Tientsin, Dec. 29.
The American Chamber of Commerce's action in requesting the Japanese authorities to remove barrier restrictions in Tientsin is welcomed in Britsh circles here, which await Tokyo's reaction with interest.
The American request is believed to be a direct result of Mr. Nelson T. Johnson's recent visit, when he held a series of discussions with local American businessmen and the Japanese Consul-General.
During his brief stay the American Ambassador is reported to have devoted considerable attention to the blockade question, as Americans, who have hitherto been given more or less special treatment by the Japanese authorities waging the Tientsin blockade, have recently been becoming more and more subject to its rigours.
Incidents at the barricades and other obstructions to normal trading are now affecting Americans as much as Britons. A typical example of the tactics employed by the Japanese occurred at the barricades the other day when a well-known American rug merchant was forced to unroll a bundle of new rugs on a muddy road for inspection.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.