Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1916-03-30
|iF JAPAN WHIPPED Us
WHAT OF PEACE rERMsq
They Mould Certainly Include an
Enormous Cash Indemnity and
Might Require the Cesslon Of
AiasKa-W;,at Shall We GO
With the Monroe Doctrine and
the Open Door7

Review.
In connection with the question
of national preparedness the
timely admonition is made by the
New Republic that 1.-THE time has
come for the country to make up
its mind what policy it means to
defend"
II we purpose to continue the
Monroe doctrine, greater prepar-
edness will be needed, it thinks,
than if we ditch it. III also we
are to stand up for John Hays
doctorine of tho "open door" in
China, still greater preparedness
Twill be needed. If we make up
our minds TO throw both doctrines
to the discard very moderate pre-
paredness, it thinks, will be SUI
ficient for our safety, for these are
potential sources of friction with
Germany on the one hand and
Japan on the opposing side.
In other Words" say the jour
nal, what we arc preparing to
defend is not our territory, but
national policy in Latin Amcri-
co. Let the United States aban-
don all pretensions in this hem
ispherc outside its boundaries
it will be as safe from Germany
as Greenland is.
Policy Toward Japan.
THE same searching of mind
is needed in our relations to ia
pan. We are i'm conflict with ia
pan over two main issucs-eNclu-
sion i'm California and the open
door in The far east. Neither can
be allowed to rest underlined. Arc
we or arc VIC not aiming to chal-
lengc Japanese dominion in the
Orient? If we arc not the Japan
csc problem loses most of it's
gravity. Japan will not fight us
merely to secure admission for
HUI CoOlIC IdDVl. Dub IL We dIC
concerned about The fate of China
if the new navy is designed to
give weight to American dipIon-
acy in the east, then the sooner
our people realize it the better. -
To this point the New Rcpub-
lies thesis is mainly sound. It's
argument is defective when it
passes to the conteition that in
vasion of this country by the
armed forces of an enemy would
be followed by light and easily
borne penalties. Does any one
suppose" it questions, that Ger
many would care TO conquer and
administer the continental terri
tory of the United States? II
would be the most fruitless adj
venture nation ever undertook,
Gnd the absurdity of it is evident
when we realize that even if the
Germans in this war could take
n london they would evacuate it
again. II the Germans captured
London or New York it would not
be for the sake Of holding it, but
i'm order to change certain British
or American policies to which
they object
Could Impose Heavy Penalties.
But this takes no note of the
Price that would be demanded for
cvacuation-thc indemnity that a
conquering and occupying army
would exact from country so
rich in wealth and potential re-
sources. Nothing is more Ger
tain than that Germany or ia
pan, once it had the bayonet at
our national throat, would de-
mand an indemnify that would
>tagger this country in its pay
mcnt.
Gonquering Japan could go
further than Germany. 1t could
cap a stupendous war indemnity
with demand, for example, for
the cession of Alaska. Alaska is
substantially wild and unpopu-
lated. II is rich in gold, copper
and coal, products essential to ia
Fans realization of world empire
and national prosperity. Its fish
cries could feed the Japanese ma
ton for all time. With Alaska
coded Japan could easily evict the
the few thousand Americans now
in the territory and become the
po"scssor of an undeveloped en-
pirc far greater in area than the
I,"nscnt-day empire of Japan.
With these prizes in vicw--a
war Indemnity that would instant
~ enrich Impoverished Japan,
and a prospect of taking over the
wealth of Alaska for all time
it would be folly for the American
people to assume that Japan
would be incapable of picking a
quarrel with them over the issue
of Japanese exclusion, Japanese
land tenure in the Pacific coast
states and The admission of Jap
ancse to our public schools.
Prudent Nation Must Pay.
To 'chuck "the Monroe doc
trine and forget, the omen door in
China, as the New Republic says,