The Washington herald., 1921-07-31
Il her British. French Nor Italians Are IN Any Mood Ia
Participate IN Contest for Supremacy.
Conference SisnikeanL
By FRANK H. sIMoNDS.


American invitation to. the naval powers and
- China to attend conference at Washington
has fairly plainly demonstrated that far as the
question Of the limitation Of naval armaments Is
cerned Is certain 1t Is patent that the Brit
l<h, a. well as the French and Italians, are in
mood or condition participate in for naval
supremacy II Is equally plain that there is feel
ing In any of the countries which would provoke
race with the United States
So far as Europe is concerned-and in Europe
Great Britain, the supreme naval power, Is the de-
fisiye factor friendship for the United States quite
as much as financial conditions at home, argue for
"A agreement with u.s. which will eliminate naval
penditures Of disastrous size. Nor is the Japanese
situation on the financial side different Nothing is
clearer than that Japan cannot afford to make the
with us in the construction Of ships and as
consequence. is prepared to meet world views and
American views on this subject
\ T is when one turns to the problem Of the Pacific
that the sky Is less clear. The situation here is
simply put. To begin with: Three successful
wars have given Japan a position in the Far East
wholly comparable to that achieved the continent
of Europe by Germany, that is by Prussia first and
Germany later as result of the three wars she
provoked IN the last CENTURY Today Japan has moth
ing to fear far as her position in the Far East is
concerned. save she may be faced either by the
United States alone BY the United States as one
Of coalition of nations, all pursuing common
policy
But it is Of utmost importance to understand
what the Japanese position is, if to approach
the question Of the Pacific inteligentiy Here one is
confronted not as is suggested by many commen-.
tators with the issue Of pure imperialism or of mere
mtarism but by economic issues. which are of far
graver character II is not fundamentally question,
so far as Japan is concerned of pursuing power,
whatever may be the element Of ambition in the st-,
alton The fact is that to live. Japan must dominate
the Far East commerciaily-and to dominate it COM
mercally involves military questions.
n the present moment over 100000 Japanese
~ live on an area less than two thirds great
as that which occupied by more than 65,-
100000 Germans at the moment the world war broke.
Roughly speaking this area is 10000 square miles,
three times that of the State of New York In ad-
dition, Japan has acquired the island of Formosa
from China and annexed the Kingdom Of Korea, but
these two possessions, with combined of less
than 10000 square miles. have native non-J Japanese
population of more than 100000 They are more
densely populated than France.
Now this enormous population cannot be main
tanned on the land. Japan. like Great Britain like
Germany, only feed its home population by send
ing abroad manufactured articles to pay for the food
it must import Each year Japan alone, adds three
quarters of million to its home population and
consequence, each year the problem becomes
and acute This, measureably the situation
Of Germany before the world war.
The question of immigration, much discussed,
Is only relatively important Japan could not, ns any
event. send her surplus population to the United
States The question of Japanese immigration in the
United States is morally vital, because, refuse
japanese immigrants while admitting those coming
from other nations, we establish discrimination
which is obviously intolerable to a proud people.
grown nationally sef-conscious by reason of great
achievements in recent years.
WyHAT Japan must have. if she is to continue
M as a great power, IL she is not to be stiAed
by her own increase in population is
market In reality, she must be the factory for
the Far East She only be this il she is able to
establish and maintain special position in China and
IN Siberia, but China Is by far the important.
Given supremacy in the Chinese market, which must
IN the next half century undergo an enormous