Evening star., 1921-11-01
ENGLAND AND U. S.
FACE "SHOWD0WN''
CONTINUED from First Page.l

CONTINUED from First Page.)
India is a domestic matter-how coulo
suchNa consultation in London aneco
the calm Of official Westinghouse
miles away? The answer is this:
The conference Of premiers ,"nS was
George to learn whether the British
empire should or should not renew
the offensive and defensive aillahce
between Great Britain and Japan,
commonly called the Anglo Japanese
alliance It was made about twenty
wears ago and provided for a close
working arrangement between Japan
and Great Britain "for their mutuaf
interest" The phrases OF that an
ance looked harmless. Indeed. lest. -
be supposed that Great Britalh Wooru ~
| be obligated to help Japan In case oi
war between America and Japan: a
provision was incorporated yine
| th.t England was not required 10
fight alongside of Japan II the latter
| country made war against any couh
| try with which Great e.ain M nar,u d.us
arbitration treaty. In the early Gays
this exception was considered a sop
TO American opinion. and nobody IN
| official circles had any fears OF an
Anglo Japanese naval combination
against America in wartime.
Viewed ms F1fGDf8nOs
Rut since the original Anglo.
Japanese alliance was written IN 1s01
MANY things have occurred, notably
| the European war. Various parts Of
! the British empire which had there
! tofore allowed London a free hand IN
making foreign policy for the whole
empire awoke to q national con-
| seriousness. +.o
When thousands of young men, the
flower of a nation, are sacrlhced on
the field Of battle for the preserva-
| ton of an imperial government geo,
graphically distant from the bereaFeo
! homes a spirit of interest develops at
once. Canada had lost IN sTea.e ss
proportion than did the United
States; Australia's brave troops were
moved down at Gallipoli and on the
western front. Small wonder that
the various British dominions rose
up and demanded voice in foreign
tpolicy-in the moves that might ieao
| to a future war.
! Since the dominions were given
representation in the assembly of the
league of nations they have peen
taking a deep interest in the Iorelgn
policy of the British empire. For one
! thing, Australia's alert statesman,
iPremier Hughes, has been interested
naturally in what islands in the "a.
cific were awarded to Japan. what
was to happen to former German
colonies under the system of man.
dates or trusteeships set up by the
Paris conference as a sort Of substi-
! tute for direct annexation OF terrl-
tory Friction has developed since
| the Paris conference over the Gastri.
button Of those islanas-the United
States. for instance, declining 70
recognize Japans right over the am
portant island of Yap. which controls
cable communication between Cali
| fornia and the far east.
Decision Plenses America.
J Australia isn't anxious to see Japan
grow more and more dominant in the
Pacific Western Canada. which has
received many Japanese immigrants
has virtually the same attitude To-
ward the assimilation of Japanese
with Anglo -Saxons as have the people
of California New Zealand thinks
about the same as Australia. IT was
a stormy session which the British
! government had with the dominion
premiers. Opposition to the renewal
Of the Anglo-Japanese alliance was
iunmistakable. America took no part.
but our government was happy to see
the thing develop in just that way:
THE Canadian premier pointed OUT
again and again that the Anglo .,
friendship with the United States.
/ Meanwhile series of strange
newspaper stories emanating from
iLondon came steadily to the Ameri-
can press, giving the impression that,
and the Washington government were
consulting each other about the
iAnglo-Japanese alliance and that. of
course it was going to be renewed
with the knowledge and consent of
the United States. Just who was re-
sponsib1e for the spread of that i'm
preston nobody here knows.
| But the American officials nipped
the thing in the bud. They made it
plain in many ways that, the British
government had not discussed the
matter at all, and that so far as this
| government was concerned it had
neither sought nor been given any
information about the Anglo-Japanese
alliance by the British government
Anyway. the objections to a re-
newai Of the Anglo-Japanese alliance
began to accumulate on all sides.
Stripped Of technicalities, renewal
Of the alliance. meant to the United
Estates a working partnership between
England and Japan in peacetime:
whereby Englands talents in naval
would be absolutely at the disposal of
the Japanese. 1t is true that. in war
time England would be obliged to
remain neutral. but the last European
war showed what the difficulties of
neutrality can be and how "benevo-
into practical help. Furthermore. the
British dominions couldn't bear to see
their central government working in
such close relationship with the Japa-
! nese. who in other parts of the world
were in constant conflict with the
people Of the British dominions.
Showdown Inevitable.
The words Of the Anglo-Japanese
alliance were vague and general, yet
the Interpretation placed on that alli-
ance by the japanese military lead
ers and statesmen became far from
vague. The truth is the British busi-
ness men of China in a formal state
ment expressed exactly the viewpoint
Of America when they urged that the
jAnglo-Japanese alliance be not re-
newed, because it had only served
as menacing stimulant to Japanese
political and commercial aggression
| In the Pacific and far east.
! Thus we have had British citizens
in the far east against the Anglo
Japanese alliance, an Australian
premier expressing lukewarm support
for it, while his people were openly
antagonistic, Canada boldly pro-
claiming her hostility to the idea.
and the British government in Lon
don assuring Japan on the one hand
of her faith in the alliance and
America on the other her permanent
friendship. The showdown has be-
come inevitable. -,
| Copyright. 1921. BY the Evening start y