The Washington times., 1937-08-17
What's in China's Stars

Discussing the Chnese-Japanese with repre-
sentative Chinese people in New York and with Ameri
cans who have recently been in China one gets some
interesting Impressions Of course New York is 1000
miles from Shanghai via the Panama Canal and 10000
via the Cape of Good Hope South Africa that any
mental picture you can build up here is in danger of
being less cockeyed. With that reservation
record, here items gather from local
sources that we consider reliable:
There does appear to be more determination among
Chinese to fight this latest Japanese encroach
Inn nm coo1 ment than there was when Japan
sliced Manchuria off China in 1882
OO'"'e'S and turned it into the puppet state Of
Manchukuo ruled by the Emperor Kang Teh. And there
are probably 100000 excellent fighting in China,
most of them under command of Generalissmo Chang
Kai-shek.
More than a few of the peasants in the Chinese
provinces now under attack to be determined to
hinder the Japanese in any way they can-tearing up
railroad tracks, cutting trenches across roads etc-and
to feel that Japanese reprisals can't make them
much worse off than they are now.
What is Japan after, this time? The feeling among
competent observers here is that Japan wants Chinas
territory all the way down to the Yellow River. That
into another puppet state or to add to Manchukuo,,
along with the wealthy old Chinese cities of Peping
and Tientsin (The reason why Peiping and Tientsin
fell so easily into Japanese hands couple of weeks
Ch;uc Will Still ago, we understand, was that both
of them are hard to defend.
H"Oe ""9'ze If Japan chises down to the Vel
low River we gather that the Chinese will feel rather
would feel if nation carved Pacific North
west and some of our Rocky Mountain States off of u.s.
It would be serious loss but we could still rock along
China will still have the Yangtze River valley and it
is there that most of China s wealth and productivity
are concentrated.
It is in the Yangtze area too that fully 80 per cent
Informant tells u.s. of British and American invest
ments planted. The British said to have about
IL billions invested in China Americans about bill
lions.
So it seems reasonable to expect that Japan will try
to reach the Yellow River in this drive and that it will
eventually get there; but that it will have harder and
T,ro Gin. more expensive Chinese trip south in
1898 than it had northwest in 1882.
4" ""0 The hopping up afterward and the con-
solidaon Of second Manchukuo or of an addition to
Manchukuo will also take time.
But Japanese victory will also add immensely to
Japans Asiatc mainland storehouse of raw materials
and cheap labor; and Chinese victory while most
Americans probably hope for one is not good gamble
Not good enough gamble, certainly, for us to let
our naval defenses slump the theory that Japan will
be too busy for long while to pay much attention to
US. More than ever it looks if the white mans pres
ge in the Pacific and Far East if not in the entire
world is the target Japan is shooting at and hopes to
hit eventually.
Hence we owe it to ourselves, country and those
who will come after us to keep deenses consistently
strong-to maintain Navy at all times superior in
fighting power to Japans navy and at least as strong
as any other navy in the world
From the Daily News
New Legion Leader
Congratulations to Lieut.. Thomas Mason. ir If tho