the same time--automatically and simultaneously.
To the Open Door in Manchuria Japan carries the key.

III

Japan's primary commercial advantage over all other nations in South
Manchuria, her railway monopoly, together with the use she is making
of this monopoly and her plans to maintain it, we must now consider
more in detail.

When the war with Russia ended, Japan succeeded Russia in the control
of what is now the South Manchurian Railway, running from Dairen
(formerly Dalny) to Chang-chun, 438 miles, through the very heart of
the country, and she also obtained from China the right "to maintain
and work the military line constructed between Antung and Mukden
_and_"--as if of secondary importance--"to improve the said line so as
to make it fit for the conveyance of commercial and industrial goods
of all nations." The stipulation with regard to the South Manchurian
Railway was that China should have the right to buy it back in 1938,
and with regard to the Antung-Mukden line, in 1932, by paying the
total cost--"all capital and all moneys owed on account of the line
and interest." And just here Japan is playing a wily game.

Consider, for example, the Antung-Mukden line just referred to, now
regarded as a part of the South Manchurian system. Although running
through a very mountainous and sparsely settled area, it is of immense
importance to Japan {84} from a strategic standpoint, connecting Mukden as
it does with the Japanese railway in Korea leading directly to Fusan,
and thus enabling Japan to transport troops across her own territory
to Manchuria without taking any of the risks involved in getting out
of her own waters and boundaries. The paramount military importance of
the line is further indicated by the fact that no one had thought of a
commercial line here at all. Simply as a matter of war-time necessity
Japan stretched a 2-1/2-foot narrow-gauge line across these mountain
barrens to transport her troops in 1905. It is interesting to see,
therefore, how she has now interpreted her right to "work, maintain
and improve"--especially "improve"--this line. In October I spent two
days travelling over its entire length (188 miles), most of the time
on the narrow-gauge part, and I was amazed to see on what a
magnificent scale the new broad-gauge substitute line is now building.
In striking contrast to the traditional Japanese tendency to
impermanence in building, this line is constructed regardless of
expense as i