Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-15
JAPAN TO DEMAND
NATIONAL SECURITY
Differences Expected When
Cruiser and Submarine
Questions Arise.
By FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

Takarabe, distinguished naNal oHlceI
and now imperial minister OF marine
They are tarrying In the Unued states
en- route to Great Britain for the pur-
nose of acuuainting President Hoover
and Secretary Stimson fully and frank
" with the japanese viewpoint on tne
questions which will mainly occupy the
forthcoming five-power conference
In vital respects the japanese pro-
gram conflicts with what the Unlteo
States and Great Britain hold 10 DC
essential if naval limitation and re-
duction are to be accomplished. Japan
demands "a an increase to a 10-lo-'
ratio for lO,OO0-ton cruisers OF the
$3.50 capital-Ship ratio allotted. reSpec-
lively. to the United States. Great
Britain and Japan at the Washington
conference, and ~ substantial ton
mage in submarines, unof1icially stated
to be 10000. Neither America nor
Britain looks with favor upon the in
creased cruiser-ratio plan. Both coun-
tries espouse total abolition of sub
marines.
Upheld in Public Opinion.
Messrs. WakatSuki and Takarabe,
whose fellow delegate at London VIII
be Tsuneo Matsudaira Japanese AM
bassador to the Court of ST. James and
former Ambas sador in Washington. will
not enter the conference i'll defiant
mood. But they will embark their task
in a spirit which can be described. ON
first-hand authority, as definite and
firm in the highest degree. They are
fortified to an unusual extent by Japa-
I1ese public opinion.
Their popular support from their
government and the japanese people,
is comparable to that which backed
the Japanese delegation at the WASH
ington conference of 1922.
Nippon. on the occasion. put forth
one demand, rendered in the name of
the United Empire, viz, retention OF
the new great battleship Mutsu.
Admiral Kato was directed to prevent
I any agreement calling for Scrapplng
of the Mutsu no matter at what cost.
At one time the MutSu threatened to
shipwreck the conference. Kato stood
firm. The ship is now the pride of the
, japanese fleet.
In Name of Security.
Japan will submit her requirements
3 for 10-10-7 cruiser ratio and for a
strong submarine tonnage as an ir-
reducible minimum. 1t will be asked
, in the name of japanese national
Z security. 1t will be curtailed only in
case Great Britain and the United
. States are ready to curtail the number
of their respective cruisers. In other
words. the japanese are ready to re-
duce their cruiser fleet proportionately
as low as the British and Americans
are willing to reduce theirs. But Nip
e pom intends to insist that she shall have
at least 10 per cent as much 10000
ton cruiser strength as each of the two
EngliSh-Speaking powers has.
In capital ships (battleShips. battl .
cruisers and aircraft carrierS), the
I. japanese feet is entitled to only 90
i. per cent as against Britain's and Amer
ica's 100 per cent. Japan wants 10 per
: cent in modern cruisers as against
Z Britain's and Americas 100 per cent
< Nippon's determination to be pos
sessed of a substantial submarine fleet
is at complete variance with the Anglo-
American view. which looks to total
remuneration of the undersea weapon.
i EpitOmizes Program.
This writer, has had access to the
most authoritative and terse statement
of Japan's conference attitude yet to
F.. reach this country. 1t emanates from
Hiroshi Saito, director of the informa-
ton bureau of the Toxic foreign Office,
who is arriving with MesSrs. WakatSuki
and Takarabe and who will be chief
secretary of the. Japanese delegation at
London. Mr.. Saito. on the eve of his
recent departure from Japan, thus
program:
LAS to the attitude Japan will adopt
at London. am scarcely in a position
to anticipate 1t in detail at this mo-
r1ent. But ! may be permitted to sum
up few points that will certainly con-
stitute our cardinal principles at the
conference, First, the realization of the
spirit embodied in the Kellogg BRAND
pact. Secondly, the assurance. of
sense of security in all the nations con-
: cerned, taking into consideration their
special circumstances and position.
Thirdly, the tightening of financial
Based on Treaty.
''That the treaty to outlaw war is the
Searting point Of the forthcoming meet
ing of the five naval powers has been
publicly avowed by the British and
American governments, and Japan has
declared her complete concurrence in
this, as indicated by her reply to the
British invitation.
I'm affixing her seal to the Magma
Charta of peace Japan has shown her
determination, side by side with other
powers that the world shall have no
more war. The first concern of Japan
is the security of the country So long
as that Is assured. so long aS the sense
VI SCNuAAbs 10 AANloIulpCd Tic
OF the people, Japan is prepared to
agree to any formula of naval reduction.
The japanese people have been de-
handing an adequate ratio of naval
strength, including a certain tonnage
OF submarines, solely from the point Of
view of security that no menace to and
from any country shall in future exist.
This should be firmly borne in mind by
the critics Of Japan's stand. Fear and
k1aie
Honi soft qui NAL pense.
Further, our position is aSsuredly
that large reductions ought to be re-
allied. If we are determined that peace
shall be established, it Is meaningless 20
limit the upward rise. There should be
an actual reduction of existing COM
mitments to lowered levels, thus re-
lieving the people from the ponderous
burden of ornaments to the maximum
extent. Thus only can we give legit-
innate satisfaction to the pacific aspira-
tons of the world"
Expects French support.
There is another Japanese contention,
not mentioned in Mr.. Saito's manifesto
viz. that the demand for a l0-l0-7
cruiser ratio is not new" The Japa-
anese declare they have presented the
same proposal at all past naval confer
ences one other development. cur
rently reported in Japan, is that Nippon
expects to have the support of the
French in the japanese cruiser prop
osition. On the other hand, it has just
been cabled from Rome to the United
States that the Italians are going to
London prepared to back the Anglo-
American proposal for abolition Of sub
marines. -.
The Japanese delegates, prior to leav-
ing TOXIC, vehenently caused it to be
known that they have no bargaining"
mission at London-no instructions to