The National tribune., 1911-03-30
JAPANESE WAR SCARE.
Died a-Bornin'-Amity With United
States and Mexico.

The antics of the Japanese war scare
In and around Washington are some
thing marvellous to behold. There seems
TO be no such thing as choking it Off"
Denials and demonstrations of falsity
do not discourage it. Tales in varied
and lot of folks persist In getting ex-
cited.
The thing was clearly overdone from
the start. Before the scare had been
largely exploited some enterprising re-
porter fiared forth with the intelligence
that the Government was terribly con-
cerned about Hawaii. The Japanese
would surely gobble up the Hawaiian
Islands unless three regiments Of SOL
were being hurried thither. It required
only about "a hours to knock that ru-
NOR in the head. OF course, the Gov
eminent ~ sending soldiers to Hawaii
and in increasing numbers. It will be
sending more regiments there in the
course of a few years. for the Hawaiian
Islands are to be made big Army and
Navy Station.
But all this has been planned and
under execution for months and
months. 1t is undoubtedly being done
in no small part against the Japanese,
but Notifications and Army and Navy
stations are established against some
body--against any National foe who
may appear In a given quarter. The
fortifications. and the fleet on the At
lantic Coast are there to ward off the
japanese. if the japanese should de-
clare war and come that way. Prob
ably those things will not happen.
Then. there has been great fuss
over Japanese treaties with Mexico.
The war scare promoters would have
1t that japan was after coaling sta
tons in Mexico and all that sort of
thing, under cover that it would help
them in matters of immigration and
that the knowledge was permitted to
filter to the United States for the pur-
pose of influencing the latter to accede
more readily to the terms desired by
Japan in the new treaty. This was a
lot of fine flubdub. but it had credence
in extensive circles. Japan did not ap-
ply for a coaling station in Mexico, and
had no idea of doing so. Such an ap-
plication would have been a signal for
trouble Japan has little or no COM
meree in that part of the world. Fur
thermore. as the Japanese themselves
are well aware. the United STATES would
look upon such an application probably
as an unfriendly act
There is a treaty of commerce and
gotiated long time ago and still in
force. 1t was negotiated and ratified
without any time limit, which is differ
ent than other commercial treaties
which Japan has negotiated in recent
years. There is no disposition, how
ever, on the part of Mexico or of Japan
to terminate the commercial treaty,
and it will stand. The efforts of the
war-scare mongers to drag that treaty
into their Vaccinations for arousing
the American people to an attitude of
hostility have accordingly come to
naught.
The Pacific Coast is contributing
much to this anti-Japanese agitation.
The popular feeling against the Japan
ese in California, Oregon and Wash
ington is pretty strong. The LegisIa-
lures, especially that of California, has
been pretty active in trying to start
something against the japanese and to
impose restrictions upon the ownership
Of land. All these tales from the Army
and NaVy enthusiasts at Washington
lrift quickly to the coast, and arouse
tremendous interest among the people
Because of the dissatisfaction on the
coast with the laps and the friction
that exists between the two races, one
finds more readiness to believe extraor-
binary stories about the schemes of the
Japanese to get the advantage of us in
war.
However, IT looks as tho the general
public was beginning TO smoker at these
herculanean efforts of the war men of
the two services. Some of the news
paper dupes played it harder than the
crafty officers of Army and Navy weuld
have done. The rnannvers on the Texas
border came when there was little else
to monopoliZe public interest, and GER
tain of the enterprising newspapers
started right out to land a full-sized
war. Their headlines every morning
were thriilers. Fortunately nothing
happened to give these thrillers sem
blance Of truth. and the hOllowness of
the whole scheme became so apparent
that tie great. gullible public began to
laugh tHfd mot to fear
AS things are going it will not be
long bsfore the snewspaper readers VIII
boot the japanese war scare, and no
scheming -strapper who wants
to build up the service bv fat appro-
priations from Congress will dare util-
ize it Tonger. SAs property for staging
its usefulness