The Washington times., 1922-10-22

4 The Washington arms conference
had not the effect of checking the
onrushing events leading TO an in.
!, evitable clash of arms. II failed not
because the United States. has been
remiss In keeping the spirit and the
letter Of her pledges, not because this
Government has striven to further
l clog tho ,entangle international is
sues or heaped added fuel on the
smouldering flames OF Asia's hates,
But solely because the United States,
In It's blind nobility Of purpose, fail.
ed to correctly estimate the extent
and nature Of the sincerity Of other
/ powers. - d. 80
We must have powerful mer.
chant fleet. the President tells us,
and q. hundred splendid reasons are
offered. Al. yet he has not said we
need this mighty merchant fleet be.
cause we have irreparably destroy ed
OF our navy. The President might
just as well have said as much for
certainly that Is the clearest impli.
cation to be drawn. We have set
our seal TO. the Naval treaty. which,
when France and Italy have ratified
IT, means that to the bottom Of the
seas must go the only surety Amer.
| ican men Of commerce had that this
Nation should compete on fair
basis with other nations for the mar.
kets of the world.
'''., Japanese Trickery.
And all this in the wake of the
Washington Arms Conference whose
doors closed less than q year ago.
And what has happened in the Far
East since the delegates wended
their ways homewards?
Japan is keeping the letter Of her
pledges made at the Washington
Arms Conference but is not keeping
the spirit of her pledges. Failure to
heed the spirit of a sacred promise
vacates the whole worth of the prom.
| ise. '.'
A mighty political struggle is
under way in Japan. Headed by
Admiral Baron Tomasaburo Kato,
the Premier, who also served as
chief OF the Japanese deli cation 10
the Washington Arms Conference,
the Imperial Government OF Japan
is striving by every means known
to government. to swing the foreign
policy Of Japan about in order 10
accomplish by peaceful penetration,
| won by forceful penetration. The
Nipponese dream OF empire has lost
not q whit Of It's former scope;
merely has Il shifted from . hope
to realize Il by economic advance at
the point Of the ba yOnet, to hope
that II may he rea vzed by an eco
n0nic advance by trick diplomacy.
Japan's sincerity may well be chal.
lenged. I shall review In, this article
but few OF the recent acts of Japan
and the cleverness that, each act fair
ly breathed. Briefly enumerated they
4 are: F..a =. t,.F..
Japan has announced her intention
to withdraw her armed force from
Siberia and II appears that she in.
tends to keep her pledge, which
would mean complete, evacuation by
the end of October. But, in with
drawing her troops. Japan has left
behind her.a vast trailing storehouse
of ammunition, guns and other i'm
plements of warfare. These, II Ia
said. are to be. are are now being
distributed among the bandit armies
of Chang.tso-Lin, the Manchurian
war lord and Of General Dieterichs,
the anti-Soviet leader in the Vladi-
vostok sector. -,....., ...,
Her Hold on Shantung.
Japan has pledged herself to retire
! from Shantung, which province she
! tore from the Chinese breast during
the war with Germany and which
she kept by force and later by act
of the Paris peace conference and
with the sanction OF former President
Woodrow Wilson. Japan Is showing
every intention Of keeping her prom
ise of Withdrawing her troops and
administrative control of Shantuug,
but I shall show that In the eight
years she has managed that extreme
ly wealthy key" province OF China,
Japan has sunk her commercial tai.
, ons into it's life so far as to assure
retention Of the economic control Of
Shantung for many decades to come.
Japan has promised to withdraw
all troops from all Chinese soil and
pledged herself not to interfere
in the administration Of the Chinese
provinces unless China proves her.
self unable to maintain order in her
own provinces. thereby endangering
the lives and properties of japanese
nationals. I shall show how Japan
kept her promise and how she saw
| to II at the same time that China
should prove her inability to main!
tain order in her provinces. The
fostering Of anti-foreigner propa-
ganda, the great strides to build
mighty aircraft force, and her new
construction program for warships,
I shall point out in later paragraphs
In support of the charge OF interna;
tional observers that Japan Is not
sincere.
There Is War Already.
spoke VI, war as appearing I'm.
minent in the Orient. AS a matter OF
fact It is already under way. In the
recent clash OF arms between W.T.
Pei.Fu and Chang -Tso Lin. the Chi.
pesc have been tricked into civil
war that enables the deep-thinking
and deep.moving japanese foreign
office. to hring about the final dec.
laration of independence of Man.
churia. In that North China prov.
ince, which teens with an extrava.
rance OF untouched wealth and
whose splendid sweep of fertile val
ieys offers lasting economic'strength
for Japan. the Island Empire has