Today is yet another anniversary, for on November 12, 1937, the Japanese forces secured complete control of the Shanghai area. For three months the stubborn resistance of the Chinese had held up the invaders, but such a defence could not last for ever in the circumstances, and, when once it collapsed, the occupation of the environs of this city was accomplished with rapidity. The Japanese have, therefore, been in control for exactly one year during which Shanghai has been freed from military menace, and could very rightly expect to be allowed to return to its normal ie functions. The military necessity which had required ihe occupation of Hongkew and Yangtszepoo had disappeared, the areas were held with continually decreasing forces, and though it would be incorrect to assert that for the whole year there has been no real necessity for the restrictions which have been placed upon those areas, it can in all fairness be contended that for many months, indeed the greater part of the year, there has been nothing to justify the purely obstructive tactics of the Japanese authorities in this matter. The Municipal Council is being deprived of much revenue that would be forthcoming were this control removed, and the Chinese allowed to return to their homes and businesses, while there are features of the Japanese occupation which border on the absurd. There is for instance the closing of several bridges, and the ridiculous delay on those which are kept open, ridiculous because unauthorized persons can and do enter those areas either by boat to the various wharves, or across the boundaries abutting on Chinese territory. The International Settlement is deprived of the use of valuable properties north of Soochow Creek, such as schools, hospitals and offices, and are forced to extra expense in finding the necessary but unsuitable accommodation which they are at present using. Many undamaged factories remain closed, public conveyances are being deprived of a portion of their chartered rights, and in general the attitude adopted by the Japanese authorities shows a callous disregard for the interests of the Settlement and the assurances which they gave so freely ín the early days of the hostilities.
The glib phrase "military necessity" has been used to cover a great deal of wholly unnecessary abuses. It is still being availed of to justify failure to permit the Whangpoo Conservan Board, an international body concerned with the maintenance of this port, io resume its operations. The harbour has beer left practically unattended for the last fifisen months, and an enormous amount of harm is being done which will take much. time and money to put right. The plea advanced in justification by the Japanese authorities is manifestly devoid of truth, as is apparent to anyone who has travelled between the Bund'and Woosung, for the necessary work could be performed without any interference whatever with the Japanese! operations in the Whangpoo. This adoption of the "dog in the manger" attitude by the Japanese is one of the principal factors militating against a better local understanding, the absence of which has called forth much adverse Japanese comment, and it must be realized that third party neutrals in this port have been so surfeited with bland assurances that-the sight of a little action on ihe part of the Japanese would be more than welcome. The Japanese are not being judged by what their officials say, nor the glowing pictures presented by such enthusiasts as Mr. Kodama; they are being judged by their commissions and omissions, and when these are taken into consideration it is quite apparent why there is not a better understanding between them and their critics. A few real gestures of good will amounting to no more than the fulfilment of oft-repeated promises would do more towards the establishment of harmony than anything the Japanese have managed to do up to the present. Nor are favours being asked for. In effect all that is desired is ihe return to the International Settlement of the full exercise of its rights. That they had to be curtailed during the hostilities around Shanghai is freely admitted, but there can be no agreement that there is any real need for a continuance of that deprivation.
Turning for a moment to a pleasanter side of the matter, it has to be admitted that the occurrence of unpleasant incidents has been greatly reduced, and it is possible to venture north of the Creek with fair assurance of not being molested. The tightening up of Japanese discipline is responsible for this improvement, and the fact is noted $32] With due appreciation. If, in the directions $50 which have been indicated above, the Jap-mae could modify their attitude they would go a long way towards removing those misunderstanding; of which they complain, and in doing so they would perform a service as valuable to themselves as it would be plea: ing to others. If, as it has been suggested, ihe prolonged application of restrictions in Hongkew and Yangiszepoo is designed as a bargaining point around which to deal with the Municipal Council, it is a totally immoral piece of business. The Japanese are as much partners in the maintenance of the International Settlement as any other nationals. Their rights are no greater and no less, but there is certainly not much to be said for a partner who seizes partnership goods for the purpose of bending his confreres to his will, and that more particularly when the Municipal Council only exercises powers delegated to it by the nations concerned in the establishment and maintenance of the Settlement, and cannot legally comply with some of the reported Japanese demands. The present and future status of the Settlement is a matter for international concern, for international negotiation. By these present holding-back tactics the Japanese authorities responsible do themselves no justice. They provide ground for criticism which could easily be swept away by an act of restitution which has been long overdue. It may be argued that they have done so much that is blameworthy that a little more or less really does not matter. That is taking a very cynical and wrong view of the whole situation, for the existence of "misunderstanding" in Shanghai is reflected in all the capitals of the world, and even those who for political reasons are aligned with Japan in this China matter are suffering equally with those for whom Japan has at the moment no very great sympathy.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.