As Sech from Shanghai To the Editor of the "Nortu+Cutva Daty News"
Sm—I have read with much interest the dispatch dated- July 19, from your Peiping correspondent, Mr. W. Lewisohn which appeared in Your issue of the 28rd, and hope that ihe gloomy future he forecasted for North China will not turn out to be true, not solely for sake of China but also for the sake of large non-Japanese foreign interests up there.
I do not question the veracity of your able correspondent but I am rather inclined to think' that he has been misinformed as to, the attitude of the Central Government in the present crisis. In a critical situation like that now occurring it is but natural for some of the concerned to evade responsibility and try to pass the buck and it is not unnatural that the informants of your Mr. Lewisohn who are the adherents of the Northern military should try to put the blame on the Central Government, I think the firm attitude of the Central Government is self evident in the famous utterances of the Generalissimo and the appearance of Central Government soldiers in Paoting. The fact is the entire na-lion is solidly behind the Central Government and the 29th Army. Even the. seven "Salavationists" hitherto fore bitter antagonists of the Central Government have wired the Generalissimo their confidence and support from their confinement in Soochow where they await trial for alleged acts endangering the safety of the State, As to the best course to pursue in the liquidation of the present impásse I am reluctant to suggest and much! prefer to leave it to the competent Central and Local Authorities who know best what to do. I must refrain from clamouring for a war that I am tdo old to participate actively and must leave that to men in their prime to-day, In retrospect I am inclined to think that the units of the 29th Army which was attacked by the Japanese troops had made a mistake in fighting back half heartedly, This is not due to lack of courage or punch but rather due to desire to minimize the clash under standing orders to do so. Had they fired back vigorous: and to kill when they were fired pon and inflict heavy casualities, their opponents would not be apt to start something at will Reading the press report of the Sayings of the Japanese spokesman who has been attributed to have said that the presence of certain units of the 20th Army at certain points constitute a direct threat to the safety of Japanese forces one would think—that these Chinese units were encroaching on Japanese soil instead of on their own territory. It would be more appropriate to say that the Presence of the better armed Japa-hose forces in China constitute a threat to the 29th Army and that these Japanese forces should be withdrawn into Kwangtung Lease territory. It is evident from the warped reasoning above mentioned that a nation had gone mad and in the Circumstance it might be advisable to slack the lines of defence somewhat and perchance our adversary may inextricably entangle himself Qr". Shanghai, July 27,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.