THE ANGLO-JAPANESE TREATY

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 26, 25 October 1921, Page 6

THE ANGLO-JAPANESE TREATY

AS VIEWED IN UNITED STATES. Lecturing during the last the Marama from San Francisco on the relations between Britain and the United Sttes, Mr. F. Milner, rector of the uaifaki Boys’ High School, said :— In the international horizon to-day there is no more menacing cloud than the Japanese-American embroglio Ihe harmonious reconciliation of clashing national interests is not a task transcending the resources of statesmanship, but in face of the tension of popular feeling which exists to-day there are certainly ominous possibilities ahead. Although there are points of friction m regarii to Californian immigration, Yap cables, Siberian occupation, Japanese -Pacific mandate, etc., these arc of subordinate importance altogether to the diametrical opposition of national policies in China. The Arneriean doctrine of eanalitv of trade opportunity in Chinaand their guarantee nf Chinese territorial integrity Is a direct challenge Io Japan’s cxclu=ionist and monopolistic interpretation of her rights in tha eounfrv The Japanese aggressive ponev. franklv proclaimed by her pan-Asiatm school” and evidenced both by her-steady continental expansion and the presentation nf the infamous twenty-one demands tn China in 1915. is dictated by the Genro or clique of elder statesmen who are supported by the mibhrnistm oligarchy, and ensilv hold political ascendency in the nation. There seems to be no' solution of Eastern problems in sight unless Janan is democratised. The dream of nan-Asiatic hegemony, so fondiv cherished by so ninny leaders of thought in Janan. is due to a nationa megalomania fostered by a succession of military and naval successes, and is unfortunately reflected in the Press in the action of many large commercial interests. The feverish prosecution of Japan’s inflated Bplus 8 naval programme has further intensified American distrust. The response is seen in the increased garrison at Hawaii, the rapid development of Pearl Harbour, and most significant of all. the transference nf the hulk of the American Poof- to Pacific water* with bases at San ['rancisco, Pearl Harbour, and San DiegoTo' an American, the Anglo-Japanese Treaty is an ininuitoiis thing, an unholy alliance. Ho fools penned in between two great allied militaristic nations, and coos the treaty operating for Hie intensification of .Tananese ambitions, and for the enconraremont of her predatory exploitation of China. U P i-lnims that, her nefarious work has been. done under the cloak of British nrertign. Furthermore. in spite nf r-otc’orical denials ho holds that under tlm treaty Britain is morally and le<mlly bound to Lake un arms' on behalf nf Japan in case of war with America. Fortunately British statesmen are fully cognisant of fhis interpretation of the treaty, and also of tire repugnance with which Hi n alliance Is viewed in well-informed chcles in Australasia. If it i’ reaffirmed on exnirv next June it will bo put in such form n« to meet with American approval.