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Traces Cdtuse Of

Conflict In East

Interesting Address At Rotary

Luncheon By ,Wright, B. A.

Mr. Harold K.

proportions than ever. From that ‘will follow almost inevitably a .Japanese victory in China which is only the first act of the. bloody drama in which Japan will extend her power Ln the whole Pacific area. It is not without cause that Australia and New Zealand now fearing the tyrant of the Yellow Sea more than ever before.

"Clearly there is a moral issue involved in any proposal of a boy- cott; that must be admitted at once. Perhaps the matter would be better termed “economic with- drawal" for “boycott" has, in the past. often carried with it revenge

' as its motive. But, if there were

“Japan and China” was the aub- ject of m1 interesting address at the Rotary Luncheon Monday by Harold K. Wright, B. A., oi Pine Hill Divinity Hall, Halifax, who is spending his Christmas holidays with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Wright, of this city

Mr. Wright in the course of his

address, said: _ It would be presumptuous. much less impossible. for me ‘v call forth and examine all of the causes of this conflict between Japan and china, and, for that reason, only a i of the outstanding ones will be oonside ’.

"The uspansinll of Japan h‘ Ibo Orient ls, without a doubt, the most important factor in produc- ing friction between Japan and China. T‘he Japanese have allways been ambitious but their ambition did not find much expression in the fields of science, politics and business until the penetration of

‘Western influence less than a cen-

tury ago. In the field of politics alone, Japan has not only united

her people under one central gov-

ei-iunent but she has acquired Korea, part of the island of Bnkhalnq the island of Formosa and, what is most important oi all. Manchurla.

"The invasion of China. by Ja- pan in the past fow ycors, is only the political side of what has been going on for years. Wealth has been poured inio Chin-u in aluiost every kind of bilsiness venture from the business oi small shop- keepers to the building of rail- roads. Japan has literally millions of dollars or “ye-n" in their money invested in China. At first, little resistance was offcrcd by the docile Chinese to this "economic in- vasion“ but as the process went on and increased, the national consci- ousness of the Chinese was a- wakened; revolt and open hatred began to seelhe zoinstthe neigh- bour from ucr the Yellow Sea. nationnist movement in Chins, which hns been going for the past quarrcr of a century, was not directed against any nation in

- particukr, when it begun. Led by

the brilliant and scholarly Sun Yat Sen, it ivorkcd for a united Chino. which would take its place as a world power; but. the encroach- merits of Japan not only in Korea, but in China proper have served to commit Chinese nationalism

. to a resolute stand against Japan.

This has been done in a sporadic, though quite effective. manner in the Chinese boycott of Japanese

l goods. Of spocic acts leading to

the present conflict one may cite the taking of Manchuria, a. totally unjustifiable action: the attacks on Chinese citizens by Japanese and

'vice-vcrsu; political intrigue and

enlistment of outside help asinani- festcd in the Tokyo-Berlin Agree-

ments of May 2e, mo, and the

Sine-Russian Pact of August 2i, 1937. To these mist be added the incidents of outrage perpetrated by the Japanese in and around Shanghai in the early days of Aug- ust. this year.

"What has happened in Shang- hai? On November B. after eighty- nino days of almost continuous fighting the Chinwe surrendered. In that period about half a million

people were killed in China. Be- . sides bullet and bomb. destruction _‘~ caana by cholera and starvation. ~ In the light of all this one is apt

to regard as hypo-critical the Jap- anese statement that her desire is peace and thatshe has the best in- terests of China at heart. Before we come to any conclusions, let us examine the issues.

flue Case For Japan

‘The actions of Japan are de- fended in a three-fold manner:

‘Japan's needs for her population,

trade and political power; second-

Vly, what one Japanese has called

"the campaign of hatred against Japan" in trade and politics; last- ly, the so-called “right" of Japan, as s. superior nation, to deal with

~ a backward and unorganized peo-

p10 otherwise than through the machinery of international law,

‘ Illch I Illtable only to “equals?

“The whole case for Japan, as

1 ‘ viewed in this light. has been put

cleverly and plausibly by K. K. Kawakami, a press correspondent in Washington of two Japanese newspapers. He docs not stop with a defence of Japanese action but actually places the blame for all the trouble on China. He charges China with attempting to drive Japan out of Manchuria in spite oi Japan having saved Munchuris from Russia in the Russo-Japanese War, and having given most of it back to China. Likewise, he indicts China for her boycott 0i Japanese goods while much of the development in China is due to Japanesb Mipital. I-fe feels that China is a large country and can

[78 Queen jtreel

easily part with a section of it to accommodate the overflow of population in Japan.

"Now, all of this sounds very convincing; how true is it? Like all arguments it contains truth. Certainly, what appears on the surface is true. In the first place, is it any better to have Japan in Manchuria than Russia; for Ja- pan has not stood‘ by her promis- es, made at Washington in 192i, regarding Chinese rights in Man- churia? Again, all efforts on the part of the Chinese to halt Japan- ese influence in China having fail- ed, they felt and were, to a large measure. Justified in boycotting Japanese goods. After all, why should the tremendous profits made out of manufacturing and sale be taken/out of the country? The population outlet need may be questioned on two point-s: the very small emigration to Manchuria of Japanese since Japan took over the territory and the recent state- ment oi the Japanese vice-min- ister for Foreign Affairs. What lies behind secret diplomacy and out- ward action is the plan to make Japan a great empire. Indeed her intention is very apparent Ii her phenomepal advance in business and. political power and in the size and efficiency of her army, navy and aircraft. The rulers of Japan, like Bismarck and the HOHGIIZOIIBTIIS in nineteenth cen- tury Germany, may‘ talk peace but they prepare for war, in which they hope to increase their terri- tory.

The Case For China

“Was Japan justified in attack- ing Shanghai?

“According to our moral sense no military attack which is aggres- sive can be Justified. Of course, Japan denies her position as ag-

0R" THAT col us: PENETRATING 2

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L. WOR THY

gressor as every nation has done in similar circumstances. Speak- ing on this very point Stanley Jones, who may be considered as impartial as any, says: "I say "ob- vious aggressor," for if ever there was a clear case of aggression, this is it.” That Japan has broken her pledges made in the Nine Power 'I‘reaty, the Kellogg Peace Pact and the League Covenant, seems to mean very little to her when it is not “expedient? that those pledges should be too closely ob- served," Japan is a superior nation and should not be bound down by petty statements which have out- lived their ‘usefulness!’

“Contrary to the Japanese argu- ment ihe Chinese have always shown a genuine desire for peace; one of the reasons for the weak- ness of the nationalist movement in China is the natural unwilling- ness of the Chinese to fight. One can hardly think of a more pacific nation in the world than China. and ‘it is for this reason, just as much as the political disunity of the people, that China has been imposed upon, politically and ec- onomically, and chiefly by the Western nations. Rusia and Ja- pan huve taken land from her in the North; Britain forced her to open her ports for the opium trade from India and to cede certain seaports and other concessions for the benefit of British trade: the United States also forced China to yield certain trading privileges to her. One could go on at length to show ho\v China. has been victimized. It it any wonder that the Chinese called the traders from across the sea. "Foreign Dev- ils? Just now the Japanese are de- fending their usc of force by say- ing that they are just doingwhat the great powers have done in the past. How must "our cheeks burn when we remember our part in the Boer War and in the so-called Opium War! Just as the ensuing benefits of those peoples defeated by Britain cannot justify in any sense. her high-handed action, so now any prospective benefits to China, on ‘the partoi Japan, can- not justify her action at Shanghai Can China ever be repaid for the half milloin lives lost in Shanghai this fall? If we think it can, then one may well cry out with Mark Anthony.

"O Judgment, thou art fled to

brutish beasts

And men have lost their reason."

"Great Britain, United States and Russia "hold hér (Japan) commercial interests in the hollow of their hands and it would not be practicable for Japan to attack any of them as she has attacked China." This is an answer to those critics of the boycott who claim that the boycott or any oth- er form oi’ economic sanction can only involve us in a major war. In the long run Just the opposite is true, for if we continue to trade

with Japan supplying her with the ,

materials of war and wealth to buy such materials, the war in China will take on more disastrous

ll=l (‘HITT OR HEAD

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Charlottetown

ever a case when the idea oi re- venge is comparatively ‘absent, it is this one. After all why should the

Western nations wish to crush Ja-

pan? The reason is not to befound

‘in the revenge motive but in some- lthing entirely different —moral lindignation, which is, at least, ,comparatively free from ulterior lmotlves so common in interna- gtional diplomacy and intrigue. 1t ,is also claimed by “anti-boycott- ers" that economic sanctions hurt the guilty and the innocent alike This is undoubtly true but it is not the whole truth. As Reinhold Niebuhr points out the motives in social politics are never altogether pure and clear-cut. If they were pure and clear-cut, then our ulti- mate Christian ideals could be made the standards of our action. Indeed does not the prosecution of justice often involve the suffering of innocent party? For every man who is sent tci prison a number of ‘people suffer; for every social ad- vance, as in the freeing of slaves, countless people suffer.

"To call for complete neutrality on the ground that some will suf- fer is to fail in one's duty, for cer- tainly far more suffering follows neutrality in a case like this in China today than would be caused by the shutting off of supplies, ma- terial and monetary.

Will The Boycott Fail?

"Besides the criticisms already mentioned and the added one that it would bring economic disaster to the countries involved, there is the spectre haunting people's minds that, in any event, it can- not stop Japan in her course. It is true that sanctions had little ef- fect on Italy but the cases are not the same. The nations were not ready to back up sanctions sim- ply because of entanglements in which most of them were involved. Also there was present the danger of a lining-up of the pro-Fascist countries on one side and of the so-called democratic countries on the other. Here, however, the issues are fairly clear. It is not be- cause the Western nations hate Japan but "because they are, for the most part, against war and ag- gression. The cynic will answer by pointing to their great armaments; but, those uni-laments are largely the products of fear and, in most hearts, there is the fervent desire for peace.

As Stanley Jones points out, the question is not whether the boy- cott will fail to succeed, but whe- ther or not it is our moral duty to apply it in an attempt to stop the murderous hand of the Japan- ese. “The right in this situation is to cease to support economically what we condemn morally," says he.

"Considered economically, I know of no large nation against which the boycott could be applied more effectively. Because of the situation of Japan in relation to both exports and imports, the other nations could restrain her in a few months. The objection that it would bring a trade de- pression in the other countries (which is, for the most part a sel- fish reason) is overruled when one considers the issues at stake and the not unremote possibility that the closing of trade relations with Japan would actually help busi- ness in the other countries since it would obviate the ruinous com- petition our own manufacturers have to meet from Japan now.

Most of our problems are far more spiritual than we think and this is no exception. The heart of the matter has been struck by a

Japanese Christian, Ilihi) disap- proves Japan's actions when he says that there is only one

solution to the long Sine-Japan- ese conflict, the spirit of Christ. It is only in His spirit that the na- tion's desires and motives are merged by the higher purpose."

Rotariai Norville Luck Wns in" the chair yesterday. The speaker ,was introduced by Rotarian James E. Harris, who stated that Mr. Wright had carried on mission work in the for west amid peo- ples of different nationalities.

Treasurer Roy Quigley presented his report. in which he stated that after paying expenses and the Dis- pensary $100.00 the net balance ‘lfrom the Rotary Auction Sale was ,ll942.22.

Past President Dr. MacMillan re- ferred to the election as Mayor of Owen Sound of Alan S. Stewart, son of Past Rotary President, W. A. Stewart. Congratulations to the latter were extended by the club amid hearty applause.

The chairman referred to the death of Mrs. Prowse, mother of

lRotarian T. W. L. Prowse. The members of ihe club standing, paid a silent tribute to the deceased. and the Secretary was instructed to send a letter of sympathy to the ~ bereaved relatives.