JAPAN S OVERTIRES STIR
WASHINGTON’S SUSPICIONS
By HAL-LET ABEND
WASHINGTON — Re’ations of
the United States with Japan are
likely to he sharply worsened ra
ther than bettered as a result of
the secret attempts, during the
last six or seven’ weeks, of the
Japanese Ambassador here to
open negotiations for a neutrality
and non-aggression pact.
Had the Japanese advances
met with anything approaching a
cordial reception, the admittedly
dangerous tension existing (be
tween the two countries would
probably have been notably eas
ed, but in view of the fact that
the approaches were met with;
coldly citical observations upon
Japan’s repeated failure to live
up to other obligations and prom
ises, the reaction, it is feared,
will be a sharp revival of the ac
tivities of the rabidly anti-Ameri
can clique in Japan, particularly
that in the army.
Broken Promises
The Japanese Ambassador. Ad
miral Kichisa'bura Nomura, when
he propsed opening negotiations
for a neutrality and non-aggres
sion pact with this country, sim
iliar to the one concluded in Mos
cow on April 13 of this year, was
told, it is understood, that there
appears to be no need% for any
new agreements with Japan since
the leaders and cabinets in power
during the last four years have
never been either able or willing
to keep their own promises. It
was then called to the Amfoassa
dor’s attention that the govern
ment in Tokyo, and army leaders
in China, have repeatedly promis
ed to restore the “Open Door’ in
the Far East, and to abide by the
policy of “equal opportunity for
all, -but that these promises have
never been implemented by
deeds.
This attitude, it is now learned
is another evidence of the un
Ifliching maintenance of the tra
ditional policy in the Far East.
For nearly two years ago the for
mer Japanese Ambassador here,
Kensuke Horinouchi, approached
the State Department seeking to
open negotiations for a neutrality
or non-agigression pact. The reply
was a reminder that the United
States and Japan already were
•bound by such an agreement —
namely the so-called Kellog
Peace Pact — and that further
treaties were superflous. Japan
having been denounced for viola
tion of the Kellog Peace Pact, fur
ther discussions were obviously
useless.
Matsuoka-Stalin Pact
The Matsuoka-Stalin Pact,,
aside from provisions which con
cerned only themselves and Man
chukuo and the Soviet-dominat
ed Outer Mongolian People’s Re
public, is not actually a non-ag
igression treaty but merely guar
antees each of the signatory pow
ers from attack by the other in
case of military involvement
■with a third power. Translated
into terms of present-day world
politics, it means that Soviet
Russio is bound not to attack
Japan if the Japanese Empire
finds itself at war with the Unit
ed States or with Great Britain
and that Japan will not attack
Russia if the Soviet becomes em
broiled in a war with Germany.
Such a treaty with Japan
would bind the United States not
to attack Japan if that country
should become involved in war
against Britain or Holland—say,
at Singapore, or in the Nether
lands East Indies. On the other
hand it would seemingly bind
Janan not to attack us if we be
come involved in hostilities with
Germany and Italy.
On the face of it, an approach
fom the Japanese for such a
treaty with the United States
would seem to augur an abrupt
change of policy, and adoption of
an attitude of appeacement to
ward this country, but the atti
tude of the American govern
ment is one of deep distrust.
While these approaches were
going on, Foreign Minister Mat
suoka has continued to proclaim
Japan’s “immutable” determina
tion to remain loyal to her Europ
ean partners, Germany and Italy.
But Germany considers Japan in
honor bound to fight us if we be
come involved in war or unde
dared hostilities against the two1
European members of the Axis, j
The problem to be decided here
is whether Japan is ready to |
break faith with Berlin and,
Rome, or whether she is offering
us a valueless scrap of paper. , |
Advocates of Peace
There seems to be no doubt but j
that a large and influential party!
in' Japan is frightened over the
imp ications of the pact with Hit
ler an Mussolini. This group does
not want war with the United!
States and intimates that while
Matsuoka is making his threats
against this country he is really
bluffing and is trying to find a
technically legal (even if unethi
cal) way to get out of those ob
ligations to which the Axis
would like to hold him firmly.
The published version of that
Axis pact, signed last September;
would bind Japan to attack us if
we “attack” Germany!! But. ar
gue the Tokyo leaders who re
gard war with the United States
as suicide, suppose Germany pre
cipitates hostilities by attacking
American patrols or convoys,?
Could Japan then remain neu-i
tral?
The argument is interesting, of
course, but it is widely he’d thati
Japan’s final course of action is
bound to be deterrriined by what
may seem, at a critical moment,
to be Hitler’s chances of w nmng
the war. If German arms were to
be indisputably victorious over
Britain, if this country were put
upon the defensive, no one
doubts but that Japan would con
sider it a ‘Heaven-sent oppor-1
■ tunity.”
As usual, there are reports
from Tokyo that “the moderates11
are firmly against provoking this
country in hostilities. Tales are
told of the navy ‘putting on the
brakes,” and not wanting to fight
the United States “to pull Hitler’s
chestnuts out of the fire.” Signi
ficance is read into the fact that
about a fortnight ago the Konoye
Cabinet and its advisers held a
solemn session over “ultimate pol
icies,” and that the navy abstain
ed from being represented at the
meeting.
It is also reported that the “big
industrialists” are now reproach
ing the army for embroiling the,
empire in the long and indecisive
war with China and are bitter- j
ly pointing out that if Japan
were not thus involved, but were'
a real neutral, she could today be!
rolling in wealth far exceeding;
her material profits during the,
1014-18 war. Except for the mad-|
ness of the militarists these re
ports credit the industrialists
with saying, Japan could now bei
selling goods to Britain and to
the United States, and her ship
yards could be building and sell
ing steamships at prodigious pro
fits.
An Old Story
Both Washington and London j
have for many years listened to
the siren songs about disunity in|
Japan. In 1931, at the time of t+ie;
Mukden “incident” and again in ^
1932, at the time of the Shang-1
hai fighting, the United States
and Britain listened and refrain
ed from action in order to “give
the Japanese moderates a chance”
and to “let the industrialists
force a retreat to sanity.” Time;
and again Japan has been per-,
mitted to get away with the swag j
because of indirect intimations
from Tokyo that ‘if you upset
this government the wild radi
cals will ,ge in and things will
be worse.”
Japan probably does not want
to fight the United States just
now. She has balanced the peril
of waiting while our defense pro
gram gathers speed against what
she considers the probability of
a smashing Hitler victory over
the democracies.
Japan’s long-range strategy is
now believed to be to lull us
into a false sense of security,
even to offer us friendship and
treaties, in order to get us to
move most of our fleet out of the
Pacific. Then if Hitler wins, she
can quickly grab all she wants.
But if Hitler loses, t hen she
would live up to her professions
of friendship to the United States
and even try to devise a “face
saving formula” for getting out
Other Occupations
_
TOKYO. July — Th* English
language Japanese Times and Ad
verti'er declared that the Unit
ed States aoparentlv intends tn
enter the European war through
the back door, through the occu
pation of Iceland.
The newspaper, which is con
sidered an organ of the Japanese
Foreign Office, predicted that the
seizure of Iceland would be fo>
lowed by America^ occupation
of the Azores. Martinique, and
Cape Verde Islands.
The Times and Advertiser point
ed out that British troops will
remain in Icelard for the time
being, but will be under United
States command, while the Brit
ish navy also will use Iceland.
Said the newspaper:
“The consequences of such an
unusual state of affairs must be
far-reaching. Iceland, with Brit
ish military and naval units in
partial occupation, is subject to
attack by Germany, and if such
assaults occur by any arm, then
the British will fight under the
direction of American command
ers. This situation contemplates
participation in the war.
of China.
The long-range strategy of the
United States is to keep Japan
uneasy and guessing, to refuse to
be foled by unreliable overtures
from Tokyo, to sell her just
enough oil so that she will not,
in desperation, grab Borneo and
Sumatra. Meanwhile by aiding
China, we arm Japan’s unrelent
ing foes and keep the Japanese
Army bleeding u pon a hundred
indecisive battlefields, and her
financial and economic strain be
comes more and more insupport
able as each month passes.
The Issues Remain
On the surface, Japanese-Am
erican tension may sen less acute
than it was at the turn of the
year. But none of the fundament
al issues and differences between
the tow countries are any near
er settlement today than then. So
long as Japan will not relinquish
her “new order in Eulst Asia”
and her “Asia for Asiatics” pro
grams, and so long as she contin
ues to violate the ‘open door”
and China’s sovereignty and terri
torial integrity, just so long will
there be no basic improvement in
United States-Japanese relations.
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Rainbow, Music
Used To Test
Bottles for Flaws
L.AWR EN-CEBUR G. I n d-St r i k
empty l'quor bottle? together to
check the “tone” and “feel" is
the odd cccupation of A. W. Hor
ten=tir,o of this city, but Horten
stine’s sensitive hand? and ears
have prevented thousands of dol
lars loss to consumer, retailer,
wholesaler and distiller.
As chief g'ass tester in the Old
Quaker plant of Sc'nenley Dis
tillers corporation. Hortenstine
ha? developed a procedure which
he now claims to be more com
prehensive than that used at any
other distillery. Shape, size,
stresses and general construction
are noted on every case of empty
containers delivered to the Old
Quaker plant, even though the
bottle' makers themselves take ev
ery precaution to insure a uni
form high standard of quality.
Chiefly to avoid costly break
age as a result of improperly con
structed containers. Hortenstine
makes a bottle-by-bottlc inspec
tion of at least 50 cases out of
each carload delivered to the dis
tillery, Since the car'oad con
tains 1,500 cases, he selects
sample cases from throughout
the shipment.
‘You can usually tell by strik
ing two bott'es together sharply
and listening to the ‘tone" whe
ther one or both of them is im
properly constructed,” he says.
‘‘I can also tell by how they ‘feel’
in my hands.’’
Hortenstine has two ways of
making a further check on “sus
picinus” bottle, one of which em -
ploys the colorful hues of the
rainbow. Recently he built his
own polarscope, an instrument
which reveals undue stress by
means of color. This device trans
mits polarized light through the
container, reproducing it on a
mirror. Light yeilows and light
green denote excessive stress,
but if the bottle has a generally
purplish cast, the stresses are ev
enly divided.
“The importance of 100 percent
perfection in containers is clear
ly evident when you realize the
great loss and inconvenience
which might be suffered by dis
tributors, package stores, bars
and consumers through break
age. It is further emphasized by
the fact that as much as one per
cent breakage on the bottling
line would interfere seriously
with the economical operation of
the distillery. Fortunately, our
testing procedure is operating so
efficiently that this hazard has
been entirely removed,” Horten
stine pointed out.
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SUITS THEM FIN E—Into their life-saving suits climb
Ruth (left) and Helen Ingraham to demonstrate in New York’s
East river how the one-piece rubber garment with an East Indian
cotton vest beneath saves the lives of Norwegian seamen.
WHAT WENT DOWN MUST COME UP —Watery froth bubbles around three figures in New York’s East river while
two men on the tug’s rail prepare to dunk themselves, wearing a new one-piece rubber life-saving suit in use by the Norwegian navy on
the north Atlantic. Inside there’s a vest of East Indian cotton, and according to the Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission the materials
have been tested against m-stard gas. The demonstrators floated comfortably, then climbed aboard the tug, neither wet nor cold.