New Britain herald., 1918-01-18
JAPAN IS SEEKING
 MILITARY CONTROL
Dr. JenkS COunteractS ViSCOunt IShi'S Remarks About Sincerity

New York. Jan. 1S.-"While Wis
 | count Ishii was proclaiming the hon.
 1 est intentions or Japan with regard to
 l China" said pr. Jeremiah w. JenkS in a statement to the American press,
 l Japan was seeking military control
 | in China and was trying to share Tn
 | tho exploitation of China's remaining
 l iron mines.
 'Information coming to me from
 ! authoritative sources is to the effect
 that at the very time that Viscount
 Ishii was making his most eloquent 1 addresses in this country asserting 1 that Japan had no intention of over l reaching other nations and that Japan l invariably kept her promises ana l agreements Japanese agents in Pek- | ing were crowding Chinese govern 1 ment officials by every device known ! to those sliIful negotiators to close a | loan agreement for the manufacture of arms.
 ''7'his agreement is said to involve practically the handing over of the Chinese arsenals to Japanese manage
 ment and the appointment Of Japan
 csc officers to train the Chinese army.
 These provisions are substantially the
 same as some of those in the noted
 Group Five of the TWentyOne De-
 mands of 1915 which the Chinese
 President, Yuan Shih-kai, declared
 were subversive of Chinese sovereign
 ty and which the pressure of world
 public opinion influenced the Japan
 ,&e to drop at that time.
 Apparently, according to the re-
 ports, haste and the demand for se- crecy in these late negotiations, just hn Chinese officials.
 Many of the friends of China have questioned the usefulness of the Lan- sing -Ishii agreement, because they have doubted the sincerity of Japan l in carrying out the provisions re- garding the open door.
 Private letters from both Chinese and foreigners emphasize the strength l of the drive that the Japanese arc making in China with apparently the 1 full intent of securing for themselves great advantages now that will mako l it difficult at the peace negotiations for the Allies to make any arrange mcnt on even terms for the maintcn- ance of the open door.
 "Ncw effort is being made also to secure Japanese advantage in tho exploitation of the remaining iron mines of China of which Japan has not yet secured control. So urgent is this effort, and apparently so contrary ] to the spirit of the Lansing-I Ishii l agreement and to the policy of the i open door that it is reported that pr. ! Reinsch. the American Minister. has made definite protest to the Chinese | government against the making of any such agreement as that proposed by Japan, on the ground that it would be @ violation of that policy.
 And all of this, if the reports are true, while the eloquent viscount was l assuring us of the sincerity of Ja- panesc proteStatiors of friendship and 1 of Japan's unchanging policy of hon. ] ora bly, standing by her promises and | agreements"
 A situation of excitement over the Arms-A1lianCe Loan recalling that l aroused in 1915 over Group V of the | Twenty One Demands prevails in Ch1- ma The demands of Group V all in | fringed on China's sovereignty, the l treaty rights of other powers and the | principle of equal opportunity, but if | it had been acceded to it would have 1 been little more damaging to China's 1 Integrity than the present proposed 1 Arms \ nance Loan. LII LnlS pIOpOS- 1 ul tho Japanese demand the F'enghu- l angshan iron mines; control of Chi l mas arsenals, monopoly of supplying | arms to ChinaS army, and the ap-
 nointment of (Japanese) military ad- l visers The mine area involved holds 1 China's richest ore. Japan already 1 controls or has a large share in the 1 control of every Chinese iron mine l worked under modern methods, and 1 it is estimated that the cOnsummation 1 of the proposed contract would give | Japan 1OO.O0O,0OO tons, leaving Chi ma only 27,000,000 for her future in 1 dustrial development, besides closing | the door to legitimate development of 1 China's resources by other nations. Native feeling against the deal is l intense and foreigners in China take | the stand that to concede Japan's de- mand would be to violate present in ! ternational understanding
 NORWAY IS BITTER.