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Show Economic Highlights Not since 1917 has a major nation na-tion declared war. Yet in the intervening in-tervening years there have been a number of far-reaching, sanguinary conflicts. What might be termed Mars' modern technique does not require a formal declaration of war armies are mobilized, soldiers and civilians are slaughtered, cities are devastated and governments change, even while, cfficially speaking, speak-ing, actual war does not exist. In Italy's Ethiopian campaign, for example, war was not declared but the result of the invasion was to eliminate the Ethiopian Monarchy and make the country into an Italian colony governed b'' the Italian Military. Russia and France have not declared war on the Spanish insurgents, nor have Germany and Italy broken off relations re-lations with the Spanish Government: Govern-ment: yet it is no secret that Franco's Fran-co's cause has been kept alive with the aid of German and Italian troops and equipment, while the Government forces would have collapsed long since had it not been for Russian airplanes and armaments and French military experts. ex-perts. Today in the Far East the world is again witnessing a war without a declaration of war that is of the utmost significance not only to the nations involved, but to the Western World as well. Japan has gone to the limit in recent years to build up her army and navy. For u :nall country, she has an amazing military machine, ma-chine, far superior to that of the Chinese though China herself has made progress in unifying and strengthening the countiy. China's greatest weakness has always been the corruption cf her local governments govern-ments as Oswald Garrison Villard has written. "The purchasing of Chinese statesmen and generals is Japan's long suit; it has advanced her and her policy of conquest far mjore rapidly than have her rifles and cannon." The central, Nanking Nan-king government has usually proven unable to control the superabundant superabun-dant local War Lords each with his own interest at heart and each suspicious of the ethers. The situation sit-uation as it exists in China, is as if each American state governor had a great private army which he could use for any purpose he wishes, even to the extreme of fighting the armies of neighb. rinj governors. As a consequence, plus Japan's far more efficient and modern war machines, it is believed certain that the Japanese will encounter relatively little trouble in conquering conquer-ing the north provinces. She will take ever cities and accomplish destruction on a vast scale, and probably leplace present local governments gov-ernments with puppet Chinese governments controlled by the Japanese, Jap-anese, as she did in Manchuria. But in the long run, Japan's chances chan-ces of success are dubious. China is a tremendous country, with the largest population in the world. Not since the dawn of history has it been permanently conquered ever a period of many years, the invaders intermarry witn the Chinese Chi-nese and are virtually swallowed by the imrr.iense country. China has more than half a billion people peo-ple as against Japan's 75,000,000. Furthermore, it seems inconceivable incon-ceivable that Japan will be permitted per-mitted by ether powers to advance unhindeied into China. Russia is strongly ar.ti-Japanese and will, if matters go far enough, throw her resources to the side of China. And if it came down to a Russo-Japanese Russo-Japanese war, most military experts think the bear would win. England will attempt to limit Japan's conquest in the interest cf her own trade, and so, in all peccability, pecc-ability, will the United States and France. And lastly. It is a question ques-tion whether Japan's financial resources re-sources are sufficient to stand a long struggle today more than 50 per cent of her government's budget bud-get is earmarked ror the army and navy, and she has a soaring national nat-ional debt. So here is another grave threat to world peace the gravest, par-haps par-haps that has yet appeared. Whether Whe-ther war is actually declared is only of theoretical importance io all intents and purposes a major war is now underway in the Far East, and interests directly affecting affect-ing every nation in the world are involved. A Business Week survey shows that business activity averaged 10 per cent higher in the first six months of 1927 than in the same period last year. x Steel production rose 35 per cent; automobile production 12 per cent; residential construction 54 per cent; lumber production 8 per cent; electric power cutput 13 per cent; factory payrolls 29 per cent and factory employment 13 per cent. Farm prices rose 18 per cent; construction costs zoomed 13 per cent; and department store prices upped 7 per cent. Stocks averaged aver-aged 18 per cent higher and bonds 2 per cent higher. |