Washington, Aug. 30.
The "Washington. Evi Star" said here today that the Japanese Navy's blockade of the Yangtze River in China was wrecking relations between Japan and the United States and was leading to suspicion in Govertiment circles here thst the Japan-2se were attempting to prevent foreign navigation of the river permanently.
The paper said the Japanese Navy's refusal to permit the U.S.S. Monocacy to sail down river from her present position near Kiukiang presented the "makings" of another Panay incident.
"The Japanese are building up an: other good case against themselves. the Monocacy comes to grief," the paper said. "Their excuse will be that a Chinese mine did the damage. But the stubborn Japanese refusal to permit. the Monocacy to sail for Shanghai at the present stage of hostilities smacks strongly of retaliation. There is more than suspicion in Gov: ernment circles here that the Japanese high command, having failed to persuade the Powers to withdraw their ships from the river, is now trying to prevent all foreign navigation of the Yangtze.
The paper did not refer directly to the incident on Saturday in which two mines exploded.within. eightly yards of the Monocacy ninety minutes after several Japanese minesweepers had been active near by. The incident led to a protest to the Japanese Consulate at Kiukiang by Lieut, Clarence $74 Conlan, Commander of the Monocacy. The protest led to speculation in some quarters here whether Lieut, Conlan's protest was based on suspicion of a deliberate attempt to damage the Monocacy. Government circles, how: ever, appeared to attribute the accident to carelessness of the Japanese minesweepers
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.