Nothing in China

Japan's War Minister General Gen Sugiyama told a committee of the Tokyo Diet fortnight ago that even the versatile Japanese could not fight 450,000,000 Chinese and play games simultaneously; that if the "China incident" continues, it might be best to cancel the 1940 Olympics. Next day the Japanese Olympic organizing committee, pooh-poohing opposition as coming "from a small and not very strong group of extreme Nationalists or Fascists," announced a 5,000,000-yen ($1,450,000) budget for a Tokyo Olympic village. On his way to Cairo, Egypt, where the International Olympic Committee was shortly to convene, Japan's Delegate Jigoro Kano snorted: "I know of no reason for anyone saying anything about abandoning the games. The war in China? That's nothing."

After delegates of 21 nations had been greeted in Cairo's Royal Opera House by 15 kind words from King Farouk, the I. O. C.'s president, Count Henri de Baillet-Latour, said he had visions of "the dawn of a period of peace which is going to succeed a long period of obstruction and difficulties of all kinds." But Count Baillet-Latour's optimistic visions turned out to be an Egyptian mirage. No sooner had the committeemen taken a peaceful look at the pyramids and toured the Nile than they sat down aboard the steamer Victoria and started squabbling.

Out of the squabble emerged last week four announcements: 1) The games will be held in Tokyo in spite of the suggestion from China's absentee delegate (C. T. Wang, Ambassador to the U. S.) that no country at war be permitted to play host; 2) because of excessive summer humidity and heat in Japan the date of the games was changed from Aug. 25-Sept. 8 to Sept. 21-0ct. 6; 3) women will continue to take part in Olympic games, despite objections that some women athletes have in the past quite suddenly and surprisingly become men after the games; 4) bids for the 1944 games had been made by London, Helsingfors, Athens, Budapest, Lausanne, but not, as expected, by Rome (Italy had agreed to Japan's having the 1940 games only because the 1940th year of Christianity is also the 2600th year of the Empire of the Rising Sun).

In Britain, announcement No. 1 brought a bustle of official comment, including a proposal for an athletic boycott of Japan from H. F. Pash, of the British A. A. A. But the U. S. bustle was about announcement No. 2. In the 1936 Olympics, U. S. colleges contributed Jesse Owens, winner in the 100 and 200 metres, broad jump, relay; John Woodruff, 800 metres; Archie Williams, 400 metres; Forrest Towns and Glenn Hardin, hurdles; Cornelius Johnson, high jump; and Earle Meadows, pole vault. When I. O. C., over U. S., British and French protests, set a date requiring athletes to be in Japan in October, commentators complained that the U. S. team would be deprived of its backbone, for by that time college athletes would have to be home getting an education.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.