RETICENCE OF JAPANESE

Taranaki Daily News, 31 March 1934, Page 7

RETICENCE OF JAPANESE

ARREST OF MR. BICKERTON LONG EXAMINATION LIKELY SUSPICIONS OF COMMUNISM COMMUNITY ASTONISHED By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Rec. 7 p.m. Tokio, March 29. The Foreign Office is reticent regarding Mr. Maxwell Bickerton, the exNew Zealand teacher who has been arrested at Tokio on suspicion of engaging in Communist activities. His examination is likely to continue for some time. It is understood he was possessed of a Communist paper and possibly gave money to some needy Communist, which in Japan is sufficient to cause milch trouble.

The English community is astonished, esteeming Mr. Bickerton as a respectable, scholarly authority on Japanese literature and one who is most unlikely to engage in subversive activities. “The charges against Mr. Bickerton are rather serious if they are true. He has been arrested since March 13. The police confiscated things at his house and have evidence, some of which he has denied. The examination may take months but it will be expedited as much as possible.” “Mr. Bickerton seems to be a British subject,” said a Foreign Office spokesman, “but New Zealand not having an applicable treaty with Japan, he must be treated according to the principles of international law.”

Sir James Parr, New Zealand High Commissioner, conferred with the Foreign Office, which promised to take up the case of Mr. Bickerton, states a London cable.