Evening star., 1943-12-06
Nomuru's LAUGHTER

AAAAA~s~So0AoA 4NOAAul OA JdUdu
laughed in the presence of the
American Secretary of State. The
laughter. at once hearty and sig
niflcant. was in response to refer
ences made by Mr.. Hull to the nom
aggression pact drawn up by Mos
cow and Toxic in the spring Of 1941.
AS related in the State Depart
ment's newly published second VOL
ume covering our dealings with the
Japanese in the decade before Pearl
Harbor, Ambassador Nomura gave
vent to his first laugh-"rather sig
nificantly"-when the Secretary
'jocularly" remarked that he won-
dered whether Russia and Japan had
stationed large armies along the
Observation-Disclosures border merely
to administer and maintain their
new understanding.
The second guffaw came later in
the day when the Ambassador said
that his government was worried
over the implications of possible
agreements between Washington
and Moscow and when Mr.. Hull
thereupon replied that the Russo
japanese pact must surely give ia
pan as much assurance of RuSSias
peaceful attitude "as Japan could
desire" In the Secretary's words,
"the Ambassador laughed very
heartily at this
This story is only a footnote to
the immense text of the war, but it
is markedly Illuminating one. 1t
tells us. If we did not suspect it al
ready, what the Japanese really
think Of their agreement with the
Russians. and it strongly suggests
that in all probability the Russians
feel pretty much the same way. For
these two ancient enemies-with
many old scores to settle-reached
their understanding on Easter of
194l only because the one had inti-
nations of an approaching death
struggle with Hitler and because
the other was already engaged in
planning for the attack on Pearl
Harbor and the drive southwark
against Singapore and the Dutch
East Indies. Each wanted security
at the rear. and since they shared
that need in common, they could
agree-in fact, they were virtually
obliged to agree-to remain at peace
between themselves.
But it has been an uneasy and
wholly distrustful peace-so much
so that as far as is known, the great
est concentration of japanese power
on the Asiatic mainland is still de-
ployed in the vicinity Of the ST.
berian -Manchurian frontier, with
the Russians at least equally on the
alert. Both sides remember the big
battles they fought in their unde-
clared war of few years back
battles that were broken off before
any OF the fundamental issues were
settled-and both have a history and
geography initiating against the
idea OF their ever being lasting
friends.
1t may well be, of course, that
their pact of 194l will keep them at
peace for many years to come, but
there are factors in the world pic
ture making war between them seem
more likely development. What
will happen when Hitler is liquidated
In Europe, Has anything come of
the possible Neutrality-suspicious.
agreements about which Toxic was
worried two years ago last August?
What is going to flow from the Mos
COW Declaration enunciated Jointly
by America, Britain, China and Rus
sia? And how far-reaching were
the understandings arrived at in the
two latest Big Three meetings-the
first between Roosevelt, Churchill
and Chang, and the second between
Roosevelt, Churchill and Stain?
Future events alone will disclose
the full answers, but the japanese
must find the questions persistent
and worrisome in the extreme.