26 SEPTEMBER 1931, Page 2

China and Japan We have lately pointed to Manchuria as

a seedbed from which trouble would shortly spring. The feebleness and disorder that prevailed in China make her not only a tempting prey but also a likely provoker of violence through lack of control and respect for law and order. Japan and her nationals in Manchuria have particular interests in the Southern Manchuria Railway from Mukden to Dairen, and have their garrison in the country. The ill-feeling between them and the Chinese had grown acute before some Chinese troops cut the railway. The Japanese troops promptly disarmed the Chinese, seized the railway and attacked Mukden, which was instructed, mercifully, by Chang Hsueh-liang to offer no resistance. The troops have been called on to advance farther North to protect the Japanese colony in Kirin. Our correspondent at Geneva gives us as good a report as we could expect of the Chinese appeal to the Council of the League, but we deal in a leading article with the seriousness of these acts of war. It is only fair to add that the Japanese Government disclaims responsibility for the action of its troops.