The seriousness of the present anti-British campaign to which reference has already been made, is emphasized by the strongly-worded Note which Sir Herbert Phillips, H. M. Consul-General delivered to the Japanese Consul-General on Saturday. But grave as is the local situation it must be remembered that this campaign is not a purely local affair, but is being persistently pro-secured in other parts of China which are at present under Japanese control The Note in question reveals the existence of armed bands on the Pootung side engaged in intimidating workers desirous of returning to work after settlement of their strike, and that two British members of the staff have been fired upon by these bands when they appeared outside the works endeavouring to encourage those who wanted to return to do so. Suppression of these armed gangs, the protection of Britons in Pootung, and the suppression of agitators is demanded together with the stoppage of anti-British parades, and the affixing of anti-British post Attention is also drawn to the activities of the "Sin Shun Pao," and after pointing out the control which is being exercised over British-owned Chinese language papers the note asks for reciprocity with regard tp this Japanese-owned journal, which is undoubtedly guilty of what amounts to incitement to violence against British interests? Of the artificiality of the whole movement there need not be the slightest doubt, but it is an uncomfortable fact that with the judicious expenditure of comparatively small sums, the origin of which it would not be difficult to guess, this agitation is being maintained in an area over which the Japanese have, or should have the completest possible control Failure to exercise this must naturally bring under suspicion that,—to use a very much overworked word—"sincerity" the exclusive possession of which the Japanese so very often claim, while denying that others whose interests they threaten are endowed with any such quality. It is obvious that relations between Britons and Japanese in China stand no chance whatever of being improved so long as this lack of sincerity on the part of the Japanese is so marked a characteristic of their conduct.
If, to quote a Domei message, Anglo-Japanese relations are rapidly deteriorating the responsibility lies fairly, and squarely with the Japanese. Because the British, in common with other foreign nationals in China, cannot -see eye to eye with Japanese contentions, Japan is seeking all manner of reprisals aimed to secure their ends'in a manner which is as immoral as it can possibly be. With the declaration of the temporary assumption of sovereignty in those parts of China which they have overrun the Japanese have accepted the responsibility for the establishment, and continuance of a state of law, and order. They cannot have it both ways. Either they are in control of the areas surrounding Shanghai, and, consequently, have laid upon them the responsibilities of an efficient government, or they are not. They cannot hide behind the various Chinese administrations which they have set up, for their control over them is just as complete as that of a creator over his creature. Thus while the British authorities have clearly demonstrated a willingness; to ce-operate with the Japanese as far as lies within their power, the Japanese have not only failed to ce-operate, but are positively engaged upon a campaign of interferlence with British rights and interests which cannot be excused upon any ground whatever. it is a demonstration of bad faith in all its nakedness and can be classified by no other term. It is an important fact to which the Note refers that the strike at the Lun Chang Mills was actually settled, and that the workers, willing to return to their duties, have been prevented from doing so by the irregular action of gangs of bad characters whose suppression is clearly the duty of the Japanese. There is, therefore, no real issue between employers and employees, but rather an artificially-maintained agitation which has no merit about it, save, perhaps, that it may serve to assist the Japanese to serve some obscure end they may have in view. If parallels are sought from other places it should not be too difficult to understand what the objective may be. The fact is that with the continued existence of British factories, etc, as well as of other, third party neutral concerns, the machinery for resuming trade with the interior will remain, and when it is opened up, as ultimately it must be, the Japanese will face that competition which it is clear by their actions they fear even now.
Another phase of the matter may very well be that, by isolating British interests for attack, some progress may be made in destroying that community of interest which undoubtedly exists between foreigners, no matter df what nationality, other than Japanese, trading in China. But those nationals at present not receiving these unpleasant attentions of the Japanese,—for the responsibility of no one else can possibly be accepted,—may rest assured that if the time ever comes when the success of these moves against British interests becomes apparent, they in their turn will be subjected to the same activities. The total elimination of third party Powers from China has been an often-declared intention of the Japanese, not by persons whose utterances may not count, but by men whose authority cannot be questioned. The issue in which Japan and Great Britain are at present involved is one of importance to all those other countries who can expect no gentler treatment of their rights and interests than that to which British are being subjected at the moment. This needs to be remembered in view of the attempts which are apparently being made to differentiate between Great Britain and themselves, but they realize the point so well that it is more than doubtful whether Japanese attempts in this direction will meet with anything like success. The struggle may be only beginning, but Great Britain is not without means of powerful reply. She Will be reluctant to embark upon retaliation, but it is a weapon in her hands, which, properly applied, would have the effect of rapidly bring the Japanese to their senses. Japan economically is vulnerable; she can be reached in so many ways, every one of Which would prove very expensive to herself, and if at the moment Great Britain hesitates to apply them, it is because even at this hour it is hoped that the Japanese will see the error of their ways and return to courses more consonant with their assurances and the honour of their country, Russia's Strength When so much is being written and said about the comparative merits of the fighting forces of Soviet Russia, it is interesting to receive a copy of a brochure compiled by the Rt, Hon. Arthur Greenwood on "The Soviet's Fighting Forces," which has been issued under the auspices of the Anglo-Russian Parliamentary Committee. The work, which appeared in April last, was obviously prepared with an eye towards the negotiations which are proceeding for the purpose of bringing about a defensive alliance between Great Britain, France, and Russia, and as the work opens With the phrase "No really effective system of collective security against further aggression by Fascist and Nazi states can be organized with the participation of the U.S.S.R." the aim which the compiler of the work had in view is apparent. Nevertheless amongst the various utterances of authorities on the subject of military science of various nationalities, there is sufficient to show that those who are disposed lightly to regard the Russian military machine are likely to be very considerably surprised if at any time it is put to the test. Much is made of M. Voroshilovs utterances on the subject at the Communist Party Conference in March of this year. He is the People's Commissar for Defence, and can be depended upon to make the most of the facts concerning the weapon of defence of which he is in charge, He can, however, be ignored in favour of the declarations of others not so likely to find a swan in this particular Russian goose. Of the Russian air force Major Lord, well-known American air ace during the Great War writes of what he saw in Spain:—
Their bombers are veritable flying fortresses; they are so fast and so difficult to hit that they can carry out raids without being accompanied by fighter planes to protect them. As far as the Soviet fighter planes are concerned, they are. in my opinion, superior to the corresponding planes sent to Spain by all other countries.
It is as well that this should be remembered by'those who are impressed by the recent claims of the wholesale downing of aeroplanes of Russian make on the Mongolian-Manchoukuo border, where if all that is said is correct, the machines most obviously were seriously out-of-date. General von Cochenhausen, Commandant of the Academy of the Military Air Fleet, and president of the Gesellschaft Für Wehrpolitik und Wehrwissenschaft, in the annual report of the latter, wrote "The army of the U.S.S.R. is at the present time the most gigantic army that has ever been organized in the world." Of the quality of the Russian soldier there cannot be the slightest doubt, and those who fancy that the purges which have been carried out in the ranks of the U.S.S.R. forces may have weakened them from the point of view of command may yet see that their beliefs will not be justified in the event. If there is any degree of real leadership in existence it might have the opportunity to prove itself, in the event of a war breaking out, and it is apparent from the brochure that the strength of Russia is such that her adherence to a tripartite defensive alliance with Great Britain and France, will prove to be the biggest factor for peace which is available at the present moment. With the sympathy of the United States such a combination, and their economic support in certain circumstances this anti-aggression combination, if it is brought about may prove the most potent inspiration for peace which the world has ever seen.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.