The very interesting letter on the subject of Killing. which appears in today's correspond:
fence columns, will be read with seven all {hose who have spent" happy holidays in that Japanese admissions of about 51,000 dead in ihe. army and about 2,000° dead in. the navy since the hestliies commenced. are taken. with Feserve by most well-informed sources, which are inclined to believe that these Agures should doubled to be nearly correct. They. believe delighifutapot but there" are. facts. which the writer does not appear to ave taken into Consideration, 'The' Chinese forces. tu 'Lushan sre and have been. surrounded by. Japancss Forces "fur Yang' time' past, ang' they? are Reported to be without any: avenue for vettest fi here is Ube danger. and the Japanese authori-fies appear' to elise, that ay their forces Jaciven back on Kuling itsd, Chinese fight to the last, the danger to foreign lives and property will' undoubtedly be great. How far the Chinese are taking advantage of the fact of proximity to the foreign settlement Is by no means clear but that they are doing so is well within the range of probability. In {the circumstances the Japanese request for evacuation does not seem unreasonable. It is fas much dictated by a sense of humanity as it by a desire to avoid embroilment with tha Governments of the nationals concerned. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek could be persuaded to order his men to surrender, a most unlikely thing, the situation might be solved many, who are really unfit to Place. As it is, with the progress of the Japanese forces towards the folimination of this isolated body the danger to the foreign residents will undoubtedly increase land every effort should consequently be made fo remove them to a place of safety. The [Japanese should be expected to assist by de-Herring their movements unfit this can safely Ibe done. They have permitted these forces to remain in the area so long, that a few more days really means nothing. The task of moving bed-ridden people down: the mountain may prove by no means an easy one, while those [who have made their homes expecting to pass {the rest of their lives there, should be permitted {fo take out as much as possible of their belong-Ings. It is not asking much, and could, with very little inconvenience to the Japanese, be Jdone, Protesting Too Much may be doubted whether the advocacy of China's cause by Mgr. Vu Pin, the Vicer Apostolic of Nanking who is now in Europe, is really doing his country as much good os he hopes.' Some of his statements appear to be so [wild as almost to defeat themselves, while the figures he quotes in support of his' statements would be meat and drink to any statistical Ripley. He is quoted in the Paris newspaper "Intransigeant" "as saying that about 20,000 [Japanese are killed behind the lines every month: that China has now 200 divisions, over Atty of which are motorized; and that, now [China has received large financial support, she lis ready for a long period of war. None of the assertions bears close scrutiny. The official that the total Japanese losses by death from all ses including" disease, and by "(oat hnfapaciiation, are somewhere In the neghbourfood of one hundred thousand since the Lote Kouchiao incident which was the Tool star. {ho "war" And "they. doubt" whether" the Japanese loses from: all eases during. the present comparative Tall In the fgbling, amount fas nae ove towand 9 month Tie a very" ferent figure. from' 20000" snonth Tne actual number of divisions in the Chinese army may, as Mgr, Vu Pin asserts, be 200, but many of these divisions, I is thought, exis In little more than name. "As. for there being fifty" motorized "divisions, in the sense that western armies term motorized, the' statement Ie"tor wide of, the' death With "airy. such divisions the Chinese could meat the Japanese fon even terms, whereas the whole stately of the Chinese high command has admittedly ven to. nullify the superiority of Japanese mech G21" equipment Uy. Aahing. battles on vound which tanks and armoured cars are fess advantage than "handicap. Migr. Vu Pins patriotism is unquestionable, but the effect His oplimiste propaganda. may be the opposite what he intends. For by palating too rosy 4 pheture he may give an altogether false im- 2 country. pression of the effect of the hostilities on his Causes of Ambiguity There is no reason why commentators on world events acquire premature white hair in view of the ambiguities which hedge most official statements nowadays. Diplomacy "has long been considered the art of saying precisely nothing for publication and saying it in an entertaining manner, but a point is reached when something definite must ensue. Added to verbal evasion is a developing practice of providing different versions of speeches to suit different national consumption. In Paris, com~ mentators were puzzled by the difference the German-Italian relations reference in the speech in German by Chancellor Hitler and the official French text released by the German 'Ministry of Propaganda. One statement. was W very definite: the other was extremely vague and Heft' newspaper editors to interpret it the best Iway they could. If a statesman makes a speech surely the original text ought to stand and {translations ought not to differ so much, 'Shanghai newspapers subscribing to the four national news agencies in Shanghai received four different versions of Chancellor Hitler's [two-and-a-half hours' speech and while there [was generally agreement there were important Textual differences. Surely, a dangerous in-{uence in international affairs is introduced if Jon such important occasions doubts are created fin translations. This is not a new manifestatly-sing-chinchow-kan % Yk FMB #0)
Givers S24 van ana, $050 ren core tion For' some weeks, if they cared to publish [: vem: slewspapers have been receiving. tele imir'on the Spanish war from correspondents of an Italian agency in a French border town, Felayed through Rome to Tokyo, cabled back
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.