The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1919 JAPANESE AMBITIONS

Taihape Daily Times, 10 February 1919, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1919 JAPANESE AMBITIONS

(With which is Incorporated The faihapa Poat.tnd. Walnsaii'jo Newni.

While it was evident that the adoption of President Wilson's fourteen points as a basis for the settlement of matters arising out of the war, tied* the Allies down to a policy of no annexation, it was hoped that by some means ; 'Ncw Guinea, or Papua, from its proximity fb Australia, would be made part of the Commonwealth domain, and that Samoa’s nearness to New Zealand would, by virtue of its conquest from Germany, fall under the control of the New Zealand Government. The people of this Dominion are so absorbed in their internal affairs — in striving for privilege and power over each other —that they seem to have failed to realise that the possession of Samoa, or even New Guinea, by a foreign Power, may render all their interested internal strivings valueless only to those by whom they may be assailed and. subjugated. President Wilson very clearly stated there were to be no annexations, and all belligerents, Allies and enemies, accepted that provision a& a basis for final settlement; but. it was made satisfactorily clear to the British Government that such a disposition of Pacific territories would be made as to render them safe from invasion, peacefully or militarily, by nations who could only desire them for purposes of further conquest. Therefore, it is difficult to harmonise the persistence of Mr. Hughes and Mr. Massey with the honourable course the acceptance of President Wilson’s basis of settlement should have bound them down to. There is no question that the preven- j tion of the invasion of Australia rests j with the Commonwealth having such a j control of New Guinea as will enable I the doctrine of a “White IAiA-alia” j to be rigidly maintained, and ' New I Zealanders must realise that whatever | nation conquers the larger island bags i these and smaller islands of the Pacific. Prom the great size of Now Guinea, which at one time was said to be as large or larger than Australia, 'is the second largest island in the world and from its nearness to the northern j shores of Australia, its possession now, or in the future, by such a military Power as Japan would render the maintenance of a Britain in the southJ' ern seas very problematical, if not impossible, But, as President- Wilson informed Mr. Massey, there is anotner Power interested in the Pacific, and that Power is going to see that the islands in question fall into the possession of no great Power in such a way that they can be used as Germany would use them, that is, as naval bases and military bases in an effort to secure world dominion. President Wilson, who voices the views of all America, has no fear of Britain abusing any trust that America might place in her from a military or naval viewpoint, but he ha? very good cause to fear the [i future if Britain were given absolute j ownership. It was nothing but Britain’s lack of prevision that caused the present war to be so costly in human life. Britain has been indifferent to the vital necessity of preventing Germany, and perhaps other people, from acquiring from her such places as it is essential to the peace of the' world should be held and controlled I by peace-loving peoples. Heligoland in ! German possession has been a veritable curse upon Britain, and yet Britain gave Germany control and ownership of that veritable fastness. One could ! imagine no greater menace to Australia than placing Germans in possession of a huge country, with hundreds of miles of magnificent alluvial flats I and intensely fertile and luxuriant plateaus, only just across the Torres Strait, less than one hundred miles away, and yet Britain was unnecessarily a party to this land being occupied by foiciguers. America has become vitally interested in the Pacific because of two extremely ambitious military Powers seeking territorial extension therein; America has assisted in preventing Germany from becoming ja men ace to America in the Pacific, whose waters break upon American .shores for thousands of miles, and now President Wilson i? determined that no foolish or weak policy shall permit

Japan to get such a foothold on the islands from wEich the Germans have

been ousted as will permit such an accumulation of power to disturb the ) American peace of mind regarding tire future, nor will ho consent to an ownership of Samoa and New Guinea that can be bartered away to the dis- | advantage of America. There is ro dbubt whatever that both New Guinea and Samoa must not he allowed to go under the control of any other nation than Britain and America if the peace of the world is to be maintained. It is essential to the safety of Australia and New Zealand that no other Power or combination of Powers should prevent Australasians from having an inalienable right to govern and control those islands, otherwise naval and military armaments will become as great a curse in these Southern Seas in the future as they have proved in Europe in the past. Mr Hughes and Mr Massey, realising the position, arc, naturally, extremely solicitous to maintain tEe freedom of Australasia from such a menace, and they may be pardoned for straining somewhat the honourable compact acceptance of the fourteen points tether them to. On the other hand, it is inconceivable that America and Britain, with the great ■number of nations having respective votes in the League of Nations would countenance any control but that which is provided for, and it is equally inconceivable that any other Power could find that support in the League that would enable it to prosecute such sinister designs as would bring about another world rupture, tfhe form of control Australia will be ap’vcn over New Guinea, and that New Zealand will given over Samoa may be accepted as all-sufficient for preserving their right to work out their respective destinies, political and otherwise, in accordance with the views and ambitions of their peoples. The alarming feature of the South Pacific situation is that Japan claims the right to annex the Caroline and Marshall Islands in accordance with-a recent understanding with Britain, and a cable received on Saturday states that alienation of these islands from Japan, who occupied them early in the 'war, would cause an outbreak of nattonal indignation. Britain may have ' arranged . that Japan should own the islands, but every nation within the League is entitled to a voice in the disposition of conquered territories, otherwise there can be no* valid objection to New Zealand annexing the territory it conquered. That Japan has designs for the establishment of military” depots and raval [ bases in the Pacific there is little J doubt, and such bases and depots can I only be wanted 'for wars of annexation, for Japan is in no danger from j attack from the Pacific, for neither | Britain nor America Is likely to launch j a campaign of piracy across the SoutliI orn Ocean, The notable difference be j tween the attitude of Japan and AmI merica is that the latter is quite con- | tent with British possessions as an j ocean buffer, but Japan ie not; Amcrljca is willing to renounce all right to possession of Pacific Island territory, but Japan is not, and, of course, America reasonably asks why? The Japanese paper “Asahi” doss not believe that any cause exists for a conflict or interests between America and Japan in China, and that a workable agreement for the economic development of China is possible vrtthouf clashing of interests; but. if that is so, why is Japan so determined to annex Pacific Islands and America not? The “Asj ahi” says it is afraid that “if the natural claiins of Japan are not recogj nised a peaceful solution of the pro | Idem of the Pacific? will be difficult.” Japanese militarism is the product of German militarism. Japan’s army being I modelled ' by German intruders precisely on the lines of the German military system, and it would be foolish \ and unnatural to assume that Japanese ambitions in that connectiona were not similar in .character to those of Germany, Japan is the firestick of the j Pacific, and both Australia and New | Zealand will endorse to an extreme j every honourable process their roprel sedatives at the Peace Con A' may put in motion to prevent Japanese annexation of conquered territory, but they should in acordance with the Allied compact confine themselves to negative efforts. To allow JapanTfo occupy the Carolines and Marshalls would place that nation in a similar j position with regard to China, -where | America has immense interests, as Heligoland placed Germany in wifh i respect to Rusia and the Baltic. The I possesion of these islands would gfve Japan great advantages with respect to Chinese development, which may be fraught with all the possibilities of a great conflagration that may involve a struggle for the fetainment of Australasia. as British possessions.