Progress in China The important preliminary report prepared by Sir
Frederick Leith-Ross on his mission in China demands the close attention not only of the British Government but of all industrialists concerned with the Far Eastern trade. The attention given in the Press to friction between Japan and China, between Nanking and Canton, and between Nanking and the Communists has served to obscure the real consolidation achieved by the Nanking Government in the past few years. When Sir Frederick Leith-Ross emphasises "the remarkable progress in the restoration of law and order, the resettlement of the devastated regions and the development of communica- tions " he is corroborating what Mr. D. G. M. Bernard, Chairman of the British and Chinese Corporation, said, speaking purely as a business man, at the annual meeting of that company earlier in the month. Nothing will accelerate consolidation more than the development of communications—motor roads as well as railways. But that involves access to foreign capital, and foreign capital is naturally hesitant while China is still in default on various existing obligations. Sir Frederick Leith-Ross appears to think that a reasonable settlement which would clear the ground is practicable. It is to be hoped it is, given proper safeguards, for there is no country in which foreign money could be employed to greater advantage to both borrower and lender than China.
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