Evening star., 1925-10-04
IDEAL OF JUSTICE SEEN
AS CHINA'S SALVATION
Country Passing Through Period Such as
Japan Had, Says Baron Shidehara, De.
claring Exploitation Must Cease.

of the Chinese problem he hesitated
a moment and then gave this expla ma
ton:
Had Two Doctrines.
DO YOU remember that when Sun
Vat Sen was alive he had a tremen-
dous following? Yet he kept that
following not by the means employed
by other Chinese leaders. They had
guns. or troops, or money. Sun had
none Of these. His strength lay only
in two doctrines. One was the abo-
lition Of the so-called unequal trea ties
with foreigners. and the other was
the prevention of exploitation by the
foreigners.
Sun Vat Sen was a great idealist
But there is much in his platform
which deserves serious consideration
OF the powers. We owe it to reason
and justice to extend our helping
hands to the Chinese, struggling for
their legitimate national aspirations.
Any reasonable proposals which they
may bring up in that direction shall
receive our sympathetic attention.
Therein lies the key to the solution
of the Chinese problem. 1t is ex.
tremely unfortunate that a certain
section of Chinese are now seeking
to attain these objects by threats,
violence and boycotting. Let us only
hope that these disorderly manifesto
tions do not represent the true senti.
ments of the Chinese people and will
soon come to an end.
Will Take Time.
''Of course, you must not under
| stand from what I have already said
| that the changes desired by the Chi
nese can be made immediately But
| start can be made soon. The Wash.
ington customs treaty provided for a
conference of the powers interested in
| China which will give China an in
crease in customs duties. A resolu.
tion was also adopted at the Washing
ton conference for the establishment
OF an international commission to in
quire into the existing conditions of
the administration of justice in China,
with a view to eventual relinquish-
| ment by the several powers of their
| respective rights of extraterritoriality.
The tariff conference and the eXtrater-
! rltor1al1ty commission can now be
| called in the very near future
Baron Shidehara had been talking
| earnestly and rapidly. Now he paused
a moment and gave me time to ask a
question regarding China's attitude
toward Japan. The Chinese, 1 knew,
were especially bitter toward the Brit.
|
against foreigners had originated in
| Japanese cotton mills in Shanghai
where Chinese workers had demanded
| higher wages. Yet on previous visit
to Shanghai had personally inspect
ed the British, Japanese and Chinese
cotton mills. and found the workine
and wage conditions in the japanese
mills to be superior to those in the
others. Therefore, asked the foreign
minister why. despite this favorable
| treatment, the Chinese were especial
ly bitter toward Japan.
Paying for Success.
1--WE have paid the penalty Of sue
| cess. 1 think" Baron Shidehara re
piled. "Since the war most Of the
cotton mills owned and operated by
other nationals, Chinese or foreign
have not been paying dividends. Our
mills have been paying 10 to Is pei
cent in dividends. Japanese control
about 20 per cent Of China's cotton in
dustry. That was how the japanese
became involved originally. and how
the Chinese workers came to focus
their agitation against japanese mills