Evening star., 1941-09-04
japanese Quondory

greeted Prince Konoye's personal
message to President Roosevelt
seemingly is being justified by the
course of events. Although the con-
tents of the missive have not yet
been made public. the general i'm
preston is that it contained little
beyond reassuring generalities. Ger
tainly, current happenings in Japan
lend little hope to the idea that Pre-
mier Konoye indicated willingness
to meet the terms laid down by our
Government as the basis for a def
mite settlement of japanese -Ameri-
can differences.
Indeed, recent developments in ia
pan indicate that, even If the Pre-
mier and some of his cabinet were
personally in favor of meeting Amer
lean terms, they would be unable
to do so. Within the past few days
the imperialistic and lingo elements
so powerful in Japan are speaking
their minds on the subject in no
uncertain voice. Colonel Mabuchi,
chief of the japanese Army press
section. has delivered a blistering
attack on American and British di-
plomacy. In the same vein as this
Army spokesman, all the patriotic
societies are putting pressure on the
cabinet for drastic action to break
what they call the encirclement and
Strangulation of Japan by the Eng
disappearing powers. Even the ia
pan Times-Advertiser, organ of the
Foreign Office, has abandoned its
brief switch to moderation and again
talks of American aggression" and
desire for Far East domination"
All this lends color to the idea
that Premier Konoye, in his personal
message to the President, was
at most seeking to gain time. At
first sight this idea may appear un-
sound, because time, in the larger
sense, is working against Japan. The
economic sanctions imposed by
America, Britain and the Neither
lands Indies have crippled Japan's
economic life and have dried up her
sources of vital raw materials, espe-
cially oil. Japan cannot stand still
indefinitely under these circum-
stances without automatically court
ing disaster. She must move rela-
lively soon; and since she either
cannot or will not abandon her
aggressive foreign policies, Japan
presumably must continue along her
dangerous course.
However, gaining time may still
benefit Japan in a short-term sense.
In the first place, even If the Japa-
nese leaders are determined to strike,
they may still profitably watch the
course of the war bit longer before
choosing their point of attack. Ma
jor Russian disasters in the next cru
cial weeks might tip the scales in
favor of the Siberian venture;
whereas events in Western Europe,
the Mediterranean or the Atlantic
might render a move into Thailand
the preferable undertaking. Japan's
limited resources make it impossible
to do both simultaneously. A choice
has to be made, and the time for that
fateful decision may not have quite
arrived.
Another possibility is that Prince
Konoye may be angling for a tenn
porary arrangement with America
and Britain in return for partial re-
Taxation of economic sanctions. The
Premier knows that neither power
wants a war with Japan at this mo-
ment, when they are concentrating
against Germany. He also knows
that America especially has, in the
past, gone easy with Japan lest she
be driven to desperation. A sort
Of "stand-still" agreement, limited
in time and scope, which kept ia
pans economic situation from de-
teriorating further, would be an
excellent time-saving device from
Tokio'S point of view.
Such seem to be the most likely
explanations of Prince Konoye's
eleventh-hour overture. Meanwhile,
Japan's internal situation grows OBJ
viously more volcanic. The militar-
lists openly threaten violence if any
diplomatic retreat is tried, while eco
nomic conditions 60 from bad to
worse. A break in the tension may
come soon.