"A Great Mistake"

In Shanghai last week Japanese Rear Admiral Tadao Honda fervently told U.S. correspondents: "If Japan had not gained anything else important in this undeclared war with China the struggle would have been worth its cost because of the clarification of Japanese-American relations and the banishment--which I hope is permanent--of dangerous distrusts and suspicions!"

Before the week was out Franklin Roosevelt called Cordell Hull to the White House and directed him to demand that the Japanese Foreign Office inform Japan's sacred Emperor Hirohito--the divine Son of Heaven and 129th lineal descendant of the Sun Goddess who helped "produce the land and people of Japan"--that the President of the U. S. was shocked and concerned at Japan's behavior. For Japanese-American relations had not been so clarified as mealy-mouthed Admiral Honda believed, and they had reached a more dangerous pass than he might have cared to believe last week when Japanese bombers sank the U. S. river gunboat, Panay.

Chinese built the 450-ton Panay, designed especially to protect U. S. shipping from Chinese river pirates on the Yangtze. She was launched at Shanghai in 1927. Last week she lay in the river at Nanking, taking off U. S. Embassy secretaries, Standard Oilmen, correspondents, cameramen and other U. S. citizens who had dared to stay on until the last moment before Nanking's fall (see col. 2). Her job done and shells coming far too close for comfort, the Panay moved away, anchored beside three Standard Oil ships in a more peaceful spot, 27 miles upstream from the battle. It was not peaceful long.

The naval and air forces of the Son of Heaven soon began shooting up the Yangtze, sinking scores of heavily laden Chinese junks. They were believed to have sunk all Chinese warships anywhere in the vicinity of Nanking for many miles up and downstream. Colonel Hashimoto, senior Japanese officer, announced "I have orders to fire on every ship in the river!" Although the Yangtze is by treaty an international waterway, although all British vessels flew the British flag and had huge Union Jacks painted on their deck, three unsuccessful airplane attacks were made on the British gunboats Cricket and Scarab. Small calibre Japanese guns began to pepper the British gunboats Ladybird and Bee, the British river steamers Sui-Wo and Butterfield.

Suddenly a squadron of Japanese bombers came tearing at the U. S. flotilla. Bombs struck and sank the Panay, burned and sank three Standard Oil ships. Bursting with pride at having scored four hits the Japanese airmen immediately flashed news of what they had done to Japanese headquarters in Shanghai. Meanwhile, in the muddy, choppy Yangtze, passengers and crew of the U. S. vessels kept afloat as best they could until ships of the British flotilla came to the rescue. Of 72 persons believed to have been aboard the Panay, 63 had been rescued at latest reports, an American seaman and an Italian journalist had died, a total of 96 and possibly more were counted missing from the Panay and the Standard Oil boats.

Japanese officers in Shanghai, Japanese officials in Tokyo and Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Saito in Washington were by this time making the most fervent apologies to every U. S. official and journalist they could find. "Of course it was completely accidental and a great mistake!" cried hard-boiled Ambassador Saito as he worried in to see Secretary Hull. "I have come to bring deep regrets."

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