China
Appalling havoc has been caused by the flooding of the Yangtse in Hupeh, Hunan, Kiangsi, Anwhei, and Kiangsu. At Hangkow the floods have risen above a high-water level which has stood for sixty years, and in the Hankow area alone the death-roll is reported to exceed eight thousand. The Government's twenty million dollar loan cannot but be pitifully inadequate to relieve present distress, and loss of the autumn crops and the restriction of the winter sowing will mean a year of famine and destitution for a population equal to approximately half that of the British Isles. Such distress is terrible to contemplate. In the meantime Chiang Kai-shek has responded to Sir Miles Lampson's representations by ordering a fresh inquiry into the case of Mr. Thorburn. The revolt in the South appears to be losing rather than gaining in impetus, and Nanking may well be able to call the insurgents' bluff before long.
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