South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1921-02-20
Shall We Permit japanese
To Colonize Mexico? Query
By Professor At Columbia

He adduces many facts 10 show
that nearly all experts believe to-
day that japan is nearly impreg-
nable. Yet:
"All this need not terrify Us IN
this Japanese crisis. For happily,
the converse of this predicament is
equally true. Japan could not wage
a successful war with the United
States on our own ground. To at
tack the California cost with the
lea OF landing and holding 1t
would require so times as many men
and so times as much material as
Japan would need for taking all
eastern Siberia. which is immeas-
urably more valuable TO her than
or whole Pacific coast" And
gain. In view OF our immense
military and naval expansion since
1917. all thought Of invasion has
become imbecile. Probably the fivs
strongest foreign powers acting in
perfect accord could not successfully
assault US today, and nobody knows
this better than the japanese mill
tary leaders"
He. therefore. characteriZes the
military side Of the situation as The
Great Deadlock"
Having shown each nation leashed
so long as common sense shall pre-
vail, he goes on 10 examine the IN
derlying causes of irritation.
Population Is Problem.
Z - -
need of land in which TO expand he
declares to be so vital, so extreme,
as TO have the menace Of a natural
force, to confine which is TO invite
an explosion of incalculable destruc-
tiveness. lie reminds us that
though there may be some triiing
amount of poor and therefore
sparsely settled land in Japan. there
are $500 souls to the livable square
mile. pays his respects to the pol
/ lyanna school OF experts" who reckon
arabic land by calculating square
miles from q map. and concludes
/ that Japanese pressure TO expand is
more justified. though not less dan
gerous, than mere ambitious imper-
iausm. They need room for expan-
sion badly; but they rose into power
late. when the grabbing was almost
done. the grabbers respectful BILE, their
| possessions sacred. But they can
| not be allowed TO upset the whole
globe in getting what they need
and they won't be. unless the nations
older in world power refuse TO face
the problem. Prof. Pitkin does not
believe in the yellow peril" as a
menace OF white civilization: his
reasons are interesting. but difficult
to summarize here.
He refutes the Sentimentalists
who remind us that the "Japs" are
so polite and clean and work so hard
we ought not TO object TO them
among US; he completely rejects the
implication, so often heard, that
California has only "a case OF
nerves" The japanese (by their
virtues and misfortunes rather than
their faults; by reason of their ex-
IRENE industry and their fearfully
low standard of living) are not only
a menace to California but menace
TO all America, and 10 Americas
standard OF living. He shows that
the apparently Insignificant number
of the japanese in this country by
TO means represents the actual and
potential economic menace. The
bars should go up. not down. he says
No "gentlemen's agreement" nor any
other arrangement should permit
lmore japanese of the laboring classe!
TO enter
He warns the fact-oblivious optim
lists that there is no time in which
TO let things drift. Affairs between
the United States and Japan are il
such a precarious posture that, tn,
psychological factors being ever *
little disarranged, the Vladivostol
incident" might have meant war
If we do not have a policy, he is Ger
tain we shall have war.
Makes Fear-Rcaching Proposal.
| Prof. Pitkin has definite, concrete
far-reaching proposals to make. SOM,
of which are so dependent upon tn,
little-realized facts he adduces in hi:
Inew book, Must We Fight Japan p
that it is hardly fair 20 state then
apart from this closely reasoned
carefully considered background
But. however startling his proposals
they are evidently the result of mucI
investigation.
About year ago Prof Pitkir
began TO look into the California
japanese problem in connection witt
some magazine articles he had In
mind. The deeper he went into tn,
matter the more he was convinced
first, that there was hardly a wore
written on the subject which wa.
not tainted with pro- or anti-Japan
csc propaganda; and, second, thai
the situation was intrinsically NOR,
dangerous than people at large ever
suspect. We all know. of course
that there have been student dem
onstratiOns against us in Japan. anC
that Japanese college students hav,
debated the question. Shall We De.
clare War on the United States p
But Prof. Pitkin also calls attention
TO the fact that Japanese naval of
Ulcers are telling their men the United
States is jealous Of Japan's power
and prosperity, that therefore we in.
suit their honor in the California
exclusion act-and then asking what
they are going TO do about it? Thi.