Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1922-11-09


the disarmament obligations resting
upon that country lnder the arms con-
ference treaties. Rumors that Japan
would pretend to obey the treaties
while secretly preparing for war are
denounced by Senator Weller as mere
Pigments of the Imagination.
Japan is playing the game on the
level, he declared. "She is living in
accord with these treaties, in spirit
and in letter."
Senator Weller is an old navy man.
He was graduated from the United
States naval academy with the class
of 1881. AS an expert he is qualified
to pass an opinion on Japan's faithful
ness in carrying out the navy scrap
ping pact.
In a long time have not been so
impressed" he said, "as | was by the
steps I saw Japan taking to carry
out the terms of the naval treaty. 1t
has been 40 years since | left the navy,
but think / still have an eye for ships
and the things that are done to ships,
and Japan is doing things to the ships
of her new navy that brought me up
standing.
'We were going down through the
Sea of Japan from Yokohoma to Ma
gasaki when we passed a great battle
ship being towed by two tugs. She was
new. / made inquiry about her and
was told that she was a sister ship of
the Mitsui, or the Mutsu, as she was
called in Washington, during the con-
ference-the boat the Japanese had
completed and made the fight to keep.
This great sister ship was being towed
away to be scrapped
Huge Mansu to Be scrapped.
"And in Nagasaki / received even
! more impressive testimony as to what
had been accomplished by the naval
treaty. Lying in the harbor was the
Mansu. She was the most wicked
looking fighting ship had ever seen.
| did not ascertain her exact size, but
we judged her to be between 800 and
900 feet long, and was told that she
was 5000 tons bigger than the Mitsui,
or Mutsu. Admiral Uriu of the Japa-
nese navy, my classmate at the United.
States Naval academy, told me that
she, too, was destined to be scrapped.
1t was hard to realize.
81 am just as clear and positive in
my judgment that Japan is living
faithfully to the terms and spirit of
other treaties as I'm hat she is carry
ing out the provisions of the naval
treaty. / have said before, and I re-
peat it, that Japan will get out of ST.
IBERIA, will get out Of China and will
get out of the Sakhalien islands. She
is virtually out of continental Siberia
now.
"There are two forces at work,
think, in leading Japan in the direction
shesis going" the senator went on.
"The first and more obvious one is the
premiership of Admiral Baron Kato.
He was the head of the japanese dele
cation to the Washington conference.
He carried the major responsibility for
Japan's agreement tn the treaties writ
ten in the conference He stands for
faithful adherence to them by Japan,
I believe he maintains that stand not
alone because he thinks it is the polite
course, but because he thinks it is the
right course. The universal judgment
OF Kato in Japan is that he is honest
and sincere.
People Are for the Treaties.
'But deeper than the influence of
Baron Kato is the influence Of the
masses OF the people in Japan. That
influence is favorable to the purposes
sought in the treaties. If Kato were
not premier the government in Japan
would be compelled to follow the
course that Kato is following although
possibly with not the same zeal or abil-
ity. The government could not fail to
take account of the spirit OF the
masses. It is a vital force that cannot
be ignored.
"The principal cause of this popular
sentiment for the treaties and for the
policies of peace is the burden of
taxes on the backs of the Japanese
people and their realization that real
prosperity is not to be found in war.
Japan has had an experience similar
to ours. Far removed from the zone of
actual conflict, she enjoyed a period
of hectic prosperity. Then came peace,
defation, stagnation and at last,
sickening realization that the bubble
was really burst and that laborious
work and deprivation were ahead 1t
was harder for Japan, If anything,
than it was for us. She cherished
little longer than we did the dream that
the war prosperity was real. And she
lacked the richness of material re-
sources that we had to fall back on.
She had less to fall on than we, when
the collapse came.
"Her people are learning the lesson.
They want to get away from policies
that lead to war. They want peace
and chance to produce, without hav-
ing most of what they produce taken
for taxes to pay war COSTS"
New Phase opens in Art.