VIEWED SERIOUSLY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 January 1943, Page 3

VIEWED SERIOUSLY

MR. CURTIN’S WARNING AGAINST NEGLECT OF PACIFIC COMMENT BY THE LONDON “TIMES.” \ RISKS THAT SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright)’ LONDON, January 29. “Mr Curtiii did not speak as an alarmist, but as the man on the spot who can estimate the dangers close at hand,” comments “The Times”-ou Mr Curtin’s Australia Day broadcast giving warning of the Japanese threat in the South Pacific. “The Times” adds: “Australia's Prime Minister did not mince his words, but he is not exaggerating any more now than in the past, when he foreshadowed with deadly accuracy the development of the Japanese campaign. “In one respect only does the Japanese strength appear to have been weakened by the recent operations—in shipping. The ground which has been recovered was held only by Japanese outposts, and behind them the enemy power remains immense. It is almost certain that among the offensive measures which General Tojo has described in the Diet as being ready is a plan for a renewal of the attempt to isolate Australia from the United States. “It would be the height of imprudence for the Allies to risk another cracking of the Pacific front, which has been lightly sealed after terrible losses. As Mr, Curtin pointed out, this is not a matter of sentiment but of vital strategy. Whether or not victory in the Pacific is considered a first goal, a defeat in the Pacific would be catastrophic.” According to Tokio official radio, the Foreign Minister, Mr. Tani, told the Diet that Japan intends to respect the neutrality pact with Russia and assumes that the Soviet Union will do likewise. It added that Tokio’s attitude to the pact had not been modified.