BALANCE OF POWER.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1078, 17 March 1911, Page 5

BALANCE OF POWER.

——« STRUGGLE FOR THE PACIFIC. JAPANESE RIVALRY WITH THE AMERICANS. BRITISH NAVAL NEEDS. By Telegraph—Press AESociatkm-Oopyrisrht (Kec. March 16, 11.30, p.m.) Berlin, March 16. The press is suspicious of British sincerity regarding disarmament, and sceptical of the prospects of an arbitration agreement. The "Norddeutsehe Zcitung" hails with sincere satisfaction Sir Edward Grey's conciliatory utterances as doing justice to the German standpoint. Count Reventlow, of the Navy League, in a statement on the balance of power in the. Pacific, on which the events in Mexico have- an indirect influence, declares that the Russian defeat has assured the predominance of Japanese influence in the Far East. The Count recalls Admiral Dewey's remark at Portsmouth, that America ought to have attacked Japan earlier during the tension over the Californian schools, which controversy lasted until the visit of the American Fleet to the Far East induced tranquillity. Japan was then modernising her fleet, and was unprepared for war. The unsuccessful effort to neutralise- the Manchurian railway led to tho RussoJapanese Agreement, in which there were probably secret clauses, and hence America's feverishness to fortify the Panama. Canal. Japan required the supremacy of the Pacific to retain the Chinese markets against America. The creation of an American commercial base in the Philippines would counteract Japan's geographical advantages, and the islands would also no doubt become powerful naval bases. There were 66,000 Japanese in Hawaii capable of bearing arms, and only a thousand American troops, which justified General Homer Lee's dictum that the, ; Japanese [could capture. Hawaii from, within. BRITAIN IN THE PACIFIC, ONE-POWER STANDARD NEEDED. .. (Rec. March 16, 10.45 p.m..),' ••'■'• ,: ■ London, • March- 16. The "Morning Post" states that Great Britain has become dependent, on Japan's tolerance in the Pacific. The anti-Japan-ese immigration policy of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, has created an antagonism which is quiescent only owing to the Anglo-Japanese alliance, , • The position is full of explosive elements, and the Empire must be prepared to maintain a one-Power naval standard in the Pacific. It is evident, continues the "Post," that Australia and New Zealand are willing to assist. It is. apparent to tho "Post" that the United:: States interference in Mexico is an effort to secure a position of suzerainty, in view of the completion of tho Panama Canal. Tho rumours of the landing of Japanese coolies in Mexico, who, while nominally industrial workers, are really trained soldiers, bears considerable resemblance to the stories of the Japanese in Hawaii.