PROBLEMS OF THE PACIFIC.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 192, 15 August 1925, Page 10

PROBLEMS OF THE PACIFIC.

NOTABLE JOURNALIST'S VIEWS JAPAN'S GREAT STRENGTH. Interesting phases of the problems confronting the nations of the Pacific-were outlined by Mr. Francis McCullagh, special correspondent with the American fleet, now in Wellington, in the course of a lecture recently.

After referring to Japan as "the shadow of the armed man" over the Pacific, the lecturer said he did not think there would be any objection by the Japanese to a frank discussion on the problem of the Pacific. It was concealment and suspicion which led to misunderstandings, and finally to war. He had studied the Pacific from the American point of view, read of the Australian, New Zealand, and the British points of view, and, having spent ten years in Eastern Asia, chiefly Singapore and Japan, he had learnt to understand the. Asiatic point of view. Japan in many ways resembled Prussia; it was ruled by a naval and military clique. From the three wars in which they had participated within the past 30 years the Japanese had obtained great gains, and, unfortunately, they looked upon war as a profitable business. They were certainly displeased at the way in which the surface of the world was divided amongst the white and coloured races. They did not claim the right to annex any part of the British Empire in the Pacific, but they said they had a right to migrate there. About 60 years ago the planters of Hawaii imported Japanese to their islands, and to-day the country there was dominated by the Japanese.

The great country of Mexico was becoming an Indian country through the mixture of the races. Latin America was the strongest proof of the wisdom of the "white Australia" policy. The Japanese were superior to most other coloured races, and he would like to see them remain a pure race. But port wine and sherry was not a good combination. (Laughter.) Japanese diplomats had been busy at Geneva, and he thought diplomats on behalf of the interests of the Outer Empire should get busy there also. He would not advise them to lean too much on England in case of war in the Pacific, because the late war had given England a hard knock, and it would be a mistake to think that a whole English fleet would come here to help. The unsettled state of Europe also would prevent the whole of the British fleet from coming out.

He had had many opportunities of studying the Japanese fleet, and he thought it was one of tremendous strength. The Japanese possessed nearly all the strategical points in the Pacific, and a series of fortresses which were almost impregnable. The Japanese officers were of a good class, though some were rather dull, and the sailors were nearly all seafaring men from the fishing fleets—men who knew the sea. The Am?rican admirals were great tacticians, and the officers of the American navy went through a very severe and scientific course—even more scientific than the courses at the British naval academies. The short training term of the American sailors—four years—was a drawback, but the Americans said they did not need to teach seamanship to gunners or telegraphists, and endeavoured to obtain the greatest efficiency by securing the greatest experts in each department of the fleet. There was a good deal to be said for the American theory; it might revolutionise warfare. The most serious defect in the American navy was the absence of naval bases in the Pacific.

After referring to "Japan's dangerous state of excitement" caused by the present visit of the American fleet. Mr. McCullagh 6aid that personally he did not think things were so very serious. During his residence in Japan' it struck him that the Japanese were concerned mostly in China. Their thoughts were riveted on China, and they must have control of China before they could launch any other attack. With control of China's mines and coal fields Japan would be in an extremely strong position. America was adverse to Japan's obtaining control of China, and presumably she was supported by Britain in that regard.