Two months have already elapsed since the opening of hostilities in Shanghai with all its intensity and force. Yet it cat not be truthfully said that the Red, Cross work has been as complete and satisfactory as the gravity of the situation demands. It was with the earnest intention and desire to find a final and basic solution of this increasingly vital and pressing problem that I paid a visit io the Capital at the beginning of this month to hold consultations with the various authorities there. After careful ana thorough discussion certain points were raised, which I now hope to bring to the attention of the medical circle in Shanghai.
1—To stárt with it must be understood that the present undeclared war between China and Japan- has far surpassed the local hostilities in 1932 both in sale and duration. Hence it is @ mistake to imagine that the same methods of medical aid and fellef work as those adopted in 1932 are at all adequate to cope with the present exigency.
2—The international character of Shünghai with all its peculiarities, coupled with the fact that the scale of military operations by both sides has practically affected the whole city including the foreign Settlements, has rendered Shanghai not ideally suitable for the establishment of base hospitals. The appearance of a cholera epidemic,, giving rise to restriction on the entry of wounded soldiers into the Settlements merely served as at opportunity to suggest the shifting of the centre of medical and Red Cross activities to places further inland.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.