Evening star., 1934-05-06

for The Sunday Star by J. Scott williams.
would be the cynical disregard Of
treaties, the purely selfish destruction
of the rights of other nations.
I heard man say, with the usual
exaggeration of aphoriSm: THE diff
ference between China and Japan is
that China has adopted all the worst
| qualities of Western civilization and
Japan all the best" If Japan should
calmly break the provisions OF the
treaties by which it, like other ma
tions, is bound, one would have to
admit that Japan had failed to grasp
the vital fact that respect for the
| pledged word is one of the most i'm
portant bases of Western civilization.
AS lifelong friend of Japan, hope
this may not prove to be the case
But if the worst fears of the pessi-
mists should prove true. if Japan
| should make the incredibly foolish
mistake Of announcing a doctrine
which would be an insult to all ma
tions having interests in the Far East
and a flag of fear to all others, what
| are we going to do about it? We
must remember that we are not
wholly free of blame. In the nine
power treaty We insisted on the sensi-
BILE things. the continuation Of the
policy of the open door, the integrity
of China, and we subscribed along
with these sensible things to the
theory that we we're dealing in China
with a regenerated people who would
so scrupulously fulfill all their in
ternational obligations that the whole
world would be better for watching
them.
Suffered in Patience.
China since that time has broken
every obligation it undertook, except
payment Of the Boxer indemnity, and
We have done nothing whatever about
it. The japanese suffered in patience
until the military ran away with them
in Manchuria and put Japan in the
wrong. Is it wholly surprising that
the Japanese government should say
Nobody else takes any steps to make
China put its own house in order
therefore we must do it ourselves"
Such an attitude seems to me, if not
defensible, at least wholly under
standable. I do not agree with the
many who say that the announce.
ment of the new doctrine means that
the military is again in control. II
sounds so much more like a foreign
office memorandum which probably
should not have been written, ano
certainly should not have been pub
lished.
But if it proves to be the deter
mined japanese policy can only re-
peat the question. What are We going
to do about it?" The first part OF
the answer is obviously to employ
diplomatic methods so efficient that
we cannot possibly be segregated from
the rest of the world and put ir
the position of being the one ad-
versary of Japan. The next ster
might be, if the japanese policy is
officially communicated to other ma.
tions. a joint declaration to Japan
by all the nations of the world that
We expect the observance of treaty
obligations and the maintenance oi
equality of trade for ala declaration
which certainly should not be inspired
by the United States. To this Japan
would agree. Danger Of very serious
misunderstanding would then arise
only if Japan attempted to interfere
with legitimate trade, which is un-
likely.
Dull Program Only Safe One.
This seems a dull program. It has
little romance and less glory. Even as
I write these words our Government
may be moving in the matter. I hope
not, because this dull program is the
only safe one. We have no idea what
has been going on behind the scenes
China strenuouSly denies that any
agreement with Japan is in sight, but
this means nothing whatever. We
have no idea what lies behind the
stream of propaganda issuing from
Moscow. Instead of the much talked
of war there may well be in process
of incubation complete and friendly
understanding between Japan ano
the Soviet.
Some such program, furthermore, Is
a peace program. Because of our long
tradition of friendship with China, we
should be sorry to see her independ-
ence diminished from any source-but
We should not go to war about it. You
do not cure lesser evil by a greater
In fact, unless the Philippines should
be attacked, or unless there should be
a massacre of American citizens in the
Orient, there is nothing whatever that
should induce us to get into war in
that part of the world. Our theorists
say that the Kellogg pact has made
neutrality no longer possible. I do not
believe it-and neither does Mr.. Kel-
logg-but if it were true, I should
rather discard the pact than give ur
our right to neutrality.
Japan is incomparably the strong.
est nation in the Western Pacific. II
suffers today under a plague OF
chauvinism and has suddenly, there
fore, become a menace to the peace
of the world. That menace can be
removed only through infinite pa
tience, by holding fast, on our part
to the friendship which began 80
years ago.
If Japan and America should per-
init other nations to force them into
a silly and utterly useless war for any
reason whatsoever the world would be
set back a generation. To hold fast
to our friendship with Japan is not
to desert China. Rather should 1t help
to bring China and Japan together
And until those two nations, one
splendid through its traditions, its size,
its potential power, although now
utterly disorganized; the other splen-
did through its patriotism, its nervous
force, its vigor in action, although
now that action seems often mis-
directed-until these two nations come
together there can be no assured peace
In the Orient.