The Washington herald., 1921-01-07
Utterances by Nipponese
Statesmen Compared to
Germans in 1914.
AMERICAN NAVAL
EYES EASTWARD
Authorities Charge That
Political Events in Pa
cific Require Vigilance.
BY FREDERICK WILLIAM VILE.

Japan's determination to become
more and more powerful at sea- as
expressed in special cables from
Tokyo this week. makes a profound
impression in Washington. 1t comes
as no surprise either to our naval
authorities or to members of Con-
gress familiar with Japanese am
bitions. On all hands I encounter
the opinion that utterances such as
those Of Premier Hara, Minister Of
War Tanaka, and former premier
Okuma-undoubted representing
the controlling public opinion of
Japan-are likely to remove the
idea of any cessation Of navy-build-
ing in the United States from the
sphere of practical politics. With
the Japanese in their apparent
frame of mind, our naval and politi-
cal leaders declare, America cannot
withhold a rivet from a single man
of-war
The unanimfty of sentiment in
gcstion of . naval holiday is meet
ing such widespread support in
Great Britain and the United States,
j: considered in Washington little
short of astonishing. Japan today,
on a subject of a breathing spell in
the international armaments race,
is viewed as almost identically in
the position of Germany a year or
two before the war. At that time
Berlin was more or less necessarily
in receipt of official and semi official
Overtures from London on the sub
jeCt OF a naval understanding. The
kaiser's government thundered
Mo- on every occasion. Admiral
Won TirpitZ. then the uncrOwned
king of German I.~val policy, talked
as Marquis Okuma talked to Glenn
Eabb, of the Public Ledger Wash
ington Herald Service at Tokyo on
January ). Tirpitz argued that the
British Empire and the United
States, being bigger" and richer"
than Germany. were the ones to re-
trench in naval construction; Ger
many. Tirpitz, whined, was build
ing purely and solely for defense;
it was not she, but her powerful
rivals al sea-America and Britain
that were the real menaces to
peace upon the oceans. Tirpitz was
still whimpering in those terms
when the Germans made their bid
for world domination in 1914.
DIscIoses @Open Secret
/ am disclosing what is an open
secret in Washington when 1 in
form Washington Herald readers
that the present-day United States
bility of war with Japan in mind
to the extent of 90 per cent of all
our future calculations. Although
until 1928 We shall be from 10 to
25 per cent inferior to the British
in fighting strength, and Japan to-
day is 80 to per cent our inferior,
the eyes Of the navy are turned
virtually exclusively to the Far
East, instead of to the North Sea,
where the British fleet rides at an
ChOr around John Bulls water-girt
isles. Our navy has not altogether
eliminated the contingency of war
with Great Britain from its consid-
eratiOns- But it is banished to the
realm Of the extremely improba BILE
compared to the chances of clash
with the Japanese. There is a good
deal Of anti-British sentiment in
the American feet. Occasionally it
finds expression in the belief that
while John Bull himself will hardly
provoke a scrap with Uncle Sam. he
might inCite his Japanese ally some
day to start something. The deyo-
tees of that school Of thought think
they have discovered in history the
certainty that, by hook or by crook,
the British will find ways and means
for smashing any power that
threatens to challenge their tradl-
tional supremacy at sea. It is ar
gued by these theorists that the
war with Germany was essentially
war to check the uncomfortable
prOgreqss Of a rival to Britannfa's
wave-ruling propensities.
sharpest Eyes on Japanese.
But it is upon the Japanese, and
not the British, fleet that American
naval men are keeping the sharpest
eye, Japan is building in avowed
competition with the United States
She Is building not only in her own
yards but in the comparatively idle
yards Of Great Britain. In one
hihly important direction the IAN
anese feet seriously outstrips us
1t has four powerful battle-cruisers
in commission, and four under con-
struction. The United States has
begun the construction of six bat
tle-cruisers, but will have none Of
them in commission for a long time.
Apart from those technical and
strictly naval conditions, authorities
in Washington aver that political
events in the Pacific never so much
as today justified American vigil
lance and preparedness. japanese
statesmen, It is pointed out, avow
unallOyed and undying friendship
for the United States, but simultan-
eOusly pres son and on with their
policy Of peaceful penetration every
where in the Far East. They have
on one pretext or another continu-
Ously consolidated" their position
in China, Manchuria and Siberia.
They occupy the Saghalin Islands.
They hold the Caroline and Marshall
Islands, astride our communicate tions
to the PHILIPPINES, under mandate
from the league Of nations. They
hold fast to their right to oversee
our cable traffic with China. They
have not yet yielded 20 our attitude
on the subject OF immigration-con-
troll in California: When, on top OF
those purely political . situations,
Japanese Of the non-jingoistIc- -typs
Of Hara and okuma, say that Japan
cannot think of restricting her