Again, Demands (Cont'd)

Again, Demands (Cont'd)

At the Japanese Legation in Shanghai last week the commercial counselor, speaking of China's present financial crisis brought on by President Roosevelt's kiting of the price of silver (TIME, Aug. 20), purred: "It is quite natural that China should look to Japan for a loan." Franker, the Japanese Legation's spokesman hissed: "If we started to make demands on China we would have about 1,000 to make, not merely 21 nor any such conveniently small number. . . . There is only one sign post: China can't get along without Japan; Japan can't get along peacefully without China. This sign post the Chinese must not only be able to see, but must also understand and believe."

What they were both getting at were Japan's renewed threats of War unless China accepts Japanese "tutelage." If China's Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek is willing to sell Japan a stranglehold on Chinese trade, finance and defense, Japan will do the handsome thing with an $85,000,000 loan. While Chiang mournfully pondered this offer, the Japanese Diet briskly passed Japan's all-time high in budgets, which gives $318,000,000 or 53% for "defense."

All this flourishing of big money looked as though Japan had plenty where that came from. But in fact the condition of Japan's masses, particularly the farmers, is disastrous. Cold, wind and rain have more than halved the rice crop. Many peasants cannot pay their crushing taxes. So bitterly has starvation thinned Japanese blood that in Aomori Prefecture 83% of the men called for military service were too weak and tottering to be accepted for the wars.

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