Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1937-09-23
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National Topics Interpreted
by William
National Press Building
National Press Building

are demanding
Brutal that the President
.yonon invoke the terms
of the American
Neutrality act with respect to the
Northumberland though it is-that
is raging on Chinese soil. These
editorial expressions obviously will
have considerable weight and will
convince very great number OF
American citizens that President
Roosevelt ought to invoke the neu-
trality act and, by so doing, pro-
claim that Japan is the aggressor.
That, in simple terms, is what
presidential announcement of APP
plication of the neutrality act would
mean.
There probably has never been a
brutality comparable to the I'm
speakable outrage which Japan is
committing in China; certainly,
never in modern times. 1t is a
stain upon the name of the Jap
anese people and the smooth work
ing of the Japanese military machine
will never be able to offset the hos
tility which the subjects of the Ris-
ing Sun are creating by this display
of brutality.
Although the Tokyo government
has yet to say it is fighting war,
the Japanese aggression in China is
just as much war as though the
United States and Canada had taken
up arms against each other and had
proclaimed to the world that they
were belligerents. The very fact
that there has been no declaration
of war, however, complexities the
situation as regards the United
States and Great Britain. Unless
these nations, along with some 9th
ers which have interests in China,
are willing to shoulder the re-
sponsibility that comes when an out
side nation says publicly that two
powers are at war, neither nation
can afford to endanger its neutral
position by saying to the world that
Japan is trying to subjugate portions
of China.
That is exactly what is happening.
In spite of the declaration of the
Japanese statesmen that their mill
tary machine is only protecting
Japanese nationals, the whole af-
fair may be treated as pure hypoc-
risy-as movement by the jap
anese to gain control of new re-
sources, new land, over which the
teening millions from Japan may
run as the hordes of Chinese are
displaced The whole thing shows
how long we have been fooled by the
responsiveness of the Japanese
statesmen.
You may ask: What can we do
about it? The answer is exceeding
ly difficult. 1 have fear that we
can do nothing because of the in
ternational policies that the United
States pursued during the admins
trations of Presidents Coolidge and
Hoover and those that are continu-
ing under President Roosevelt.
Only once in all of those years did
the American government speak out
firmly concerning the apparent Jap
anese plans and on that occasion
the assistance given the United
States by Great Britain and France
amounted to little more than whis-
per.
So now the patience of a great
many people is wearing rather
thin think also, from what hear
in diplomatic circles, that the Brit
ish lion has begun to bare his teeth
and unsheath his claws. Again, to
what purpose do not know, because
the United States and Great Britain
thus far. have discussed no plan for
acting in unison. Certainly, with
out concerted action between them
and including France, little can be
accomplished. It does seem that
they could get together because of
the community of interests but eth
er the United States lacks leader
ship in the circumstance, or there
are some bugs under the British
and French chips about which we
do not know. I repeat that in the
face of Japan's devastating actions
and the ever-growing threat of her
overlordship in the Far East, these
three powers ought to work out an
understanding by which they can
trim the wings of the japanese war
birds.
AS the fighting continues on Chi
nese soil and as one disturbing act
after another is
Tough committed by the
Problem Japanese, mag
inc many persons
are going to inquire why the United
States does not brave world diplo-
macy and invoke the neutrality act.
In that eventually, there ought to
be clear understanding of the
various implications and results
that would flow from such an Amer
lean action. In the first instance,
Japan is now virtually self-sufficient
| in the matter of munitions. If we
| declare an embargo against ship