While reports from southern Hopet remained disturbing, the situation here to-day began to fall into normal Grooves with the inauguration of the Peace Maintenance Commission.
Headed by Mr, Kao Lin-wel, who it. 1023-24 served as Premier in the Peking Government, the new body comprises nine members, who will be formally Invested to-morrow.
The immediate tasks of the new organization, the OD-year old Chale tan of the Commission told the press, will be to ald the thousands of refugees from the Chinese city, to reopen the postal service, to remove and dispose of bodies, and to put an end groundless. rumours, similar body, headed by Generat Chiang Chao-kung, another former Premier, was to have been inaugurate ed in Peiping this afternoon, Radio Address In his brondeast to Japan, Generat atsuki "asked the nation to give ther encouragement" to the Japan ese. forces in North China and plained the nature of the developments here.
He opened his address with an Jexpression of regrets over the "current serious situation, which has Its roots the treacherous acts committed by. Chinese troops at Lukouchiao on the:
tot July 7.
following the outbreak of the: incident," he declared, "the Army has: atlently striven to localize it. These efforts, however, were set at naught by the outrageous actions of the Chinese. troops, as exemplified in the Langfang incident of July 25 and the Kwanganmen clash the following night."
"egal Acts It should be noted, he declared, that the Chinese troops "committed their legal acts, while we were striving to effect a peaceful settlement of the "The officer emphatically denied the reports that the Japanese Army "took. the initiative in attacking the Chinese "There could. be nothing more insulting to the Japanese Army," he remarked, "than such an accusation 'The, War Office in Tokyo, he went on, "his consistently' adhered too policy of non-aggravation of the Inident, and orders to that effect were brought to him from the Army Gen-feral Staff by couriers, No Alternative "Our patience unrequited, the Tien {sin Garrison sent an ultimatum to the Chinese authorities on July 28. T hope the Japanese people will realize that the Army had no other alternative but to resort to arms."
Whether the Army will launch a general offensive upon China or not, hho declared, is a question to be dealt with by the Central authorities in Tokyo.
"hope the nation will give the Army its whole-hearted support," he continued, "This support can best be expressed through 9 firm refusal to pay heed to the tenets of Bolshe-
General Katsuki thanked the people of Japan for their messages of encouragement which, he said, now umber between 500 and 1,000'a day. 'These messages, he added, "have played an important role in keeping. the soldiers' morale at a high pices."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.