§ 6. Sir A. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has yet received the report asked for on the steps taken or contemplated for securing adequate supplies of rice for the poor classes in the Shanghai International Settlement; and whether he has represented to the Japanese Government that their policy of buying up and exporting 960 to Japan all visible supplies of rice is depriving the working-classes in Shanghai of their only means of subsistence?
§ Mr. EdenYes, Sir. The Shanghai Municipal Council and the authorities of the French Concession at Shanghai have been importing rice in bulk from Hong Kong and Indo-China. This has resulted in an increase of stocks of rice at Shanghai with a consequent decrease in prices. As regards the second part of the Question, I understand that the Settlement authorities do what they can to keep the facts before the notice of the Japanese authorities with a view to securing a relaxation of the present restrictions on the supply of rice to Shanghai from the interior. Rice even now has to be imported for neighbouring zones in Japanese occupation, and in the circumstances it would not appear that representations in Tokyo would serve any useful purpose.