ARMED AND READY.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 132, 5 June 1923, Page 5

ARMED AND READY.

JAPAN'S CONDITION.

PROBLEMS OF PACIFIC.

(By D. G. GERAHTY, formerly of Renter's Staff in Japan).

Whenever the subject of the possibility of a Far Kastern cataclysm on the lines of the last war is discussed, there arc armchair theorists who airily dismiss the whole matter as absurd by profoundly stating that Japan could not stand 'the economic drain of another war; nor could she provide the raw material. Not only is this very widely held theory exceedingly dangerous, but it is the most arrant nonsense. Japan today is in very much the same position in which Germany stood in the year 1014. She has been taxed up to the limit of her capacity for many years, for the purpose of building up an efficient army and navy, which have scarcely been used. The people who have paid for these luxuries are demanding that they get some value for their money. Public opinion ns much as any single thing forced Oermany to bring matters to a head, and great internal pressure is being brought to >bear in Japan to-day, with much the same arguments. Whatever else may be said to the detriment of the Japanese people aspersions cannot truthfully be cast upon their patriotism, for there is probably no nation in the world of whose life patriotism has become so great a part. The "Dai Nippon." or Japan über alles creed, is taught to the Japanese from infancy upwards, until it is no mere dream, but a very intense passion uppermost in the breast of every son ot Nippon. There is the Dai Nippon Brewery and numerous proprietary articles are sold under the Dai Nippon trade-mark; one cannot forget it any more than the Englishman can forget that there is such a thing as Beechams Pills or Pear's Soap. A nation, then, so keyed up to a concert pitch of love of 'country, and a nation, further, that is very Spartan in its life, has a tremendous power of endurance which would be of inestimable value in time of war. Even admitting for the purpose of argument that, in the event of war, Japan would suffer from a severe shortage of food, the country would have an infinitely greater vitality than any other nation after passingthrough the same ordeal. If Japan were blockaded efficiently and her communications cut off from the outside world and the sources of supply, there would undoubtedly l)e a shortage of rice, the staple article of diet. It has become extraordinarily noticeable, however, in recent years trt what extent rice is being supplanted as an article .if diet by beans. One does not have to look far to see the reason for this. During the RussoJapanese War, Japan acquired a huge strip of territory—Russian Manchuria —which had been leased by China to Russia. This part of Manchuria is perhaps the greatest bean-growing couni try in the whole world, and its pro- ; duce is available for Japanese consump- ■ tion at any time should it be needed. - There is enough of beans and wheat to a render it unnecessary for Japan to seek . elsewhere for supplies. In addition there . is Korea, another great food-producing • country, separated from Shimonoseki by t a short sea passage of a few hours, with : excellent rail transport on both Bides. There is a very small chance of Japan ; starving. In the matter of armaments, Japan is now practically independent of other countries. Korea will provide all the steel she is likely to need, and her arsenals can turn out anything, from . the latest battle-cruiser to n machine- . gun.

The war may never come, but the possibility is there, and in the final issue, perhaps, lies tlie fate of Australasia. It would be a war of expansion; a war for the supremacy of the Pacific. The nation that rules the Pacific is going to expand in the most logical places for it to expand. Do not make the mistake of belittling your opponent, but. rather, look at the matter from his point of view. Every country on both sides of the Pacific is closed to Japanese expansion. She must expand, just as surely as the full"pitcher will overflow. The possibilities lie in Australia, China (to a very limited extent), British Columbia, California, and the other Pacific States of the Union, and also to a very limited patent in South America. From this list Siberia is absent, for the reason that, for the time being, it is impracticable. A small number nf Japanese are constantly going to China, but the number must always be limited, because China herself is very much, over-populated. The Japanese are not attracted towards South America, which could only take a very small number of immigrants. The only countries which remain are British I Columbia, California, and Australasia, I and to all of these admittance is denied to yellow immigrants. The Japanese j would never be so foolish a< to try to ■j force conclusions with the United ■States in American waters, and. for the reason that America and Canada in this matter arc one, Uritish Columbia may he ' left out of the reckoning.

There remains Australasia. Would America bo likely to take any active steps to prevent Japanese from settling iti this eountrv? She would have at least tiie breadth of tiie Pacitie between her and them, which is all she ask- f.,r, |and mifrht l>o relieved if the problem \ could be settled at the expense o> gome ( other country. The situation is too ; cruelly obvious for further elaboration. LAn overflowing population—and the line !of least resi-t.incc.