Japan, Russia and the Railway The reports of an agreement
between Japan and Russia over the sale of the Chinese Eastern Railway still lack confirmation, but they may very well be true. Neither country wants war at present, and that being so they have nothing to gain by hovering perpetually on the verge of hostilities. The sum mentioned, £17,000,000, is as good a compromise as is likely to be reached between what Russia asked and what Japan offered. The im- portance of the deal, if it is really carried through, is that it means something of a set-back for the militarists in Japan, for the civilian Ministers have always been much more anxious to come to an understanding with Moscow. The Chinese Eastern Railway runs through Manchukuo, and with that province completely dominated by Japan Russia's difficulties in working the - railway are so great that she has good cause for parting with it on any reason- able terms. China's contingent rights will no doubt be ignored. While the deal, if deal there be, will remove One Cause of friction between Japan and Russia, it is much too soon to talk of a general détente between the two Powers. It is ominous that Japan is represented as anxious to leave herself free to concentrate on the naval expansion issue. *
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