The Washington times., 1922-02-24

most precisely the same termi-
nology. Hanihara, one OF Japan's
delegates to the conference. Decem-
Der Q, in Washington. Baron kato,
| head OF the Japanese delegation.
made two such declarations here in
press interviews. the first time De-
cember 10, and the second on jan
! uary 4. Foreign Minister Uchida,
before the Diet In Tokyo. two days
before Baron Shidehara's formal
statement before the conference,
made a similar declaration of Jap
anese policy. 1903
So many declarations Of this ma
| ture are taken as Indicative of the
| importance Japan attaches to this
question. From the moment the
terms of the four-power treaty were
| agreed upon she lost no opportunity
| to make clear her claim Of special
interest in the Island Of Saghalin.
! How the Significance of this claim.
when considered in relation to the
! language of the treaty. was over
/ looked, is one of the matters Sen
! ators hoped to discover when the
| Hitchcock resolution asking for the
record OF the conversations on this
! treaty was passed. Since this Is
rotary Hughes will be asked TO APP
pear and give a personal accounting
| of the negotiations.
Meanwhile there is much specula.
ton. One Senator. recalling William
Allen Whites disclosure OF the man.
ner in which former President vii.
son signed away zap to Japan. not
knowing that II was included in a
regional agreement TO which he at.
fixed his signature, suggests that
Secretary Hughes may have been
duped in the same way on Saghalin
island. The fact that II was neCeS.
sary to negotiate a supplementary
declaration, at President Harding 3
behcst, excepting the Japanese home.
lands from the operation of the re-
gional clause In the four-power
| treaty, lends some color to this
theory. Some OF the Senators, how
ever. are inclined to the belief that
the blunder was simply the result of
unskillful trading in the secret nego.
/ tiations preceding the public an
| nounCement Of agreement on the
| treaty.
Japs to Fight Change.
Americans in Washington familiar
representatives of the various Rus.
| sian groups represented here. eX-
press the belief that Japan will re-
fuse TO accept the four-power treaty
If the Senate attaches to IL a rCser.
walton as to Saghalin. A former
high official of this Government, re.
Gently returned from Siberia. unhesi.
tatingly affirms this belief. declaring
hn of 10 n
settled point of japanese policy. He
has placed a mass of documentary
evidence substantiating his view.
point at the disposition OF Senator
Borah. who has brought it to the at.
tention of the Foreign Relations com.
mittee.
The probable effect of the four.
power treaty in confirming the Jap
lnese in their possession OF Saghalin
island was first exposed in a series OF
copyright articles by this writer in
The Washington Times and other
papers during last December. The
matter was brought to the attention
If Senator Johnson Immediately upon
his return from California to the
'apital late in January and his &C.
lion yesterday is the result of his
Investigations Of the subject since
hat time.
The strategic value of Saghalin
Island has long been recognized. The
position of the United States would
he somewhat analogous TO that of
Siberia, with this territory in Japan's
possession. II Long Island were six
hundred miles in length, swung
around so that II blanketed the At
Ia ntiC coast from the Hudzon river to
Savannah. Ga, and were in the pos
session of some foreign, possibly, an
enemy, power.
1t was a bone of contention at
Portsmouth when Japan and Rus.
ria, at the interposition OF the idte
Theodore Roosevelt, making the
treaty of peace which closed the Rus
so-Japanese war. Japan then want
ed Russia to cede her the island. The
astute Count Witte, Russia's chief
representative at that conference,
baked, and, after securing the in.
formal support of Roosevelt. COM
promised the mater by ceding to
Japan the southern half Of the island,
which, in 1875, had been traded to
Russia by Japan in exchange for
Russia's claims in the Kurile islands,
stretching northward from Japan
proper to the Siberian Strait.
Meant Asiatic Control.
1t was contended at that time that
Japan's possession of the northern
half of the island not only would give
her absolute command of the Amur
river, a waterway as important to
the development of Siberia, Man.
Churia and Mongolia as has been the
Mississippi to the development of our
own Middle West, even then would
give Japan Asiatic control of the
Asiatic coast from the Okhostk to
the Yellow Sea.
With Japan's acquisitions since
that time, and the development of
long.range artillery, Japan's posses.
sion of this territory now would
place every sea approach to $4,000
miles of the Asiatic coast line,
within range of guns on land forti-
fications built on her own soil.
While the strategic value of the
territory has long been admitted,
it's intrinsic value has been recog.
nized only in recent years. A
Japanese official estimate of 1915
placed the value OF the timber on
the lower half Of the island at
$50 ,O0O, 900, and that of the upper
LoH ht.h.r naalnniata