Lords Debate China Affairs: Customs Integrity Maintained Though Funds Detained London, Feb..15. HE British French and American authorities have agreed to support the Shanghai Municipal Council in opposing Japan ese attempts to interfere with its functions or fo alter the character of the administration," declared Lord Plymouth, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affai in the first Parliamentary debate hitherto devoted exclusively to the present situation in China: the House of Lords to-day.
There was some force, he said, in some of the Japanese contentions, and there was a large measure of agreement that their representation on the administration was hardly commensurate with their numbers and interests. That matter was under consideration; but the Japanese, claim for increased representation on the Council itself was quite a different matter.
The Council was international body and not under the control of any particular government.
The debate was initiated on a moe tion by Lord Elibank, formerly President of the Federation of Chambers fof Commerce of the British Empire, who drew attention to the magnitude of British trade investments in China, which precluded the taking of a passive attitude towards events in the Far Ea He did not wish, he said, to be Biovocative either towards Japan China.
After commenting on Japan's probe em of over=population and lack of ruw materials, he declared that China's population problem was just fy acute as Japan's, and it was-not surprising that she resisted when the Japanese "forcibly deprived her, of jand and laid her land to waste.
He, however, sympathized—with Japan on the question of Soviet Rus in, which was trying to empress Communism un China, "Japan cane not look upon this without anxiety."
Japanese ambitions, Lord Elibank continued, were directed towards Chinese trade in such a way as to squeeze out all other competition. quoted as examples the position in Manchoukuo and the recent: diseritminiatory import duties decided upon the "Government" at Peiping Shanghai Actions Deptored Moreover, he added. Jo tions in und around Shanghai "are most reprehensible and, Ike sands on the seashore. are likely, to leave gritty taste in the mouth, Shanghai is the centre, Lord Fie Danke said for many thousands of millions sterling of foreign. Investments in various parte of China. Great Britain's share of investments in Shanghai alone wax over £150. (000,000, If recent Japanese demands were' urented, Japan would acquire complete control in the International Settlement, und its international character would be destroyed.
Any Power controlling" Shanghai, the speaker declared, was able to injure the interests of other nations right into the centre of China, while the contro! of the Chinese Customs there would imply control of every other Customs station in the Yangtze Valley.
Lom Elibank said that the Customs revenue in Tientsin and Tsing tao was being deposited in the Yoko~ hama Specie Bank; and he asked what guarantee there was. that the Japanese would not do the same with the Customs revenues in Shang hal and ultimately appropriate them for their own purposes,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.