Evening star., 1932-05-10
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
/. G. NJ.

BY Col. P. T. Etherton and H.
Hessel Tiltman. New York: Fred
erick A. Stokes Co.
A splotch OF color on the map of
Eastern Asia. A name whose letters run
together pleasingly. Fragments of leg
end and fact left over from the Marco
Polo adventures of one period and an
otner. Then brusque dismissal of the
region to supposedly ice-bound and un-
lhnapltap.e Siberia. Such Manchuria
TO the average yesterday. Today Man
churla stands the center of general and
common concern. Strung upon that
42d parallel" which has produced and
sustained the great civilizations of past
and present, this obscure region has,
f1nally, emerged as point of world in
tereSt and anxiety
Popular government is, everywhere,
! steadily on its way Therefore, an in
formal and intelligent outlook upon
world matters Is no longer a choice of
the people. 1t is a mandate instead
And the time of all others to study
region opening up for the first time to
new potentialitieS and signifcanceS is at
the moment of its emergence into the
wide field Of world concern.
This Is the moment for a general
turning toward Manchuria. And the
book in hand provides immediate and
useful means. Diplomatic and judicial
service from England to China has
equipped one of these writers. The
other is student of world politics. a
publicist of high standing However.
this book is not, at any point, obscured
by the technicalitieS Of diplomacy nor
by the intricacies of political argument.
a STRAIGHT hnOk haIa ayant1u ac
peoples, and individuals, behave under
the dominant urgencies Of life. Why
are Japan and China and Russia so
deeply concerned in Manchuria? What
has this region which, suddenly, invites
attention from the rest of the world as
these three Oriental countries struggle
for foothold and control? Natural re-
sources, to be sure. And it is survey
Of Manchuria as economic promise that
first engages these writers. What are
its resources Of soil and mine and cli-
mate and proximity that have so sud
denly turned 1t into a bone of conten-
ton for its Eastern neighbors. and of
acute concern to the world at large? A
hundred stories of fact gather here.
These concern the rise Of Japan TO i'm
perial designs and concern the reactions
of China to encroachmentS upon pre-
cedent claims of occupation and posses
sion
What sent Japan into Manchuria?
What desperate situation caused the
resistance of China, until actual war
followed? And where is the League of
Nations while war progresses in the
Orient? A thousand years ago, more or
less, religion might have given answers
to these questions, or sovereign rule
might. Today the answer is trade,
industrialiSm, the economic problem in
its deep and intricate facts and factors.
The whole, as these authors see 1t,
Is spread here for the ready seizure
Of average readers and students. An
invaluable study, direct, confined to
essentials, uninvolved in statement. A
broad and expert survey of Manchuria
at the moment. A days lesson in the
schooling that modern life is setting for
an understanding outlook upon the
chapter that tomorrow is preparing for
the great common mans consideration.
X X
JAPAN SPEAKS: On the Sino-Japanese
Crisis. BY K. K. Kawakami, Wash
ington correspondent of "the Toxic
Hochi Shimbun," author of Japan
in World Politics" etc. Introduction
by His Excellency Tsuyoshi Inukai,
prime minister Of Japan. New York:
The Macmillan Co.
Here is the story of Japan's case
against China. Sourced in the highest
Japanese authority, it is. indubitably,
a true and inclusive statement from
the standpoint of Japan itself.
The author first spreads the back
ground out Of which gradual contro-
versy increased to the ultimatum of
war itself, the war in which the entire
world is greatly concerned by virtue Of
the intimacies of modern communica-
tions and contacts. Japan fights for
the integrity of China. with China
secretly resistant and obstructive. Re-
pulsed, in fact, Japan turns to her own
interests and 1t is by this route that
the disagreements over Manchurta
arose, finally eliminating in actual war.
Industry and the railway rights become
the acute causes Of disagreement. And
here Is an account of Chinese encroach-
ments quite beyond business agreements,
of Chinese persecution of Koreans in
Manchuria, of Chinese infractionS of
treaty rights, of the infamous workings
of "The Open Door Policy" Here is
a fine exposition of the advantage to
China of that "Open Door" as an op-
portunity to save the national soul OF
China and. at the same time, to in
crease its economic contribution to the
world at large. But Immediately in
terveneS the misuse of that policy, with
brief sketches Of the interests OF the
Western World In its maintenance. The
story moves on to Shanghai and the
case of the japanese at this point. Here
the boycott as an instrument OF war
receives full and warm treatment in its
methods and effects, in its harmful
results and in its unjustif1able uses.
Intervention, as an instrument OF in
ternational procedure receives earnest
attention at this point upon the United
States in its theory of intervention and
in its practice as we'll Frank and not
altogether in accord with this country
in such national attitude and action,
the writer then turns this instrument
of international procedure upon the
case in hand, the case OF China and
Japan in Manchuria Authentic and
pointed upon the matter in hand, upon
Manchuria in its present relation to the
two Oriental nations desiring this in
duStrial prize, the study, as fact is
quite probably beyond question. 1t
would take years of study for the gen.
eral reader to acquire what he is able
to gather here in a few hours OF read
ing. With its sincerity, its historical
research, its obvious desire for unbiased
statement, any reader must feel
throughout the reading that special
pleading that is so hard to avoid in
stating the case of the homeland. How
ever, for information alone the book is
one Of great value. For feeling and
sentiments it is readily understandable.
y \
CHINA SPEAKS: On the Conflict Be-
tween China and Japan. BY Ch1h
Meng, associate director China In
stitute in America. Introduction
by his excellency, w. w. Yen. Min
lister Of China to United States of
America. New York: The Mac
milan Co.
Here is the story of China's case
against Japan. Sourced in Chinese au-
thority of the highest it is, indubitably,
true and inclusive statement from the
standpoint of China itself.
In substance, this is the record of
China's long struggle for unity first, for