Today, for the third time in succession, China is celebrating the festival of the Double Tenth, Chinese Republican Day under the cloud of Sino-Japanese hostilities. Since the foundation of the republic twenty-eight years avo this country has passed through many vicissitudes but none so serious as that which she is now undergoing. For well over two years now China has been doing her utmost to withstand the Japanese invasion, and, during the past year, the Japanese have made no very appre lable progress in the interior of China. That may be because Japan does not desire to increase her commitments in that area, but rather to consolidate the gains which have already been made. In that she may be wise, for it is clear that the more deeply Japanese armies penetrate into western China the greater do the difficulties become. That the Chinese have fought with the greatest determination is admitted by the whole world, and their armies, neither so well equipped nor so well trained as the Japanese, have given such an account of themselves that the Chinese may well be proud. At the moment a state of stalemate has been reached, and large numbers of Chinese themselves as well as foreigners are wondering when ther it would not be possible to put a termination to the present state of affairs, and seek to bring about a better understanding between the two nations. Both sides at the moment still appear determined to continue until their will prevails, and if this determination is adhered to there may still be years of unnecessary and expensive warfare ahead. That various schemes for peace have been put forward from time to time is well known, but it does not appear that anything acceptable has at any time been suggested. With the hideous spectacle of Europe on the verge of a general conflagration it is desirable that some method should be devised whereby China and Japan can compose their differences, and put an end to a state of affairs which is doing no one any good and enormous numbers of people considerable harm.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.