The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-23
WAR ECHOES


 ginning of the war the English and
 Germans have been unceasirig in their efforts to influence American public opinion. Friendly newspapers have been supplied with carefully edit ed news. books favorable to one or the other of the belligerents have beeen put upon the market. while distinguished men have flooded the press with their arguments and travelled the country in speech making and lecture tours. Be- permitted her early in the war to cut the only cable under German control Great Britain has possessed great ad' vantage over her chief opponent in be- ing able to censor and color in her own interest all the cable news and much of the mail matter that we have re- ceived. On the other hand, Germany has conducted an extremely able cam paign, in view of her handicap of having no cable and using language other than ours.
 Unfortunately, many of us have been so influenced by the extremely clever German and English efforts to capture our sympathies that we have lost our sense of proportion and assumed an attitude of open belligerency on one side or the other entirely inconsistent with our national position as neutrals in the war Let us show our heartfelt com passion to the unhappy Belges and aid them to the limit of our means, let us sritr nd adr tiOn to either side we please, to the French and to the British for their dashing valor and for the magnificent stand they have made, or to the Germans for their mar
 velous efficiency and courage, but in doing so let us never forget that as neutrals we owe our first duty to our own country.
 In these days of intense war partisan ship it is not only morally and spiritu- ally wholesome. but it is, also patriotic, if we occasionally forget that we are either German or French sympathizers, Russian or Austrian advocates, or even that we were once British colonials, as some of us have never ceased to be, and only remember that we are Ameri- cans.
 From the Pittsburg Sun: From the Far East comes a low rumble of trouble, and the one nation that is not actively interested In the war of Europe, this country, is casting anxious glances toward China and Japan. It ap- pears that the demands Japan has made upon it's neighbor are so wide in their scope that the open door to the celes- tial kingdom is threatened If they be
 granted in toto. What gives the subject additional gravity lies in the statement, the truth of which seems pretty well authenticated, that Japan did not give the other powers a copy of all the de-
 mands she made. There were a number of things not mentioned in the generally distributed diplomatic note and these impart gravity to the whole situation. Japan, it is said, under the cover of the war cloud, has deemed it suitable occasion to fasten herself on China for all time, and to so encompass that na- ton with treaty arrangements that she will be absolutely powerless except with the consent of her energetic neighbor. | China, although in no position to combat l the demands by force of arms, still re- fused to accede to Nippon's rather forci- bly offered suggestions.
 ! None of the western nations will calmly ysanction the blanketing of China by Ja- pan, for that is exactly what would re- suit if the aggressive Japanese policy were countenanced It would mean that no country could deal directly with in- dependent China, that no concessions could be granted by that nation without Japan's consent; that China would have l to buy it's goods from Japan, or at | least give the dealers and manufactories 1 of that country first chance; that Japa- nese would have to be employed in Chi
 nese armories and government factories | In short, that China would be relegated | to a place among the powers analogous 1 to that of a committee controlled depen. dent among able bodied men.
 l Now that the storm of protest has beer started, it is not likely that Japan will | fly in the face of the powers, for ever l the English papers in the Orient are pro testing against such high-handed proceed ure, and will no doubt insist on China :!
 repudiation of such preposterous treaty This country, it is said, has already dis patched a note to Japan on the subject |