Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1919. IF JAPAN AND AMERICA EIGHT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 2051, 6 November 1919, Page 2

Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1919. IF JAPAN AND AMERICA EIGHT.

THE October number of Stead's Review emphasises the gravity of the position in the Pacific. People June their eyes .so concentrated on Europe, and are so occupied with the coming election, that they take little notice of what is going on at their very doors. Stead's Review endeavours to point out the danger which is looming ever nearer. In an article on “Japan and America in the Pacific," the editor [joints out that if the Japanese were so minded, no Power could prevent them from occupying what islands in the East Indies they liked. It is generally assumed that the Americans, thanks to their powerful fleet, would be able to overwhelm the Japanese should the present tension result in war, but Mr Stead declares that the Americans could not hurt Japan at all unless they were able to secure bases and help on this side of the Pacific; that no fleet could long remain efficient upending thousands of miles away from its main bases, and that the Japanese have a formidable advantage, over the Americans thanks to the four great battle cruisers which they possess. The Americans have none of these craft at all. These Japanese ships are the most recent of their kind, completely outclassing battle-cruisers like the New Zealand and the Australia. Mr Stead says that whilst a conflict between Japan and America is not probable, it. .is "well for us to reflect how- such a strife would affect us. According to bis article, it would be a most serious matter for Australasia.