The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-12-12
Britain Eyes Philippines and
May Yet Move In,
Says Slmms.
FRANKLY FEAR JAPAN
England Hopes America
Will Make Its Policy
Clear-Cut.
BY WILLIAM PHILIP SIMMS
Scripps- Howard Foreign Editor

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12.-
Portentous events in the
Orient no less than the fear
of an explosion in Europe are
behind the manifest anxiety
of Great Britain to end the
1talo-Ethiopian war at the
earliest possible moment.
First-hand information from the
Far East, received via the China
Clipper, indicates that the British
in that area are convinced that an
upheaval in Europe would unleash
still another in Asia involving the
fate of approximately half the
population of the globe.
They view the London naval con-
ference with misgivings. Japan's
parity demand is regarded as so ex-
ceSsive, and SO unreasonable in the
light of what Germany, France, Italy
and the Soviet Union ask, that 1t
is taken to mean only one thing.
And that is the will to dominate the
whole of the Far East.
Frankly Fear Japanese
Americas impending withdrawal
from the Philippines, therefore, is
seen as contributing tremendously
to the peril. Englishmen in the
Orient hold with Winston Churchill
former first lord of the British ad-
miralty, that the entire equilibrium
of the East is being destroyed.
Churchill frankly fears the Japa-
nese will move in when Americans
move out. With navy second to
none, and with a chain of fortified
islands and naval bases stretching
from Kamchatka to Borneo, the
entire eastern half of Asia and
Australia and New Zealand as we'll
would then be at their mercy. No
two sea powers combined could pre-
vent Japan doing precisely as she
pleaseS.
Given peace in Europe, however,
the British hope for at least a
breathing spell. In that event, they
expect one of two things to happen.
Either the United States will ration
alize its relations with the Philip
pine Commonwealth and strengthen
it's naval bases in the Pacific, or it
will pull out lock, stock and barrel,
abandoning all further claim TO its
open door policy in China.
Britain Apt to Move In
If Washington pursues the former
course, there is reason to believe
Britain will seek some sort of under
standing with the United States as
regards a common Far Eastern pol
icy-no formal treaty, but with
some understanding relative to a
reciprocal naval backstopping out
there.
One of the first would almost GER
tainly be to place the Philippines
under their protection. This the
islanders themselves would likely
welcome. They might even invite
the British to move in, to replace
the vanishing Americans.
Manila would then become a
formidable British naval base. Cor
regidor, the rock-like island guard
ing the entrance to the bay, would
be converted into another Gibraltar.
Even in its present state, experts
declare. Corregidor could hold out
indefinitely. Once modernized, it is
said, no force could take IL. Cap
ture of the Philippines by any foe
would become worthless victory.
Possession of the islands, there
fore. is of stupendous value to any
strong power
Realization of this is now said to
be so complete among educated
Filipinos that it is virtually impos-
sible to find one who wishes indie
pendence. If they can not remain
under the American flag they say
they will apply to the British.