Evening star., 1942-03-08

beyond the windows Of my hotel
room:
This is historic water. 1t leaves
the shores of an ancient land, newly
come into important prominence
within three decades. It is Man.
churia, originally independent of
China, then. by absorption of China
by the Manchus. become part of
the ancient kingdom. Then Japan
came and won it in war and lost it
again in diplomacy. Next came Rus
sia and took 1t by chicane and held
1t for time and built UP a few
miles from here a stronghold that
was supposed to be impregnable.
Then again came Japan and won
1t from Russia. won 1t by a supreme
feat of arms and valorous spirit
that aStounded the world. Then
again diplomacy interviewed and to-
day Japan has lease on this i'm
portant tip of the peninsula, a lease
with a definite term, toward the end
OF which nobody at present looks"
Signs Evident.
Certainly no member of our
party foresaw the future develop
ments in that region, but quite as
certainly none failed to see the signs
Ct Japan's purpose to remain in
Manchuria and even to extend its
zone of influence" If not sover-
eighty throughout the area known
as the Three Eastern Provinces"
of Manchuria, whether against
Chinese or Russian resistance.
OF broader scope of adventure
there was no imitation or suspicion
In the light of the Tanaka Memorial,
it is somewhat humiliating to re-
fleet on the veritable mockery of a
tour by American journalists
through Japan. Korea. Manchuria
and China. as guests of the Japan
ese government and under the
auspices of an American endowment
dedicated to the cause Of keeping
peace between the nations Of the
world.
But in mitigation of that feeling
is the fact that the Tanaka Memoir
ial-virtually a japanese charter
of militant world dominion-waS
not revealed to the world until
September 1881. more than two
years after our return from the Far
East. when it was printed by the
China Critic, an English-language
newspaper published in Shanghai.
The Japanese government de-
nounced it as a fabrication. The
protestations of the japanese were
vigorous, but those who had init
mate knowledge of the record Of
Japan's program and practices on
the mainland of Asia were disposed
to accept the Memorial as at the
least, if not literally genuine. a
correct statement of the Japanese
general program and policy.
Answered Many Questions.
The Tanaka Memorial served as
a complete and logical answer to
many questions that remained in
my mind after the soiourn in the
Orient. I did not however, secure
a complete copy of the translated
document until long later-indeed
not until a short time ago. soon
after the Honolulu incident" to
use the English equivalent for the
familiar japanese word for a
military attack.
The pattern of the program out
lined in the Tanaka Memorial fits
in all but immaterial details the
outline of a project of Asiatic and
eventual world domination set forth
by events subsequent to July 25.
1927, the date of its deliverance.
Had the disclosure and publication
of the Memorial occurred in 1941
instead of in 1881 it might have
been suspected of being fiction,
or at least a highly imaginative
projection of actualities and spec
ulative possibilities based on facts.
But the Memorial came to light
long enough ago to account for a
series of sinister performances by
Japan leading up to the present
seizure of golden opportunity by
that country to strike blow that
may conceivably advance the very