The Christchurch Star PUBLISHED BY New Zealand Newspapers Ltd. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1933. THE MARCH ON JEHOL.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 697, 25 February 1933, Page 8

The Christchurch Star PUBLISHED BY New Zealand Newspapers Ltd.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1933. THE MARCH ON JEHOL.

Gloucester Street and Cathedral Square CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND Loodon Representative* : R. B. BRETT & SON NEW BRIDGE HOUSE, 30/34 NEW BRIDGE STREET LONDON. E.C4.

TEHOL, against which Japanese ** forces are now marching, is one of the richest provinces in China; it was a centre of the ancient Chinese civilisation. This province joined the provinces of Heilungkiang, Kirin, and Fengtien in the formation of the new State of Manchukuo, but subsequently withdrew. Since then Japan has regarded Jehol as a menace to the new State, and, claiming that full control is necessary for the safeguarding of Manchukuo from invasion by Chinese troops, is now on the point of completing hy force the self-imposed task of guardianship. The inevitable result must be to bring the whole of the vast territory of Manchuria under Japanese influence. Desperate resistance will be offered by the Chinese, it is clear, but with cool, cynical efficiency the Japanese generals have already prepared the ground for their advance by the capture last month of the walled city of Shanhaikwan, a natural stronghold on the southern border. This means that the Chinese forces in Jehol, caught between Japanese Manchukuo and the Japanese divisions to the south, will be hardpressed from the outset. The Chinese fight stubbornly and well on their own ground, but are no match for such a formidable army as Japan possesses. Their leaders have no illusions about a situation that means, according to a statement made yesterday by the Chinese Foreign Minister, “ wholesale and indefinite slaughter of men practically unarmed and illequipped.”

A SHORTER WORKING WEEK. TN A PLAN for the Socialisation of New Zealand to be submitted to the conference of the New Zealand Labour Party, there is a clause for the reduction of the working week to 35 hours. Pleasant as the prospect of extra leisure may be, the formulators of the remit are still faced with the wages difficulty. Mr F. A. Norman, of the British Ministry of Labour, pointed out, when the question of a 40-hour week was discussed at Geneva, that he was definitely opposed to the proposal as a possible way of mitigating unemployment because the employee would not accept a corresponding reduction in wages. “ Collective agreements would be over-ridden and set aside, and the industrial situation would be marked by confusion and acute controversy of a very dangerous character.” Mr Norman is fairly justified in what he says by the attitude taken up by most of the Scandinavian workers. Other Continental workers on whom the experiment has been tried have also had a good deal to say about possible dangers to their level of existence.

THE NEW GOAT. T>ECAUSE low' prices continue to rule for the world’s stable products, because trade is stagnant and millions of people are out of work, economists and statesmen gravely put the blame on over-production. An ancient people were once accustomed to use the goat to expiate their transgressions. In Leviticus IX, 15, it is recorded that Aaron “brought the people’s offering, and took the goat, which was the sin offering for the people, and slew it, and offered it for sin.” To everyone except the goat it was a very satisfying procedure. That was in ancient times. The modern goat is called Over-production. It, too, has to bear a grievous load of responsibility—daily it is offered up in expiation for social and economic maladjustments, faulty distribution, political and governmental folly and treaties conceived in fear and hate and envy.