Henderson daily dispatch., 1940-05-02
Nazlis Reportea
Trying ToStir
u. Jap War
BY CHARLES p. STEWART
Central Press C0lumniSt


bility to have sci the state ocp|i
mcnt to investigating them Wl"i T."
vengeance The story, at least up
pears to be believed in London r"i -
and The Hague, which got IL III VI
fetal consular advices from lle'i
representatives. in the Chinese CITY. Jtl't
why our own, British, freiicis 5''' y.
Dutch diplomats in Tokyo hliSSeo - -
is.i'( very clear. It's ConSldercc "C''
worth looking into, anyway;
To begin with. chain OF Ja'aiicSG
newspapers recently related OH Wiiu'
Dul.p0rted To be reliable lnloliI'd'ioh'
1h2t the minute the Germans III
wade Holland, the British and Lei1Ci'
will seize the Netherlands East III
lies. shutting off all supplies from
there to Nippon. This would be very
serious for the japanese, VINO I'''
.Y,2tly dependent upon the East III
lies for many Of their vitality ncccS-
$ury raw materials, notably OH '''0
rubber.
Tokyo Gets Busy.
The obvious conclusion Was llidl
i behoovcs the mikadO TO graD inc
stands ahead of the British ana
French. 1t was 4 conclusion Wnlcl
The Tokyo government !mAccla'ely
drew. fer il began at once 10 lore
east the urgency Of speedy graz
of Japan'S own. ,
Il was a forecast which, in tllrn.
promptly elected Secretary OF 9lale
Crrlcll Hubs warning that no GraO-
me must be done, so far as tle East
indies are concerned.
Naturally, Japanese-American rel
",ions were strained. Secretary nun
warning. 10 be sure. was as appIlca-
bic to tic British and French as 10
japan. However, the BRUSH ana
French wouldn't object a bit 10 nay
ing the East Indies protected by the
United States, and Japan would. Inc
Eritish and French would like 1t, IN
net: il would take a dubious Job
from Off their hands. But the Jap
ancse want those islands Tor lheln-
.clvCS.
No Accident About 1t.
# FMS were lust an accidental de-
vclopnent it wouldn't signify SO
much.
However, the British, French and
Dutch consulates in Shanghai con-
tend that there was no accident about
it.
Their account is that German Am
bassador l'Ugore OFT, in Tokyo, pald
that newspaper chain in Japan 20
600 yen 10 publish yarn Of his own
calculated to create an 0VerWheilf-
ing Japanese demand for an over
night japanese seizure of the Indies.
in defiance Of Yankee wishes, thus
prccipitating Jap-Amerlcan Crisis
in short order.
The Germans reason for desiring
such an armed clash is easy to see.
Tough Fight For Us.
It would be a mean scrap Tor Uncle
Samuel. At short range the latter Is
too heavy weight for the mikado.
but it would pre-oCcupy him decid-
edly to have TO handle hOStllltleS
away across the Pacific in the Meth
erlands East Indies waters.
Such war would keep Uncle Sam
out of Europe, on the oft-chance that
he finally were TO think Of buttlng
in on the west front. And, antl-War
as we seem TO be. Herr Hitler doesn't
disregard that contingency, rcmem-
bering the last time. And further
more, Herr Hitler undoubtedly recE-
ons that, engaged with the japanese,
we'd have TO keep the bulk OF our
wal supplies for ourselves; not Seno
them to the Allies.
I'm not predicting that such Sit
uation will follow. I simply am Su2-
costing that its what this Shanghai
story appears to contemplate.
Slick Propaganda.
It's rather slick propaganda II
that's what it is.
It's triangular.
1t isn't perpetated directly on us
Propaganda in our own country we
can largely guard against. But no
Dies committee can cross the Paci1ic
to expose il in Japan.
What the state department can &c
about it is problematic.
Secretary Hull is trying 10 DC as
warning and yet as pacific as ne can.
Nevertheless, seemingly ne mas !"
mean competitor in miSchle1-maklH
German Ambassador OFT, evidently
an extremely competent German
propagandistic chain neWspapelman.