Evening star., 1933-01-15
ISLANDS REPORTED
FORT|F|EDBy JAPAN
Construction of Naval Bases
: in Mandated Territory Is
Charged.
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.

ebe1Qre the board OF DIRECTORS Ol t!l
General Federation of Women's CLUB
sinere this week, discussed the question
sof mandates, which is Of partlcula
Interest to the United States at tn
spresent moment.
While Mr.. Murray discussed princi
spally the IA" mandates, that is to say
NthoSe concerning the territories for'
merly under the rule of the Turkish
Empire. such as Iraq, Trans-Jordania
Palestine and Syria, he touched upoI
@the general question or America
right to take a direct interest in th'
manner in which the nations entrusted
swith mandates discharge their obliga
@~tions.
The American Government has from
the very beginning taken the stand that
lit had a right to be consulted VIII
respect to the terms of the mandates
This right comes from the fact tha
@the mandates were obtained by the va
srious powers as a result of the Worlc
WAR. AS a participant in that conflict
sand as an important contributor to tht
final victory of the allies, the Amerl-
acan Government held that 1t could MOI
be debarred from the discussion o
sany of its consequences or from par
Eticipation in the rights and priv
leges secured under the mandates pro-
svided for in the treaties OF peace.
Z Upheld by Council.
This point of view, while challenged
In 1921 by Great Britain, was upheld
sby the Council of the League OF Ma
stions in the same year. The president
@of the Council stated that, since tine
united States was one of the leading
in a.
stions for peace, the rights which 1t &C
.Quired are not likely to be challenged
in any quarter"
The United States found it necessary
to assert her rights when in 1921 1t
appeared that Great Britain intended
to take over all the important Mesopo-
stamian oil fields, without considering
the rights of the American companies
an those fields. The point of view OF
the American Government was that
sAmerica helped the allies obtain a VIC
tory over the central powers and this
country did not ask for any territorial
advantages, which went all to the other
uallies. Consequently, America had an
sactual right to see that the interests
sof her nationals in these various terri
stories taken away nam the former
&enemieS. were at least not injured.
(which is likely to provoke heated 0is-
Illusions. That is the question of the
Pacific islands which we're allotted tc
Japan after the war. These islands are
aknown under the name of the groups
sof Marianne, Caroline and Marshall
sand are situated not far from the
philippines, and some 1900 miles from
lHwaii.
. Entrusted as &C" Mandates.
y They were entrusted to the care of
Japan under what was called a &C.
mandate According to the terms of
sthe mandates, class .'Cp' includes those
Territories which can be best admin
aistsred under the laws Of the manda-
tory as integral portions of its terri
tories, subject to the safeguards in the
J5ntereSt5 OF the indigenous population. -
Among these safeguards to which ref
eerence is made are prevention OF
building Notifications, naval and mill
-tary bases and the military training OF
the natives except for police and the
defenSe Of the territpry.''
The League of Nations Is charged
with the control of the execution Of the
terms of the mandates and the manda-
fory nations are requested to present 9
Df the territories under their tutelage.
! But while the League was greatly in
terested in the class "A" and "B" man.
Hates which included large and wealthy
regiorS, only little attention was paid
80 the class &C" mandates.
s Lately, however, especially since Sep
stember 19, 1881, this country has beer
greatly interested over the manner OF
execution of the mandates by the Japa-
pese over the Pacific islands, and some
remarkable facts have come out.
: Fartifcst tiens Are Reported.
According to information which ha:
never been officially confirmed, the Jap.
sanese government, in defiance Of the
restriction put on the Notifications
4of these territories, has proceeded tt
transform them into important nava
bases. The harbors of the islands offel
excellent shelter for submarines, ant
it is said they have been sufficiently
Improved so as to enable a large por-
ton of the Japanese submarine squad
,rons to operate from there. Although
sthe islands are not fertile and only
sscantily inhabited, large Warehouse:
have been set up, and while the build
1ngs themselves are carelessly construct
ed, their foundations are made of con
crete and are so solid that they car
easily serve for gun. emplacements O.
the largest type of guns for coasta
defense
These assertions, while based on re.
liable reports, are not official, because
the japanese have surrounded the is
lands with a Chinese wall" That !:
ito say, the Japanese authorities de
mot permit any foreigner to visit tbs
Islands.
Some three years ago a request wa
made through the State Department
FOR an American gunboat to visit tht
principal island. That request was re-
fused by Toxic under the pretext thai
s,the harbors had not been charted yei
and il would consequently be danger
Gus for any foreign ship to call il
any of the mandated ports. Anothel
request made later for the visit of ar
American official was turned down un.
der the excuse that the Japanese gov
9ernor has not the necessary facilities
to receive with due hoLors q distin.
guiShed American guest.
A third request by the Navy De
partment to the State Department tt
ask the Japanese governments permis-
sion for an American warship to pay
a friendly call was never forwarded
by the State Department because, il
was said, It would be without much
use to meet with another polite re-
buff Thus, while indirectly all kinds
Of disgusting rumors prevail about the
transformation of these inundated is
lands into powerful naval bases, there
can be no official confirmation, be.
cause the Japanese will not permit
anybody to visit them.
Presents Inocuous Reports.
The japanese government naturally
presents its report about the progress
of the mandate territories to the
League of Nations, but those reports
Zeal with the increasing number OF
migratory birds, with the satisfactory
Gevelopment of the population, the
number of schools and other such
flocuouS subjects.
5 Since Japan has, in accordance with
the terms Of the mandate, the right to
treat these territories as integral por-
lions of its own TERRITORY. JanaIlese laws