- Peace Possibilities • .
. The military situation remains static, but with no definite armistice declared fighting may. break out again at any time. The signs are that Japan has little :inclination for pushing matters further. She sees the :world against her, she is spending on the campaign • money she can ill afford, and the longer a settlement -is postponed, the more distant the end of the Chinese boycott becomes. The boycott, indeed, may very well f be one of the most awkward corners the peace negotiators :have to round, for it is suggested that Japan will demand -a definite. denunciation of it by the Chinese authorities. Public .bpinion being what it is no Chinese delegate -Could agree that, and-there is no reason why he should. :If the coolie chooses to buy British cotton goods instead of Japanese in present circumstances he is doing what :he is perfectly entitled to do. The Chinese Government can properly be called on to refrain from fomenting the boycott officially. Apart. from that the consumer must make his own choice. The peace negotiations in any case will be difficult enough, for the recommendations of the Lytton Commission may well be distasteful to one party or the other. The Commission has been lingering rather long in Japan, submitting to the inevitable round of banquets and other ceremonies.
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