The Washington times., 1932-02-02
By ALBERT H. LA1DLAw

By ALBERT H. LA1DLAW
The specific incident which
has served as Japan's excuse
for her present conquest OF
Manchuria and her attacks
upon Shanghai and Marking
is revealed as virtually identi-
cal with that upon which
Austria, in 1914, based her de-
termination to crush Serbia,
Austria made the murder Of an
archduke at Sarajevo her ex-
cuse. Japan's casus belh hangs
on an even slenderer thread
murder, to be sure, but that OF
q lesser parsonage.
The assassination Of a certain
Captain Nakamura was JapanS
cue for her initial military step
in Manchuria last September 10.
TokyO's "Secret Funds"
Nakamura was slain in Mon
golia. He had q false passport
and $4,000. The possession OF
neither the fraudulent passport
nor the $4,000 has been eX-
planned. If reiterated charges made
Sby the Chinese authorities are
true, the money was part OF the
Tokyo army'S secret funds"
urged five years ago by Premier
Tanaka.
The Seiyukai Party is the
''blood and iron" militarist party,
always conducting affairs hand
finland with the Army and
Navy. The Seiyukai is running
things now in Tokyo and to the
.Nakamura incident may be at
tributed, in some measure, the
party's reascendancy last Decem-
ber 13. :
MinSeito Cabinet Falls
A spectacular military funeral
. for Nakamura was made %e occa.
sion for stirring the patriotism Of
the Japanese people and damnlng
the weakness" of the Minseito
cabinet headed by Premier Wakat.
Suki and including, as foreign
minister, Baron Shidehara.
Over the protests of Kakatsuki,
Shidehara, and others of the Min
seito party, the military campaign
proceeded in Manchuria.
All the Minseito government
could do was hinder and protest
and plead for calm and caution.
And these, failing, led only to the
cabinets overthrow and the es-
tablishrnent Of unity between gov
ernment anI military by the pres
ent milita-'St set-::p headed by the
aged Premier Ki Inukai, president
Of the Seiyukai.
Meanwhile, since September 18,
the reinforced Japanese army in
Manchuria has waged its cam
paign north and south. It now
seeks control at Hardin while the
navy spreads terror in the treaty
port Of Shanghai and shells the
Nationalist capital city of Nan.
king.
Leagues Futile Phrases
The League voiced its objections
from Geneva almost at the outset,
and has repeated them often.
The same is to be said of Mr..
Stimson, whose numerous protests
to Tokyo have been based upon
provisions Of the nine-power
treaty of Washington and the
Kellogg-Briand peace pact.
To all these objections, the Japa-
neSe have replied promptly and
gently, but firmly.
China Shows Cunning
Not the murder of a japanese
captain, not chasing bandits"
but the ambitions, and needs of a
nation bursting with population
that has little or no place to go
are at the root Of this Nipponese
warfare, according to the Chinese
view. and, more automatically ex.
pressed. it Is also the view of the
League OF Nations and Mr.. Stim-
son.
But while Mr.. Stimson is power.
less to do very much more about
1t than he already has done, and
while the members of the League
listen vainly for the dove Of
peace to twitter the Japanese
march on.
And China, sensing that the
worst can be little worse than it
Is, manifests her Oriental cum
ming. declines to declare war,
and again touches the League of
Nations on its note.writing arm
an arm now weighted down by
the sack it holds,