1t was at first rumoured in Chinese circles that the Association would hold a meeting of its General Assembly to elect Chinese officials of the Council about two weeks later, but it was ascertained from official circles yesterday that this would not be the case. Although no official explanation was given, it was learned that fears that a Chinese ratepayers organization taking orders from new Chinese authorities might intervene have prompted the orthodox ratepayers' group to elect its representatives by mailing ballots to its members directly. It will be res called in this connection that, the new Chinese ratepayers' group bent on "readjusting" the present Chinese ratepayers' status has established its office in Hongkew and that the present Chinese members and committee men of the Council have received threatening letters asking them to resign.
It was learned yesterday that most of the old members of the General Assembly of the Chinese Ratepayers Association, numbering more than 80, are in Shanghai contrary to a report which stated that the reason why the Chinese elections had fo be held by correspondence was that most of the members were scattered The situation is still worth watching as the new ratepayers' group affili ed with the new Chinese authorities has not yet actively begun its campaign. So far it has not made public its plan, if any. If the new group wants to participate in the Chinese elections there would probably be a Chinese election war fierce as the foreign one. and real landowner, respectively, and if a piece of land is divided fictitiously into several hundred units in order to increase the number of votes commanded by the original piece, such transfer clearly con-traveness the spirit and letter of the Land Regulations, since at the time the Land Regulations were formulated such transfers could not have been expected. Therefore no rights to vote should be granted those landowners who, as he contends, acquire ownership through such fictitious transactions although the land in question may be of sufficient value to qualify for votes. In Mr. Yasui's opinion mere transfer should not be regarded as sufficient evidence to qualify for a vote; on the contrary, the transfer itself should be strictly examined to establish whether or not such transfer was a genuine change of ownership. Mr. Yasui advocated that proof of bona fide ownership of land be required in the form of bills of sale, cheques, receipts or other documents in respect of any transfers of land made since the Autumn of 1937, when the Chinese Land Office ceased operation. Mr. Yasui's proposals on this point are at his request set out in full in Apbendix "C". Mr, Mitchell has requested that his views on Mr, Yasui's proposals should similarly be set out in full and these appear in Appendix *We regret to have to report that after lengthy discussion we were unable to agree upon a recommendation on this point, Mr. Yasui's proposi] "That a firm or individual acquiring land without the title deeds for it having been issued by the Chinese authorities shall prove bona fide ownership," was put to the vote and three of our members, Messrs, Glathe, Fumagalli and Yasui voted in favour of the proposal, and against it three of our members, Messrs. Carney, Mitchell and Sauvayre.
"As stated above, a further report will be submitted by the Committee after consideration of any further Proposals submitted by Mr. Yasvi.
"(Signed) J. Sauvayre, Chairman. J. W. Carney, C. Fumagalli, A. Glathe, G. E. Mitchell.
"Some seven years ago, on my way to the London Economic Conference, I had the honour of addressing you on the subject of the Japanese seizure of Manchuria. I said on that occasion that although Manchuria then appeared to many as a distant issue in some far-off land, this first act of international brigandage in many years, unless brought to book, would be the frightful and fruitful parent of similar lawlessness elsewhere until the whole world was involved in a general conflagration.
"Arriving in London, a few days later, I addressed in similar vein the China Committee of the House of Commons with Sir John Simon, then Foreign Secretary, presiding. I ended my talk by quoting a passage from Macaulay's historical essays, which described how Frederick the Great's seizure of Silesia from Aus-trio, following after many years of profound peace in Europe, led to the Seven Years' War, which spread throughout the world so that "black men fought on the coast of Coromandel and red men scalped each other by the Great Lakes of North America.
"When we see the world in flames ioday there is no satisfaction in noting that what I said seven years ago has come true. There is, however, satisfaction in recalling that the second opinion I ventured has also proven correct, namely, that the Japanese aggression would prove to be the hammer by which the unity of China would be forged; that by the prodigal expenditure of blood and treasure in suffering, China would find her soul.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.