Money

Just one thing might buck up China today against Japan: a fat loan from the West to the Nanking Government of harassed, high-strung little Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kaishek. Last week Japanese officials were nervous as cats lest such a loan result from the visit to China of the Paitish Treasury's biggest mobile gun, Sir Frederick Leith-Ross. bland Chief Economic Adviser to His Majesty's Exchequer, who is steaming this week toward the Far East.

To get ready for Sir Frederick, Chinese Finance Minister H. H. Kung hopped aboard a cruiser at Nanking and steamed up the Yangtze. Ahead of him on a specially chartered ship was his brother-in-law, onetime Finance Minister T. V. Soong, China's No. 1 financier. Down to meet them swooped from the interior their common brother-in-law. Generalissimo Chiang. A minor problem first to be disposed of was the abrupt resignation 'of Chinese Premier Wang Ching-wei and several lesser members of the Cabinet. Moon-faced Mr. Wang resigned "because of poor health," the others "in sympathy with Mr. Wang." Politicians, they were getting out in advance of the coming Kuomintang (National People's Party) Congress which promises to erupt with indignation against the Government's unparalleled series of surrenders to Japan (TIME, June 17 & 24). surrenders which included dissolving at Japan's behest all locals of the Kuomintang in North China. To the Generalissimo and his brothers-in-law the squawks of the Kuomintang were of comparative indifference.

The really awkward matter was how to dress up China's current economic and political situation so as to appeal favorably to Sir Frederick Leith-Ross. Before leaving Nanking unctuous Dr. Kung made the sweeping claim that he has "freed Chinese farmers from 4,100 items of extortionate and illegal tax levies" since he became Finance Minister. As the brothers-in-law got busy, their cruiser anchoring in the safe middle of the river off Kuling, they were joined by the Chinese Ambassador to Japan. General Chiang Tso-pin, and the former Chinese satrap of what is now Manchukuo. the ''Young Marshal" Chang Hsueh-liang. For months the Chinese statesmen who thus met last week have been playing Japan's game. Each fears sudden Death at the hands of some patriotic Chinese, and the purpose of their conference was simply to decide whether there is really any game except Japan's that they can profitably play.

If the mission of Sir Frederick Leith-Ross really meant that the West was ready to loan China the sinews of battle, then at the Generalissimo's trumpet call all his generals and their hundreds of thousands of unemployed soldiers would gladly come a-running. Anyhow even a small British loan (Chinese mentioned $25,000,000 last week) would come in as handy for current expenses as did the $50,000,000 cotton & wheat credit from the U. S. (TIME, Sept. 4, 1933).

Spot cash actually slipped into China's palm last week: $100,000 as a gift from the American Red Cross to be used in succoring the estimated 10,000,000 victims of China's current flood-famine. The gift thus worked out at 1-c- per victim.

In view of Sir Frederick Leith-Ross's arrival, Chinese officials excitedly emphasized that Inner Mongolia is far from being under the Nanking Government's immediate control. In Inner Mongolia a crumpled white corpse was finally identified last week as being that of Manchester Guardian Correspondent Gareth Jones, onetime private secretary to David Lloyd George. Kidnapped late in July, Mr. Jones was held for $40,000 ransom by bandits naive enough to imagine that an editor would pay that much for a good reporter. To take the sordid aspect of Mr. Jones's death out of Empire minds. Statesman Lloyd George darkly observed that "many powers" might have wanted to hush up whatever he had discovered in Inner Mongolia, thus clothing his killing with romance.

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