5 FEBRUARY 1927, Page 2

The disagreeable interpretation of events by which all the odium

of moving troops is attached to Great Britain might have been avoided if the other Powers had openly declared that they agreed at every point with the British policy. As it is, we are left with some disconcerting reflections which we desire to stifle but are compelled to express. If the Anglo-Japanese Alliance had not been denounced by us the Japanese Government would have regarded it as a mere incident in the routine of duty to collaborate openly with us—not merely in the provision of troops but, in what is much more important from a political point of view, a solemn declaration that in no case should we go to war with China.