Feb. 19
The correspondence concerning the Western Area outside the perimeter again brings up the query as to when that district will be fully open for residence and when the eastern und northern districts will be thrown com~ pletely open so that Shanghai can get on with the tassie of rehabilitation. With regard to the first, the district is open subject to a curfew, regulation which is enforced between the hours of 6 p.m, and 6 a.m.and it is contended that this unreasonable restriction makes it im~ possible and undesirable for foreigners to re~ occupy their valuable properties which have bbeon lying unattended to for months past, Owners are deprived of the right to enjoy the amenities which they have provided for themselves at considerable expense, and it is contended that those responsible for this Yesttiction of their rights are behaving in a completely. unreasonable manner, Tt is idle for anyone to urge that there are military reasons for maintaining these restrictions. Fighting has moved away from Shanghat for many months and it is eminently desirable that this portion of the environs of Shanghai should he restored to normality as speedily' 48 possible, And that for many reasons, not the least of which is that this continued denial of the arca in question to foreign residents therein constitutes a direct, interference with Uiose neutral xights which the Japanese have so often expressed their "intention seruputously to respect. It has been! repeatedly urged upon the Japanese authorities that it is necessary that Shanghai should! be allowed to engage upon the task of recon~ struction as quickly as possible, and in this connection it 1s emphatically pointed out that not only does the keeping closed of this area—for that is what the curfew restrictions in act do—delay that necessary process, but it ficlually tends towards the further deteriora~ tion of the properties situated there, It is a well-known fact that unoccupied houses run} into dilapidation quicker than those which are occupied, and that process fs actually going on in tasse properties which have been denied to their owners for all too long a period, Apart from the material and moral sides of this matter, there is an important considera~ tion "of which the responsible Japanese authorities appear to have lost sight. "A great! cal of complaint has been heard from the Sapanese to the effect that foreign neutrals completely fail to understand them, This is probably true, and if itis, the Japanese have! Themselves alone to blame. " Residents in Shanghai can thoroughly understand what] oes on before their very eyes. They con {ast those things which they witness with the assurances which ave s0 freely given them by the Japanese authorities, and they fail to find any. real agreement between the two.
not to be wondered at, therefore, if finding! this Jack of congruity between assurances facts they express no litle scepticism re. ing Japanese bona Ades: That is a matter which concerns the Japanese alone, The fact is that the manner in which they are dealing with this question of opening the areas which have been closed so long, despite repeated! representations, conveys the impression that the Japanese authorities are treating foreign neutrals with complete disregard, ignoring, not only their rights, but the assurances which have been given them, It is obvious from the foregoing that the Japanese authorities atone are responsible for much of the local misunderstanding of the aims and policies which! undoubtedly "exists at the present moment. They may, it is true have reasons for thei present behaviour which seem perfectly good to them, If they have, foreign observers do not know what they are, They would like to. know, but it is clear that those reasons: would have to be very impressive to convince: neutrals that there is any very real reason why they should be denied full access to the districts in question,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.