The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1945-08-09

away AT eacn Other SpOradlcal-
~, in guerrilla fashion, much of
the time for a century. and it
has long been apparent that
some day one or the other
would have to be eliminated
from the Pacific picture.
A casual glance at any good
map of the north Pacific makes
it clear why the nationalistic
of Siberia should be at almost
Japs and the ambitious owners
constant loggerheads.
Consider first the island of
Sakhalin. II is the northern
most land in the Japanese arch
ipelago-apparently an integral
part of the Nipponese main
land" But the Japs own only
the relatively worthless south
ern portion, while Russia holds
the rich coal and oil lands to
the north.
Consider next Port Arthur
and Dairen, on the Kwantung
peninsula in southern Manchur-
ia. They are ice-free ports the
year around. Russias only inn
portant Pacific port, Vladivos-
tok, is closed by ice part of the
year. Unless she can have at
least free access to Dairen, with
out naval threat from Jap
held Port Arthur, Russia can
not hope TO develop for Siberia
the Pacific commerce she needs
badly.
Or, consider Manchuria pro-
per, with its hundreds of thous-
ands Of square miles of the
worlds richest farming land,
its gold, silver, coal, iron, cop
per, lead, tungsten.
The Japs, cooped up on bar
re nislands, want the space, the
foodstuffs and the industrial
raw materials of Manchuria-
d have taken them. But Rus
STA, for development of Siberia,
requires, at the very least, free
access to those resources. And
Russia can not feel very safe
about Siberia so long as Jap
armies squat across the Man
churian border and Jap battle
ships anchor at Port Arthur and
the Japs consider Korea as part
of their homeland.
China, historic owner of all
areas except Sakhalin. is treated
as a mere bystander in this
clash of rival imperial ambi-
tons.
In 1887, Japan had just been
opened by Commodore Perry,
and the Russians, needing an is
olated location for penal colon
les, probably didn't even think
of Tokyo when they began COL
orizing Sakhalin. Japan was
strong enough by 1875 so that,
when Russia desided to take
Sakhalin, the Car tossed over
domination of the Kuriles and
certain Okhotsk and Boring Sea
fishing rights as sop, as one
gives the baby toy to stop his
crying when one takes away
the watch &c was playing with.
The incident was negligible
to the Car. but illuminating
and annoying to the Mikado. So
when the Japs whipped China in
1894 they adopted occidental
practise an demanded the Liza
otung peninsula, on which Port
Arthur and Dairen are located.
The Chinese agreed. but France,
Germany and Russia forced
Japan to cancel the deal.
Four years later Russia leased
the ports from which she had
kept Japan. In 1900, using the
Boxer Rebellion as an excuse,
she occupied much of Manchur,
ia. She had previously obtained
Chinese consent to building the
Chinese Eastern Railway. con-
Meeting with her own Trans
Siberian line, and in 1898 she
obtained the privilege OF ex-
tending this to her leased Port
Arthur by way OF Mukden, Man
churia.
Japan viewed these eastward
excursions wit distrust, just as
Russia now dislikes Japan's
westward expansion into the
same areas. That was the real
reason why Japan struck in
1904 without warning, and beat
the Russians before reinforce
ments could be brought from
Europe.
BY the Treaty of Portsmouth,
that ended the war, Japan ac-
quired southern Sakhalin, Rus
sia's lease of the LiaotunR pen
Ursula, control over the South
Manchurian Railway to Port
Arthur Russian evacuation OF
Manchuria and recognition of
Japan's sphere Of influence in
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