SILVER LINING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 November 1941, Page 5

SILVER LINING

RIMMING WAR CLOUDS OVER PACIFIC ACCORDING TO AMERICAN CORRESPONDENT. MR KURUSU'S MISSION. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) NEW YORK, November 5. The “New York Times” correspondent, Mr Tolischus, in a message from Tokio says that hopes of maintaining peace in the Pacific bounded today when the Government announced that it had dispatched Mr Saburo Kurusu, 1 who is a former Ambassador to Berlin and one of Japan’s most experienced diplomats, to Washington to assist Admiral Nomura in an effort to facilitate aanicable American-Japanese negotiations based on Prince Konoye’s peace message to President Roosevelt. Diplomatic circles hailed the dispatch of the new envoy as a silver lining which has suddenly rimmed the war clouds over the Pacific at a moment when they looked dark indeed. NO DUTCH PETROL FOR JAPANESE AIR LINE TO TIMOR. LONDON, November 5. The Netherlands East Indies Government has made a move to prevent the new Japanese air line between the Pacific islands and Timor from getting any Dutch petrol. The Batavia correspondent of the British United Press says that the Government announced that it had extended the oil export licensing restrictions to Portuguese Timor. Aviation experts point out that certain types of Japanese military and commercial aircraft are now powered with Diesel engines. Unless the Dutch ban is extended to Diesel oil, therefore, the Japanese will be able to operate the line. BRITISH POLICY NO BASIC CHANGE IN FAR EAST. LONDON, November 5. The diplomatic correspondent of the “Daily Herald” says that some uneasiness has been caused in London as a result of the mention by Mr J. Curtin, Prime Minister of Australia, of important conversations with Whitehall concerning a revision of the Empire's attitude to Japan. This is strictly true because a revision, in the literal sense, is continually going on as events change the situation, but there is no question of a basic change of Far Eastern policy, nor has there been any discussion of this, let alone any move toward appeasement or relaxation of the economic measures against Japan.

(Sydney reported that Mr Curtin has released no statement on these lines in Australia).