war by its very suddenness and enforced acceleration of preparations has served the useful. purpose of awakening the. country to possibilities of national. emergency and the need for well-defined plans of action, Mr, Here-Belisha's statement will be received. as evidence that the Government is not being lulled into a
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.