Evening star., 1941-12-01

M
fight.
If the United David Lawrence.
States and Japan are on the verge
Of War-and the headlines would
seem to indicate II, as do also the
the strange m8neuyers behind the
scenPS-then it is the first time in
the history Of the United States that
major war approaches without in
forming the American people of just
what the issues are and why war
is so essential to the settlement of
the difficulties.
The first step toward the making
Of public record came a few days
ago. when Secretary handed TO the
japanese Ambassador a formal doc
ument outlining the American posi-
tion. The japanese have prepared
reply In due time these doCu-
nents will have been made public
But along with the dispatch of
the formal memorandum the United
States Government did something
which, to say the least. is unusual.
The newspaper correspondents were
called in and given a picture of the
gravity of the situation and its haz-
ards over IN Toxic the japanese
government has been doing this in
another way. It has inspired the
press u write editorials or to print
articles emphasizing that a break is
At hand and that japanese patience
with the United States is exhausted
and 50 forth and so on,
Japan Believes L. ;. Bluffs.
Just why both governments should
imagine that the transparency of
these maneUyers will not be dis
cerned by the other is a mystery.
But there is an even greater danger.
Il is that if war comes American
public opinion Will be plunged head
long into the issues without much
real preparation for the far-reaCh-
Ing decisions that will have been
made.
The business Of telling each other
indirectly that war is At hand un-
less concessions are granted grows
ont Of a curious situation. Japan
has been led 10 believe that America
* not really at heart concerned
about war and that the American
people are divided about 1t. In
fact. the way the administration
allows Interruptions to the defense
program, on the one hand, while
urcing priOrltles and alloCatiOns Of
materials. on the other, tends to
convince the japanese that there is
no serious purpose behind the strong
words used by the American Gov
ernment. When the plea of the
President of the United States that
coal be mined uninterruptedly is
Ignored by the powerful miners un-
ion and by the Congress, the Japan
ese believe that both President
Roosevelt and Secretary Hull must
be bluffing. No nation on the verge
of war, they say, would tolerate
such fragrant defiance of the nation
al needs.
L. S. Believes Japan Bluffing.
The United States. on the other
hand, has convinced itself that
Japan must be bluffing for the
economic plight of Japan is bad
snd there are no steel or oil in
dustries to speak of in Japan, hence
the prospect of major war is
doubted here.
The truth probably lies in the
we'll conceived plan of the Japan
ese to secure their objectives with
out going to war. In this they have
taken leaf out of President Roose-
velts book of relations with Hitler.
Step by step, the United States has
moved closer to war without actu-
ally engaging in general hoStilities.
The Nazis are occupied with the
British and prefer to keep America
from coming in as belligerent.
The United States is so occupied
In the Atlantic that Japan thinks
America really would prefer to go
almost to any lengths instead of
fighting a Far Eastern war.
What makes the situation even
more puzzling is the attitude
of the British. While Prime Min
lister Churchill has said that Eng
land would declare war on Japan
within an hour after the United
States and Japan went to war, he
did not say that the British gov
ernment considered the recent en-
croachment by Japan on the Burma
Road As a step that would engage
the British irrespective of what the
United States did about it.
u. S. Taking the Lead.
For reasons best known to the
eXponents of secret diplomacy, the
United States is taking the lead in
t0p dI EhSl. oIlt NOIluCIS MlldI
the President will say to Congress
If war between Japan and the
United States does come. That's
one reason why it is desired to do
nothing to take the initiative in a
military way, leaving the aggression
to be an act Of the japanese, But
Is it aggression against the United
States if the japanese move in on
the Burma Road? Is China an
active ally of the United States and
is the defense of China vital to the
defense of the United States? Many
people believe so but neither the
President nor Congress has said so
formally as yet. That's one reason
why the various moves with their
obvious threats and studied desire
to produce certain effects in either