The Grey River Argus TUESDAY, December 14, 1937. JAPANESE SINK AMERICAN WARSHIP.

Grey River Argus, 14 December 1937, Page 4

The Grey River Argus TUESDAY, December 14, 1937. JAPANESE SINK AMERICAN WARSHIP.

The gradual movement, up the. river Yangtsekiang of the centre of hostilities in China, goes to explain a certain delay and even obscurity in the news of operations. Public, attention will naturally be directed at the moment to the sinking of several American vessels, including a gunboat, in the vicinity of Nanking by Japanese aircraft. Except that these were non-combat-ants, and that British and perhaps other vessels in .the vicinity have been also molested, the incident is not to be magnified in any alarmist manner. It appears that the invaders have thrown around Nanking forces which make its eventual occupation a certainty, leaving the Chinese forces only one means of egress, that of the river. A withdrawal by steamers and junks, which has been evidently some days in progress, has'induced the Japanese to try and thwart the movement with aircraft, which have failed to distinguish between enemy and neutral vessels. The sinking of the Panay, from which 18 of the 72 who were aboard are reported missing, is nevertheless aggravated by the fact that three oil tankers belonging to the Standard Oil Company of America have likewise been destroyed near Nanking. The suggestion is made that Japan may now have to reckon with a more definite effort on the part of Britain and the United States to check her invasion. Full particulars of the sinkings are being awaited by the United States Government before it makes any move. That more than a mere apology may be demanded, at anyrate, is most likely. At the same time, those American Congressmen who have expressed themselves on the matter appear to be more .concerned' for the avoidance of any further incidents like this than for reparation. The withdrawal of American naval craft from the Yangtse is advocated. In view of all the facts, it may be found that the situation has not been much altered. The Brussels Conference gave an indication that Western Powers had none of them any intention of becoming involved. While Japan ignored the invitation to attend, she has given since no indication that annexation of

any Chinese territory is itilendetl, although she obviously intends extending over a. larger sphere bore influence on China, using us the method the setting up of several provinces on a status snnimi to that of Manchukuo. _ What Japan must, indeed, take increasingly into account, is her expenditure of men and wealth on the campaign. This explains hei evident anxiety lest the Chinese should maintain their insistence after the fall of Nanking as stubbornly as they have there done and previously at Shanghai. Any lengthy continuance oi operations on the present scale must greatly reduce the resouices of the Japanese, whose national economy already has largely been upset by the conflict. On the other hand, the Chinese, unless outside aid is maintained or increased, can henceforth expect to offer only a weakening resistance. Their inducement would be the expectation that Japan might be obliged by factors outside of China itself to abandon her determination of forcing submission. Incidents like those on the Yangtze naturally are not what the Japanese any more than outsiders would bargain tor, but they nevertheless are emergencies of a sort which often exert an unexpected influence. Should the Japanese follow their course vet further up the great river, however, they would gradually eliminate the chief risks of such incidents, as it is on the Yangtze that foreign interests are _ greatest. It may be hoped, indeed, that if other Powers now have occasion to hold ad hoe conversations with Japan, there will be an opportunity to advance the cause of peace, and that the neutral Powers may be able to exert influence on both sides towards that end.