THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1908. CHINA AND JAPAN.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9181, 2 September 1908, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1908. CHINA AND JAPAN.

: Remarkable determination has been displayed by a large section of the populace in Southern China in maintaining the boycott of Japanese goods which has lately overshadowed all other events in the Far East. The boycott was instituted as the only practical means of expressing the public resentment at what was regarded as the wanton humiliation inflicted on China over the case of the Tatsu Maru. It was also intended as a protest against the supposed supineness of the Government at Pekin in yielding to the demands of Japan. Revolutionary propagandists, such as the notorious Sun Yatsen, leader of theanti-Manchu Society, are suspected of having had a hand in stirring up the trouble, but those most competent to judge assert that the movement is a genuine and spontaneous expression of popular feeling, and is not to be regarded merely as the work of political agitators, although it may well serve

to stimulate agitation in the future. There is no doubt that in Canton and other populous centres all classes feel keenly on the question. Indignation meetings have been held, inflammatory resolutions have been passed, and thousands of sober citizens have "sworn death" to the Japanese. Much more berious is the fact that for the time being Japanese trade haa been seriously crippled. The boycott is said to be far more potent and widespread than that formerly directed against American produce. The Pekin Government are naturally alarmed at the outlook, fearing further trouble with their powerful neighbour. More than once Viceroy Chang has been reproved for failing to stop the movement, but apart from the fact that he is in entire sympathy with the feelings which prompt the boycocters, that official is absolutely helpless. Merchants have destroyed their stocks of Japanese goods; eatinghouse keepers have tabooed Japanese food products; European firms, from whom merchandise has been ordered, have even been asked not to forward it in Japanese ships. And these doings are not confined to Chinese territory. Chinese in Hongkong, the Philippines, and even in Australia, have joined in the boycott. On the Japanese side there is a disposition to discount the seriousness of the situation, although it is admitted that losses have already been severe. Japanese shipping is said to have been badly hit, vessels having to make trips without passengerrs or cargo.