Evening star., 1939-02-12

| double danger. Upon 1t, from air,
she rained every possible missile at
her disposal On one steel bridge
several tons of explosives landed,
blasting the bridge to smithereens.
In one week the munitions trains
to Canton were running again! The
Chinese military commander had
dispatched a whole battalion of SOL
diers, equipped with timbers and
tools, to the spot. A wooden trestle,
raised in seven days and nights, was
the result. European engineers would
not have dared even to walk across
it, much less ride over on a train.
But somehow it stood up under the
heaviest loads.
Supplies Still Get Through.
The Japanese bombers. not daring
to molest the supply ships at the
Hong Kong end, then turned to the
freight yards and warehouses of
Canton. Some box cars were de-
stroyed. Ten thousand civilians were
slaughtered But the war supplies
kept getting through.
And more dangerous to Japan even
than airplanes and bullets have been
the industrial civilization and social
doctrines being acquired by China
through Hong Kong A modernized
China, manufacturing its own cloth
and shoes and brick, travelling on
concrete roads in automobiles, using
radios and telephones and airplanes
Japan knows she can never con-
quer. China must be kept indus
trially primitive in order to be en-
slaved.
The Mong Kong doorway must be
closed. But other than bombing the
railroad. on Chinese territory, Japan
for the first year of the Chinese war,
took no active military steps toward
this end. She feared that If she
landed troops close to British terri
tory, she would have to fight Eng
uand as we'll as China. And even
Japan's most reckless militarists
hesitated to take on this combina-
tion
Then came the September crisis in
Europe. which gave Japan her
chance. Anticipating that a world
war was at hand, Toxic rushed 300,-
900 soldiers, supported by good part
of her navy, to Formosa-and kept
them there. ready to pounce upon
Hong Kong the moment German
bombers set out for London.
The crisis passed, leaving 100000
soldiers poised for battle at Honk
Kong's front door, and in easy reach
of the Canton railroad And the
fear of England's military resistance
had departed. The Munich capitu-
lations convinced Japan that Eng
land was determined to have peace
at any price, and would not oppose
direct action that Japan might take
against Canton.
Begin March on Hong Kong.
The 100000 soldiers, destined orig
inally for the siege of Hong Kong,
were promptly dispatched to Bias
Bay, on the Chinese mainland just
outside British territory: and with
out losing a man, they began their
march to Canton. Hong Kong shook
with the roar from the japanese big
naval guns clearing the shore of
Chinese. And from the 1,8OO-foot
peak, overlooking the harbor, the
searchlights from the japanese bat
tleships could be plainly seen at
night, piercing the sky.
In two weeks Japan held the
heroic railroad. In two weeks the
vital flow Of military supplies and
merchant goods had stopped dead
and Hong Kong's life-giving COM
merce with all South China was
cut of.
But England. far from fighting for
what she had come to consider her
"sphere"-South China-did nothing
more than send another paper pro-
test.
Now that Japan has broken the
spell-the fear of England-she is
busy giving the coup de grace to
what's left of England's prestige
and power in South China. Japan
has opened the Canton River to
boats carrying only Orientals. An
Engl1shman Cor American) isn't
even allowed to travel on the river,
much less send cargo. A few have
reached Canton since it's fall. but
only on English or American war
ships.
Recently the local Hong Kong
newspapers published trade re-
port comparing the citys imports
and exports before the fall of Cam
ton, and since. Trade has fallen of