Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1934-12-06
INTERNATIONAL
NEWS REVIEW
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Germany might as well reverse the
question and direct it to a France
which while talking about peace all
the time is spending ever more bill
lions on preparations for warfare.
Case of Japan.
With respect to Japan the situa-
ton is somewhat similar, for the
United States and Great Britain main
tain that they have the right to in
sist that the size of the Japanese
navy remain as inferior to that of the
American and the British navies as
they are now. Japan does not accept
this viewpoint, in fact, her leading
statesmen have during the last few
days definitely stated that it repre-
sents a humiliation which a great
and proud nation must resent
The upshot of the futile naval ne
gotiations going on at London is the
decision of Japan to denounce the
Washington treaty of 1922 and the
London treaty of 1890; that will mean
that as soon as the denunciation takes
effective years hence-Japan will
build navy to suit her own conven-
fence and supposed needs.
Divergent Attitudes.
One may sum up the whole chaotic
situation in a few words: France,
Great Britain and Italy claim the
right to arm, on land and sea and in
the air, to the very limit of their
ability. Germany believes that all
fighting forces should be limited in
size, at the same time asserting that
as long as the other powers are arm
ing excessively, Germany should have
that same right. Germany wants a
Europe of small armies, but they
should be of almost equal size. The
others want big armies--in order to
cow one nation, practically unarmed
into continued submission.
Likewise with regard to Japan
whose thesis is that all navies ought
to be much smaller than now, but
that Japan's own should not be in
ferior to other navies.
If for no other reason, then for
purely economic reasons, Germany
and Japan insist on practical and
real disarmament. That desire ex-
lists, as far as one can learn by study
ing the developments from day to day,
nowhere among the greater powers.
Assassination.
Quite q ,o,ye,,o,or eonrot;oo uoc
created the other day when it was
learned that Sergei Mironovich Kir-
off, high in the councils of Soviet Rus
STA and it's communistic government
party, had been shot to death at
Leningrad. His name had hitherto
been practically unknown outside
Russia and the only apparent reason
why, for instance, American daily
papers conspicuously headlined the
assassination may be the infrequency
of this kind of murder in Russia. It
was the first killing of high official
in that country since 1918.
The perpetrator of the crime was
LeOnid Nicolaieff, seemingly a dis
gruntled party member with some
personal grievance against Kiroff.
Authorities at Moscow are proceeding
on the theory that he may have been
member of a conspiracy, but so far
no direct evidence to that effect has
been revealed.
In the meantime a rumOr has it
that the murderer after being found
guilty has been summarily shot. JUS
tice is swift in modern Russia, so it
may be true.
Kiroff is said to have been one of
Party Leader Josef Stalin's most
prominent advisers; he was 46 years
old and had been engaged in revolu-
tionary activities long before the adj
vent of the Soviet government.
Salamanca Out.
Yelled reports from South America
where censorship prevails have it
that Daniel Salamanca has been
forced to resign from the presidency
of Bolivia, and that he has been sue
ceeded by Vice President Jose Luis
Tejada Sorzano. Sudden overthrows
of government are not unusual in
South America, but this coup d'etat
has attracted a great deal of atten-
tion because it may presage the end
of the long-fought Gran Chaco war
between Bolivia and Paraguay.
There are indications that the Bo-