BITTER SCENE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 38, 14 February 1940, Page 8

BITTER SCENE

CRITICISM IN DIET

JAPANESE ARMY EXPENSES

"SOUTH SEAS SHRINE"

(By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.) (Received February 14, 10 a.m.)

TOKIO, February 13.

The second criticism of the army was heard in the Diet in ten days when Mr. Ryozo Makino (Seiyukai Party) alleged that the secrecy surrounding the* army expenses was creating uneasiness among the people. A bitter scene culminated with Mr. Makino accusing the War Minister, General S. Hata, of having failed in his duty.

The Imperial Household and the Ministry have sanctioned the erection on Kalura Island, in the Palau Archipelago, of a first-class Shinto shrine, which is to be named the South Seas Grand Shrine. It will be dedicated to the sun goddess, Amatera Soumikami, in commemoration of the 2600 th anniversary of the founding of the Empire, and will be for the 120,000 inhabitants of the mandated islands, who include 70,000 Japanese, to worship. The decision is significant as it indicates the importance which Japan attaches to the islands as an outpost of her southward advance.