"Strong Policy"

(See front cover)

Some of the presents showered by expectant political job-seekers on Japan's new Premier Ki ("Old Fox") Inukai last week were: eight sets of silverware; 80 baskets of fresh fish; 46 boxes of dried fish; 43 casks of sake; 33 baskets of fruit; 18 cases of beer; 15 cases of wine and 614 dozen rice cakes.

Cackling with delight at all these presents the 77-year-old Fox hobbled with the aid of his long staff about his home (where everyone calls him "Honorable Father") lavishly dispensing good cheer.

"Drink! Drink!" he urged the importunate politicians. "Drink and eat, oh most honorable friends, partakers of my joy!" Soon joy was unconfined as the

Premier dismissed from office 41 of Japan's 47 Governors of Prefectures and bestowed upon 41 of his friends the plums he had thus created.

First act of the new Inukai Cabinet fortnight ago was to take Japan's yen off the Gold Standard (TIME, Dec. 21). Last week the outgoing former Finance Minister, thrifty Junnosuke Inouye, famed for wise and adroit retrenchment, boiled over in helpless rage. "There was no technical reason for the action taken by the new Cabinet!" he charged. "It enabled a small number of persons to reap huge profits,* but it will do irreparable damage to our country's financial position!" Blandly the incoming Finance Minister, venerable Korekiyo Takahashi, said that he would not trouble to draft a new budget but had decided to appropriate Mr. Inouye's budget.

"Keeping Faith." As helpless as ousted Finance Minister Inouye last week was ousted Foreign Minister Baron Shidehara, who looks as much like Theodore Roosevelt as a Japanese can and who has tried in vain for the past three months to win Japanese militarists to his "Peaceful Policy" respecting China and Manchuria.

It was Baron Shidehara who warned the Army that Japan, by a tactless invasion of Manchuria, would tarnish her bright chance to force recognition by China of what Japan considers her "treaty rights'' in Manchuria by appealing to the World Court of which a Japanese, Mineichiro Adachi, is now President. It was Financier Inouye who warned that Japan's budget can scarcely be expected to stand both the cost of invading Manchuria and the resultant Chinese boycott which, more successful than all previous boycotts, had cut Japan's sales to her best customer 60%. Both warnings went unheeded, and popular approval of the Army's dramatic move put Premier Inukai in power. Last week he hobbled around to the Foreign Office and personally took it over from Baron Shidehara who made a last shrill speech to his former subordinates, urging "peace . . . conciliation . . . keeping faith."

The new Foreign Minister, Kenkichi Yoshizawa, is the Old Fox's son-in-law. He was in Paris last week where as Japanese Ambassador he has stubbornly defended Japan before the League Council (TIME, Oct. 5 et seq.). Recalled by his father-in-law, tiny Mr. Yoshizawa who incessantly puffs enormous black cigars, took a ticket for Moscow where he will talk Manchuria with Soviet Foreign Minister Maxim Maximovitch Litvinov, then hurry across the trans-Siberian Railway to Manchuria and finally to Japan.

Heaven's Cousin. In Tokyo the Son of Heaven, bespectacled Emperor Hirohito, was advised by Prince Saionji, the Last of the Genro or "Elder Statesmen," to bring the Army under stricter Imperial control last week and did so, appointing as Chief of Staff his right royal cousin, fierce-mustached Field Marshal Prince Kotohito Kanin.

Within 72 hours a new Japanese offensive was launched in Manchuria, characteristically at 4 a. m. and unquestionably under direct control of the Sublime Emperor represented by Field Marshal Prince Kanin. From Mukden, the Japanese base in Manchuria, brigade after brigade advanced southward in the dead of night, to be followed at 9 a. m. by roaring squadrons of Japanese bombing planes. Clearly the Japanese objective was to force the Chinese Army to evacuate Chinchow, the only major stronghold in Manchuria not already held by Japanese.

"We will fight to the Death!" General Yung Chen told correspondents. They, remembering the recent headlong flight of Chinese General Ma after he promised to fight to the Death (TIME, Nov. 30), skeptically remarked to each other, "Oh. yeah?"

At the Japanese G. H. Q. in Mukden, tight-lipped General Shigeru Honjo insisted his troops were moving out "to clear the country of bandits," but added that Chinese evacuation of Chinchow "is now absolutely imperative." Seemingly he thought that Chinchow might be taken without bloodshed, the Chinese soldiers merely scattering like chaff. Cheerily a Japanese aid-de-camp spoke of "taking over Chinchow by Christmas."

In a leisure moment General Honjo himself favored U. S. correspondents with this Yuletide sentiment: "Manchuria is now a frozen and unhappy land, in the grip of winter and in the depths of woe. But you have a phrase in English--'If winter comes, can spring be far behind?'. The actuating motive of Japanese policy is to bring genuine spring back to this frozen land."

In Washington, where President Hoover and Statesman Stimson have taken the line that Japan should never have occupied any Manchurian stronghold, General Honjo's promise of "spring'' (i. e. Japanese occupation of the last stronghold), was coldly but helplessly received. Mr. Stimson, having come off second best in all his diplomatic skirmishes thus far with Japan (TIME, Dec. 7). decided last week not to risk another note or even another statement to the press. Secretly he cabled U. S. Ambassador William Cameron Forbes to convey secretly an "oral protest" to the Japanese Government.

President Resigns. South of the Great Wall in China proper last week, fear of the strong measures which Japan proceeded to take in Manchuria produced two grim, appalling spectacles of chaos and collapse:

In Nanking nervous, high-strung little Chinese President Chiang Kaishek, who has been squabbling for months with the other Chinese Government (the one at Canton), abruptly resigned, announcing that Canton leaders would come north and take over the Nanking,Government. Panic stricken, Mrs. Chiang (Wellesley '17) fled by plane from Nanking to safety in the International Settlement at Shanghai.

In effect China was left without a Government, for the more prominent members of General Chiang's cabinet resigned with him. Cantonese suspected a trap, feared that on the arrival of their leaders to take over the Nanking Government, these leaders might be slain by soldiers still loyal to General Chiang who would set himself up again as President. Meanwhile Nanking weltered in a series of patriotic riots by Chinese "students" who have not studied for months, preferring to hurl bricks and assault Chinese statesmen in protest against their "weak policy."

War Lord Abdicates. In Peiping (once Peking), just outside the Great Wall, Japan's "threatened offensive broke down last week the morale of young War Lord Chang Hsueh-liang, whom Japan forced out of Manchuria, his ancestral realm, last September. Despairingly Young Chang abdicated his Manchurian rights in favor of "Old Uncle" Chang Tso-hsiang.

Old Uncle is no relation whatever to the young War Lord, but served right well his late, great father, War Lord Chang Tsolin, who began life as a mere coolie, took up the profession of banditry, and founded in Manchuria a quite illegal but practically effective Rule of the House of Chang.

While the Old Marshal lived he and Japan were friendly, and Manchuria knew such peace and prosperity as never before. The Young Marshal believes that the bombs which killed his father were Japanese (TIME, June 11, 1928). He nurses an implacable hatred for Nippon. Last week Old Uncle, a family retainer who has outgrown and succeeded the House of Chang, loomed as likely to make every effort to meet Japanese half way and try to rule Manchuria in the same manner Old Marshal did.

Japan's $1,000,000,000. In the light of Old Uncle Chang's emergence and the resignation of President Chiang Kai-shek (see above"] the first interview granted to Tokyo correspondents last week by Premier Ki ("Old Fox") Inukai lost much of its quaint, cackling obscurity, became significant and fairly clear. With a bony forefinger the white-bearded Premier traced an imaginary map of Manchuria on the jade-green cover of the table behind which he sat.

"Manchuria!" he chuckled. "Hee, hee. hee--why, we wouldn't take Manchuria as a gift! We'd have to look after all those 30,000,000 Chinese and feed them, heh. heh. Now the Chinese are a peaceful people. They're not warriors by any means and they really hate to fight. I know the Chinese well. Anyone who knows China's long history, the characteristics of the race, the vastness of the country, must realize that for Japan or any other nation to try to wrest from them any part of their territory would be an impossible task. . . . Their greatest weapon is the economic boycott, and they are also masters at passive resistance. . . . One of the difficulties in Manchuria is that many Chinese have the belief--the obsession I might call it--that we covet Manchuria. . . . We do not. . . . Nor does Japan want any part of China proper. No one but a fool would have any such thought! It is the war lords there who have caused all this trouble. The greedy war lords are one of China's greatest drawbacks."

"All we insist upon," declared the wheezing Old Fox, "is that China recognize our treaty rights, under which Japan has acquired vast interests approximating $1,000,000,000 [in Manchuria], and that there be guaranteed the safety of the Japanese and the nearly 800,000 Koreans who are Japanese subjects. So that they may live in peace and carry on their respective enterprises."

*By speculation against the yen, which declined from 49,625 fortnight ago to 41.44'' last week. Efforts to sell the yen short were discouraged by Wall Street bankers and blocked whenever possible by Japanese bankers when the short sale would have been for a white man's account. But irate Mr. Inouye charged in Tokyo that Japanese tycoons and banks managed to operate against their own currency to the tune of some $300,000,000, thus patriotically keeping most of the speculative profits in Japan.

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