SERIOUS VIEW

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 179, 1 August 1940, Page 6

SERIOUS VIEW

BRITISHKATTITUDE . ALLEGED SUICIDE OF MR. COX I "UNWARRANTED ASSUMPTION” Received July 31, 4.15 p.m. LONDON, July 30. i A statement on the arrest of British 'subjects in Japan was made in the 1 I House of Lords this afternoon by the ’Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax. : Referring to the Japanese Govern- ; ment’s statement that the arrested I men formed part of a British espioni age network covering the whole country, Lord Halifax said: “It is hardly . necessary to state that there is no J foundation whatsoever for this alleI gation by the Japanese Government.” . He then referred to the death of I Mr. James Melville Cox, Reuter’s cor- • respondent at Tokio, who is alleged jby the Japanese Ministries of War i and Justice to have committed suicide | I because he was sure he could not es- ■ cape punishment for spying. •’His Majesty’s Government,” said _ i Lord Halifax, “is totally unable to acI cept this totally unwarranted assumpj | tion of guilt.” He said in conclusion: “Strong representations have already been ; made by the British Ambassador I at Tokio to the Japanese f oreign Minister. I myself asked the Japanese Ambassador to call this morning, and 1 left His Excellency , in no doubt as to the serious view His Majesty’s Government takes of these arrests.” 2 It is stated authoritatively that the British Ambassador in Tokio, Sir RobA ert Craigie. in his interview with the a Foreign Minister, Mr. Matsuoka, rej garding the British subjects who were ? arrested, stressed the serious view - that is taken in Britain, and perhaps , elsewhere, of the incident, which has political implications apart from many , technical charges. The Ambassador gave explicit assur-; ances that the British community in | Japan has no political organisations, and' pointed out that there is a strong , and efficient Nazi organisation. i A British official wireless message. - states that no report has yet been re- ■ ' ceived by official quarters in London ‘ regarding the treatment under deten- i tion and the examination of Mr. Cox. .'

DEATH OF MR. COX

’i i 11 TOKIO, July 30. An authentic version of the Cox ? affair is that Mr. Cox was arrested in - his beach cottage at Chigasaki. i escorted to Tokio, and there imprisoned. The British Consul-Gen- - eral, Mr. R. L. Cowley, made an ef- ? fort to see him but was refused an * interview. Mrs. Cox delivered food ) and clothing to her husband on Sat- ? urday and Sunday, but was also pro- ? hibited from interviewing him. Mr. Cowley yesterday afternoon ar- - rived at the police headquarters and - met Mrs. Cox running from the build- - ing and shouting “Jimmy's been 1 hurt.” Mr. Cowley entered under an 1 escort and found Mr. Cox lying on a ' divan. A high-ranking officer said, • "Come, I will show you what happened.” The officer went with Mr. Cowley to the third floor and explained that he had been questioning Mr. Cox there. “Mr. Cox walked about the room, drank some water, and then suddenly plunged through the window,” the officer said. “We treated Mr. Cox very well because he was a foreigner, and we gave him the best attention of three medical officers.” The fall broke both legs and arms and injured his head. Injections restored consciousness, but he died en route to hospital. The Ministry of Education is re-i ported to be planning to replace 500! I alien instructors with Japanese be-i : cause of the “discovery of the British ‘ i espionage network.” Stricter super-; vission, it is stated, will be imposed on ! missionaries.