Evening star., 1936-04-05

but Toxic continues to deny that any
thing illegal" Is being done. When
18 months ago the Italian delegate at
the Permanent Mandates Commis-
sion" at Geneva demanded certain
explanations from the japanese rep
resentative regarding the ''harbor
works" in the islands the japanese
replied, These were necessary be-
cause Of the erosions caused by the
storms"
The reply of the Italian: "The CEN
turies-old calm of the ocean in that
region must have changed since Japan
took possession of the archipelago"
brought a broad smile from the Toxic
representative.
Opinion Sole Weapon.
The sole means at the disposal Of
the League for compelling the proper
execution of the mandate is the force
of public opinion, and that is . feeble
weapon these days
During the discussions which led to
the signature of the London Naval
Treaty, British and American naval
experts have given particular attention
to offensive preparations" of the
japanese general staff. -.-
In the minds of naval strategists
there is no doubt that the fortifica-
tions Of the Mandated Islands cannot
be interpreted in the same way as the
remilitarization of the Rhineland.
Hitler's contention that the pill boxes
and underground airfield he is building
on the left bank of the Rhine are
purely defensive works is not baseless.
On the other side Of the river there
are powerful French and Belgian
fortresses.
But there Is nothing in the Western
Pacific to worry the japanese sailors.
Americas only important naval base,
Hawaii, is about 1000 miles from the
first group of the inundated islands,
the Marshall archipelago, and 1892
miles from Yokohama.
Manila. the only important base in
the Western Pacific, is obsolete and
its Notifications, which have not been
modernized for many years, are purely
defensive. The Manila harbor is the
base of the American China squadron,
composed OF one cruiser, few old de-
stroyers and some river gunboats BY
no stretch of the imagination could
this be represented as a menace to
Japan.
The British are not much better
equipped in the Far East. Even be-
fore they withdrew the major por.
ton Of their China feet squadron, In
November, 1885. to transfer it to
the Mediterranean, the four British
cruisers and the division of destroyers
and submarines, based at Hongkong
and Shanghai, were as innocuous as
the American division.
Hongkong is as obsolete as Manila.
Singapore, Britain's Far Eastern Glib
raltar. has been completed only q few
months.
At the time the Japanese began
to fortify the inundated islands, the
British Labor government had decided
to neglect that outpost Of the empire.
1t was only after the admiralty OBJ
tanned conclusive proofs of the Jap
anese preparations that the British
government decided to complete the
defense of Singapore.
American and British naval STRAIT
egists are seriously concerned over
the tremendous work Japan has COM
pleted in her Eastern possessions.
The clear and shallow waters Of
the three archipelagoes offer the best
submarine shelter in the Pacific. And
Japan's main naval strength lies in
its undersea craft. From the Caro-
linas or the Pelew Islands. Japanese
submarines and destroyers could
checkmate the moves of the American
and British fleets in the Pacific. In
the meantime. they could clear the
Pacific sea lanes Of every British and
American merchantman and destroy
British and American commerce with
the Far East.
Remedy Not Easy.
It will not be easy to remedy this
situation. In London the delegates
of the signatories Of the new agree
ment discussed informally what might
be done to counter Japan's move. Be-
tween Hawaii and Japan the United
States possesses a number Of islands
which might be organized as airplane
bases. These are the Midway and the
Wake Islands and the newly y-acquired
Kigman Reef, Palmyra. Jarvis and
Baker Islands, which the Department
of Commerce has made into bases for
the China Clipper airline. None of
them has, for the time being, any mill
tary value, but they could. in case Of
emergency. be transformed into bases
for naval planes.
The Aleutians, string of islands
extending from Alaska to Kamchatka,
have been surveyed during the last
three years, and 1t was found that they
could offer satisfactory shelter for sub
marines and seaplanes. Their trans
formation into naval bases. however,
will prove q slow process, since plans
have not yet gone beyond the pre-
iminary experimental stage Any ex-
penditure on Manila and Guam is con-
sidered futile, because they are directly
under the guns Of the Japanese feet.
The British. who have Just COM
pleted the 100000 900 project at
Singapore. plan now to modernize
Hongkong and. as an extra precautien,
have entered into negotiations with
the Dutch government for the use. In
case Of need. Of the islands Of Java
and Sumatra.
Diplomatic Offensive Prepared.
These belated efforts Of the other
Pacific powers are known to Toxic, but
they do not worry the japanese id.
miralty. Japan has her bases ready.
America and Britain must begin to
prepare theirs. But. all the same, the
japanese navy would like to have IN
unchallenged preponderance In the
Western Pacific. The Japanese foreign
ONCE is now preparing . diplomatic
offensive to prevent the fertilization
of the British and American posses
sions.
Japan has withdrawn from the Lon
don Naval Conference and has de-
nounced the Washington agreement
L>,aocA khn ~~kSA mae paN&