The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-02-20
Japan's AggTBssiVentss Is Being FsIt In Trade Relations In
 Manchuria
OPEN DOOR POLICY IS
 JAPAN'S BEST LEVERAGE
American Officials Declare That Rail- road Rate Regulation Is Principal Cause of American Loss of
 Eastern Trade.

Washington, February 19.-Information from unofficial and individual sources ev- idencng the agsrcssiveness of Japan in ManchLria has peer accommodating in the state departrnent for some time. That this condition is irritating in increasing degree to China is also a matter of knowl- edge here. It is stated with authority that in no manner has the Chinese gov ernment drought the matter to the at tention of the American government and no representation on the subject is looked for.
 It is frankly admitted by officials who cannot be quoted that America is losing her commercial foothold in the G ient. This loss, however, Is not charged 10 Japan. Rather it is asserted to be the effect of the growing tendency toward in ternal government and regulation in the United States. Five years ago flour in barrels was being snspped to the Orient from the northwest; steel rails from Pitts burg and cotton ,n oales from Texas. These shipments were made possible be- cause or an cxcet 5;Dg,y low ocean freight rate arrived at ly ] railroad combina- ton. This rate has been condemned by our courts as a ctls.Iracy against trade. and the development of this trade has been abandoned. 1pe domestic war, as it Is characterized against the Standard Gil company, which IS credited with the largest Oriental trade of any American enterprise. is declared to have been dis astrously effected in the Orient, while the tobacco and cotton trades are said to have been dealt heavy blows through the operation of railroad regulation here.
 From this standpoint it seems easy for government officials here conversant with foreign matters to view Japanese com mercia1 aggression in Manchuria With a greater degree of compliance than would he the case Tn the face of an urgent do- mestic demand for governmental assist ance. Japan. it is asserted can without great difficulty justify everything she has done in Manchura, as sanctioned by the open door policy initiated by the late Sec retary Hay and adhered to by the greater nations, including Japan While Japan may justify these things in the strictest sense under the ''open door policy, 1t has been charged that there exists evidences of her use of many methods ana pfac- tices which might not bear the light of impartial investigations Besides her claim to an equal footing with other na- lions in Manchuria on the ''open door, basis. she has, it is asserted, obtained many valuable concessions through which her control of the railroad and telegrapmc facilities is practically complete. rms con- trol is known to be used primarily Ill the interest of Japanese tradesmen anu to the detriment of all foreign compeu- tors These disadvantages are, Of course, heinz felt by American tradesmen, as well as by those oI other foreign nations.
 There is nothing, it is pointed out, in Secretary Hays promugation of the open door policy which partakes of the nature of an agreement with any nation looking to it's maintenance. For this reason IL IS predicted that should combination or protests be made. and any movement ih- itiated by foreign nations, the support which it would receive from this country would be no more than moral