South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1921-02-20

fTOl- W dlLeE D Elkklus a5etNLa y
professor OF Journalism at the School
Of Journalism OF Columbia uni
versity, has been digging into the
facts surrounding the California
japanese question. he has turned
up some startling information, and
makes some strikingly unusual
proposals for dealing with them in
book Of his which The Century Co.
has just published entitled, Must
We Fight Japan"
The first impact Of his ideas is
likely TO cause a rather severe
shock; he says that Japan, in spite
OF our vastly superior navy, is abso-
lutely impregnable 20 any serious
invasion by US, and secure against a
ly on the authority OF documents in
our war department at Washington.
He quotes Admiral Fletcher.
"An unbroken chain OF islands
extending from Kamchatka TO
the tropics completely dominates the
maritime approaches to the northern
provinces of China, TO Korea, and
20 Asiatic Russia. The naval station
OF Tsuhshima commands the passage
between Klusin and Korea. and cuts
the communications between Port
Arthur and Vladivostok. The Pes
cadores, which contain some very
good harbors. control the Formosa
channel and the routes 10 Shanghai
from Europe. The harbors and
naval stations Of Japan herself are
among the finest in the world; her
important seaside cites are situated
on bays and fjords whose entrances
can be mined and fortified; they are
so we'll defended by nature and de-
! sign that in time Of war almost the
whole Of the Japanese navy could
be made available for offensive op-
erations abroad without serious anx-
iety for the safety of her homeland
Difficulties We Face.
or the difficulties which we should
\ face In sending an expeditionary
force more than $4,000 miles from
home. he says;
Japan is twice as far from
Americas ultimate base Of supplies
as Germany is. hence. on the most
conservative basis of estimating such
matters. Japan would be four times
as difficult 20 attack on her own
ground as Germany would be.
IF it took $4,000 British soldiers
TO conquer $1,000 Beers who had no
navy at all it would take at least as
many Americans TO defeat every
$1,000 japanese protected on their
own ground by a modern navy and
the most highly organized militarism
in the world.
LAS Japan would easily put an
army of 100000 in the field for
a defensive war. the United States
would have 10 send against her
eventually an army at least &c times
as large as the British sent against
the Beers That would mean an
American expeditionary force of q
mere 5S,740,000 men.
I'm one sense. OF course, such
arithmetic is ludicroUs. But il gains
sober significance when considered
in the light OF the facts adduced by
japanese military authorities IN
NAlGAl dtAttASt VI AAAt tAll PA4 = ltlLod
- send troops to the French front
during the World war The simpl,
evidence as TO difficulties and cost.
OF transportation was quite enough
to convince any fair critic that tn,
Japanese were wholly in the right
We should need. then. close on 81
million men. How many could W.
actually move and maintain undel
the circumstances?
"On paper" says Pitkin. "wt
possessed on Oct. 1, 1920. the i'm
mense array Of 3.4O4 vessels of NOR,
than $50 lightweight tons. totallinl
16.91s.212 tons. a stupendous fleet
you may say with pride. But sup
pose every ship in il could be in
stantly put into transport service, Il
move and TO feed ar army any
where west of Guam, be it the Phil
ippines, China, Korea, or Japan
The supposiuon is ridiculous,
know, but let it pass for argument
sake. What sort of an army coulC
we maintain at that ranger
Our Anu-Jhp Fighting Force.
Precisely $4,000 menl Not on,
more!"
The cost. too. would be stagger
ing. supposing the American peOpl,
could. in a few years. be propagan
died to a point where they would
permit the undertaking.
Prof. Pitkin reminds US. on thi
head. that "the military history o
the Boer war. the Herero rebellion
in German Southwest Africa, til,
Russo-Japanese war, our own cam
paign In the Philippines, the CALI
poli expedition. and the World wa
in general all prove unmistakabl!
one great fact: they prove that NJ
war carried on at long range car
get under way in much less than
year and such a war requires at tn,
very least another year or two {,
reach some decision. Army anC
navy officers with whom I have dis
cussed the matter are convinced
from their recent experiences, tina
a Far Eastern war. once seriousl,
undertaken, would have TO run OF
for at least three years in order q
get definite military results. Tha
would mean a new war debt o.
something like 40 or so billions To-
US TO carry"