The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1925-07-29
Hands Across the Pacific


yNTAY down yonder in antipodean Aus
Wv tralia something is going on that
ought 10 mean much for the peace and
happiness of the world
The United States fleet, in its long
practice cruise, has now reached Mel
bourne and Sydney and our soldiers and
airmen are fraterniztng with the Britons
of the South Seas.
Fifteen banquetS and luncheons, 80
dances, 9 smokers, 20 picture shows, II
sports contests and theatre parties are
scheduled for Melbourne TO keep officers
and men busy and happy" says the
United Press. And" it adds, Sydney
has arranged similar program"
The Japanese are trying to make SEN
sation out of all this. For reasons of
their own, they are picturing the Aus
tralian cruise and enthusiastic reception
of our men down there rs the first move
toward an anti-ASiatic league. Great
Britain's Singapore naval base project is
being linked up with the Australian do
ings, and throughout the Far East they
are preaching ''the white peril"
The Japanese press, almost without eX-
ception, pretends to see the United States,
Canada, Australia and all Britain in an
imperialistic combine against the yellow
races if not the rest of the world.
This is either stupidity or craft applied
with purpose. There is, to be sure, an
Anglo-American understanding, unoffi-
cial. unwritten, and to large extent, I'M
spoken. And somehow this is growing
with the years But such understanding
as there is, is for peace and not for ag-
gression.
Wherever one may travel, particularly
in the Orient, one cannot escape the feel
ing that mankind's hope of peace and I'M
derstandng rests largely upon the shout
ders of the English-speaking world And
we are increasingly mindful of this, Brit
ons and Americans everywhere.
There is no menace to Japan, nor TO
any other nation, in this new manifesto
ton of Anglo-American friendship. Yo-
kohama is 1875 miles from Sydney, $500
miles from the United States, 1920 miles
from Honolulu and 3,039 miles from
Singapore. The combined British and
American navies could not wage an ag-
gressive war against far-off Japan with
any degree of certainty of getting away
with it.
Had we any designs on Japan whatso-
ever, the washington COHleleHCe "uuiu
never have taken place and the mightiest
navy on earth that we were at that time
building, today would be making the foam
fly from one end of the Pacific to the
other. And Guam and Cavite would now
be bristling Gibraltars.
To Japan we would sincerely suggest
careful reading of what the Australian
Prime Minister, the distinguished Mr..
Bruce, said in his speech of welcome to
the American visitors:
1.-THE great Republic of the United
States and the Commonwealth of Aus
tralia," he declared, stand for the same
ideals and the same traditions. Facing
similar problems under vastly different
circumstances, both desire maintenance
of the worlds peace and the limitation of
the burden of ornaments"
Painfully race-conscious, and fright
fully sensitive, Japan, we regret to say,
is too inclined to wear a chip on her
shoulder. So Premier Bruce's words
were particularly applicable to her when
he said:
1.-THE future prosperity and peace of
all countries bordering on the Pacific is
best assured by mutual intercourse, un-
derstanding and sympathy"
Let's remember this-all of u.s.