Evening star., 1938-02-07
Japan on the Spot.

japan on the spot.
In last desperate effort to prevent
what will otherwise become the greatest
naval building race In world history,
Great Britain, France and the United
States have presented Japan with
identical demands designed to obviate
that costly and unnecessary recourse. In
communications simultaneously deliy-
cred at Toxic on Saturday, Japans
principal three partners in the defunct
naval limitation treaty Of 1890 call upon
her to lay her cards on the table re-
specting two Of its cardinal provisions.
She Is asked to say by February 20
whether she is now building or intends
to build battleships larger than the
So,ooo-ton limit set at London eight
years ago, or cruisers heavier than the
lo,ooo-ton limit prescribed by the same
agreement.
II Japanese reply is not received by
the date mentioned, or if . reply lis
lacking in the desired information ana
assurances" the British, French and
American governments will feel free to
consult, under the terms of the 1896 Lon
don agreement which the Toxic govern
ment refused to join, with 4 view to re-
suming their individual freedom OF ac-
tion In unlimited naval building.
What has been submitted to Japan is
IN effect what diplomacy calls an ulti-
matum. In the vernacular of the man
IN the street. Nippon is put on the
spot" She must, again In homely
phraseolosy, come across, or else" II
early ofncial Toxic intimations are
prophetic. the proud and militant mis-
tress at the Far East will not bend the
knee to the requirement Of the Western
democracies. A spokesman Of the naval
ministry declares that 1t would be
a step backward" for Japan to accept
either Of the restrictions OF the 1896 pact.
That treaty pledges the British, French
and American naNes to limit battleships
to $4,000 tons and their gun calibers to
Is inches. It Is because Japan has been
crcumstantially. though not officially, re-
ported to have <s,ooO-ton battleships
ls-inch guns in contemplation,
If not actually under way, that she is
now served with notice to shed authentic
Light on her building plans.
Plainly implied, though not stated, is
the resolute purpose Of the Western ma
Hes to match, If not to outstrip, Jap
anese battleship construction. It is
true that their or else" admonition ex-
presses willingness to resume discussions
OF future limitations. All concerned are
aware that this Is little more than a
pious hope. At the 1886 conference,
convened to negotiate renewal Of the
1880 limitation treaty. Japan wrecked all
of such = plan by refusing to
perpetuate the expiring 5-5-3 Anglo
American Japanese ratio Of fleet
first adopted at the Washing
ton conference Of 1s2l-72. Toxic rep
resented that not only would continued
acceptance Of that ratio amount to a
humiliating stabilization of her inferior
ity As sea power, but that equality with
the naviss Of Britain and the United
States is essential to security in her own
waters and commensurate with her
widening interests on her side Of the
Pacific. TO that poaition. apparently,
the Japanese stubbornly adhere. In
view OF their unexpected difiiculties in
subjugating China. and Of the recurrent
complications with the English sh-speaking
powers which have resulted, it seems un-
likely that Japan will be found In any
more acquiescent mood on naval ratios
than she was two years ago.
If she remains intransigent, Japan can
be under no illusions as to what she Is
inviting. She is courting nothing short
OF national bankruptcy, If indeed that
state is not already impending as a re-
suit of her miscalculations about the
ease and cost of imposing complete mil
atary victory upon China.
For = nation Of Japans size. making
every allowance for its spirit Of self
sacrifice and its industrial efficiency, to
attempt large-scale naval competition
with the inexhaustible financial and
physical resources Of the worlds three
richest countries Is amply madness. In
Japan's case, 1t might be worse than
madness. It might be economic and
political suicide. It would not only
strain her almost intolerably burdsnsd
tax-paying capacity TO the breaking
point, but, incidental to that, would a.
most inevitably breed among even her
patriotic people . spirit Of irreprsssihle
discomfort with system doomed to pro-
duce eventual national disaster.
Paternalism to Stay?