Evening star., 1940-09-30
Contend U. S. Must
Stop japanese
Correspondents Suggest
Means Of Meeting Threot
In Far East

Means Of Meeting Threot
In Far East
| To the Editor of The Star:
Germany dominates the continent of
Europe, possesses a military machine
unrivaled In the history of the world
and has given the clearest indications of
an intention ' to use that machine for
| the purpose of becoming dominant
throughout the world. Japan, nourished
| by imports of war materials from the
| United States and sustained by the pro-
ceeds Of exports to the United States, is
! on the point Of establishing herself as
the dominant power in the Far East and
is developing all her energies to that
purpose. Japan has joined forces with
| Germany and Italy with a view of push
| ing military conquest to its uttermost'
limits and extending economic domina-
ton to those regions where military con-
| quest may be impracticable. There are
two major obstacles that Japan must
overcome before she can pursue her de-
signs and become an effective partner
of the axis powers: % She must win the
Chinese war, where her energies are be-
ing diSsipated in the conquest of 400,-
100000 people, eager and able to fight
but lacking the supplies and munitions
necessary to carry on much longer an
effective war: 2) she must acquire un-
| Pacific.
If Japan is successful in overcoming
these obstacles, the course Of events is
marked with substantial certainty
(a) Japan would seize and absorb
Indo-China, Siam and the Dutch East
Indies
(b) With these possessions consoli-
dated in Japanese hands. there would be
no further effective obstacle to the con-
| quest Of all British possessions in the
Far East. including Australia.
(c) The most that the British could
hope for as a result of the present war
would be the successful defense of their
island against German invasion-a de-
| fense which would be rendered even
more precarious by the fact that Ger
many had acquired the Japanese alli-
ance.
! Cd With the axis powers dominating
! Europe and Japan dominating the East
| economic control of South America by
| these three would be a probability. and
| history has shown that economic domi-
nation merges by imperceptible degrees
| into political domination.
In a world where the foregoing events
hod fokan y,loca
United States would not be an enviable
one. In the first place, there would be
constant necessity of maintaining a mil
itarv and naval establishment of war
time proportions. with the attendant
! disrupting of our peacetime pursuits. dis
sipation of our national income in arma-
ments and waste Of the millions Of valu-
able years in the lives of our young men
in military service. Second our foreign
! trade would be substantially eliminated,
a condition which could not fail to affect,
directly or indirectly every person living
in this country. Thirdly, the enforce
ment Of the Monroe Doctrine would be-
come an impossibility due to the extent
of the pressure that could be exerted
upon South America and the extent of
our preoccupation with our own defense.
The conditions precedent to the sue
cess OF Japan in her designs and In her
usefulness to the axis powers are the
conquest Of China and naval dominance
in the South Pacific. We. can prevent
both of these conditions from being full
filled, but this can be done only by an
immediate. vigorous taking of the inia-
tive. The steps that must be taken to
accomplish this result are the following:
(aD We must deprive Japan Of raw
materials which she must have to wage
effective war. The embargo on aviation
gasoline and scrap are steps In the right
direction. They should be followed by
embargos on pig iron, coppers oil, gaso-
| line, motor vehicles and machinery, all
| OF which can now be freely shipped to
Japan. Moreover. there should be an
| embargo on imports from Japan, for
without exporting to this country Japan
cannot acquire the credits necessary to
| the acquisition OF materials she must
buy
90 We must give all possible aid to
China. This means granting substan-
| tally unlimited credits to the Chang
| Kai-shek government. In meeting the
Japanese axis menace, 1t is far better
| that We provide, gratis if necessary, the
munitions to enable the Chinese to fight
than that. sooner or later, We sacrifice
not only our munitions but also the lives
| Of our young men. The Burma road is
! available to transport all supplies the
Chinese could purchase. English CO.
| operation in reopening this road is
foregone conclusion since Japan Joined
| the axis.
(c) We should arrange with Great
Britain to share or assume control Of
the Singapore naval base and other
British bases in the East, so far as this
Is practicable from the point Of view OF
sound naval strategy. The United States
| Navy is now superior to that of the
Japanese. This condition may not long
| continue, for 1t is probable that there
are Japanese ships under construction
| adequate in numbers. tonnage and
modernity to tip the balance against us
With<the United States Navy based at
Singapore, Japanese conquest of the
East Indies from distant bases would be
practical impossibility
WARREN A. SEAVEY,
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