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occasioned to neutral lives or property. Although this argument cannot in practice be pressed too far it does
afford a basis for requiring greater care and for admitting lesser rights than would be the case in a normal war.
6. The above considerations apply equally to the attacks which were recently made by Japanese aircraft on two trains proceeding from Canton to Kowloon.
ry.
As regards the question of prior notification,
to which the Commander-in-Chief refers, Mr. Eden is of opinion that the giving of prior notice should be as limited as possible. Since the incident in which Sir Hughe Knatchbul1-Hugessen was involved, the practice of giving unofficial notification in respect of cars travelling between Shanghai and Nanking has grown up, but Their Lordships will be aware that His Majesty's Government have refused requests from the Japanese Government for the marking of British merchant ships and also of British hospitals and other institutions in China and for notification as to their whereabouts. It is abundantly clear that the clearest identification of property and the giving of notice as regards movements by no means precludes attacks. In the circumstances, Mr. Eden, after learning that Their Lordships and the Board of Trade approve such a course, has instructed His Majesty's Ambassador in Tokyo to take up with the Japanese
Government the case of the attack on the oil barge without
raising the question of the legitimacy of military
objectives; for it is clear in this case that the
Vessel/