IN THE PACIFIC

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 187, 27 April 1918, Page 8

IN THE PACIFIC

JAPAN WILL PRESERVE PEACE

FRIENDSHIP FOR BRITAIN

The Consul-General for Japan, Mr.S. Shimizu, in the course of an interesting I address on "Japan and the Peace of the Pacific," delivered at Sydney.a few days ago, said: — The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was first signed on January 30, 1902, since when it has been revised on two occasions, tho first being on August 12, 1905, and tho second on July 31, 1911. Prior to the establishment of this Alliance, Russia was regarded (and in Home quarters feared) as an ambitious and aggressive military Power, in endeavouring to obtain tile control of ice-free ports in tho Pacific, and to threaten the existing interests in East India. Germany was ready and willing to assist Russia in these projects, and to go to greater lengths in-or-der to obtain political or commercial advantages for herself. In Groat Britain it was the late lamented lung Edward VII who fully realised these conditions, and the situations they created, andi who strongly urged adequate measures 1 , to be adopted for the prevention of possible trouble, in spite of the great difficulties' which then beset any British authorities who would suggest a departure from the time-honoured policy of "splendid isolation." And it was these efforts on his then Britannic Majesty's part which secured for him the well-earned title of "tho peacemaker." Our late Emperor, who will be known to history as Sloiji Tcnno, was also one of the greatest mouarchs who have occupied a throne, ' and he was perfectly ready to grasp the extended hand of tho famous British King. Thus was tho foundation laid of tho guarantee of tho general peace of the Ear Eaßt, a foundation as solid as a rock. It is interesting to discover, in the speeches of prominent British and other statesmon, the different opinions held in different quarters upon this tremendously important alliance.' On March 17, 1914, Mr. Churchill, Eirst Lord of the Admiralty, said in the British House of Commons: "Our obligations with Japan provide against (that is to say, rendered unnecessary) an increase of the European squadrons (it is to bo presumed he meant British) in the Far East, and there is no reason to supposo that Japan will need Britain's friendship any the less after the expiry of the Alliance in 1921."

I may add here that the bond between Britain and Jayan secured the safety and maintained tTie reposo of Australia. That speooil very quickly evoked in tho Commonwealth of Australia and Now Zealand expressions of dissatisfaction and misgiving, and public statements were made attributing ulterior motives to Japan. Some of those expressions are interesting to recall at the present moment, in view ot the circumstance.* which has transpired in the interim. One of those prominent public gentlemen, in alluding to the matter, expressed the hope that the good understanding with Japan might continue indefinitely, but he went on to say that "The pages of history aro strewn with the wreefcage of fruitless alliances. The point of this remark, as one of Charles Dickens's characters would say, lies in its application. And what nece-v'ty there wis for this gentlem.in to indulge in sn'li a reflection on such an occasion is beyond my comprehension. Another one said: "1 am not findii.gr fault with the Imperial authorities, but' there is no reason' why the iaUiii" should be unprotected, no' reason wliy we should have no defence " r r our trede routes. ... If war comes 'it wiU come very suddenly,, even in the Pacific, wlieM there are possible enemies of the Empire, and we cannot allow the present-pusiHoii to continue."

The foregoing •emarks ivero made w'lh reference to the necessity for Australia and New Zealand to defend themselves, and the combined foreknowledge or ability of the prominent statesmai of ihat time to gauge the future was clouded b} fears of trouble from the north. About that time, also, one 8.-itish general was reported to have made the following remarkable utterances in Auckland, New Zealand:—

"The Pacific, despite its charming name, is, if anything, more storniy than some less distinguished parts of the globe, and while we would ail deplore such a contingency, it was conceivable that in the future, apart from the storms, of Nature, there winll be gre<vt».r and more terrible convulsions than in the past. That is to say, that the Pacific would be the meeting ground not of nations but of continents, and here it may be decided whether Asiatics or Europeans were going to guide the destinies of this planet." '

Concerning tnese utterances, 1 can only say that they are evidences that the honourable gentlemen who gave vent to • them were suffering irom political nightmures, caused, as .physical nigntniures are, by indigestion. Tney had swallowed too greedily the. vales which wo now find were maiiuiactured iu Germany, and their disturbed imaginations and frightful apparitions were the result.

It is, as I said' before, most interesting to recall sucn expressions at tue present time, tor a lew moutiis alter Uieir utterance tue present war broke out. 'mat was between ijiii'optan nations, Out not uumeeu coiianeitio, ana tute must itdve been in an ironical moon to eciuoe tue Japanese ami .British armies anu navies to be ligiiung siue uy siut, against We German stronguolds M "jviuo-uiuu, ijrithsn and Japanese noeia cnasiug and uoiubartung ueiumn.raiding bu.uaiirui.oiu tue rauiio Ucwiii, anu jjpaiiwis waionips convoying Australian auu Aew transports 111 tno mdiau Ucean. let i nave not neuru auiiiuritauveiy mat any or tnese prominent have publicly expressed regret, iur tneir uiiaiuken utterances.

Tno Anglo-J apauese Alliance has been baptised in blood, liiitisu aud Japanesu biuwi, and blood, we are told, is tuickur than water. And tue iiritisn ana Japan-, ese nations, tugether witn other brave Allies, are fouud to bo determined to stand or fall together iu ddending eacb bluer against Ike common foe. It is sureiy time that Uie national aims of Japan, as i nave tried to explain tliem, and Her proved iitlelily, were clearly understood and acknowledged, oven in this quarter 01 the fr'oli?. You may rest assured, come what may, during or after the war, Japan will be found protecting the general peace of the Pacific with all her power, and indefatigably and energetically endeavouring to nee that reason and justice and the common interests of mankind shall prevail there, instead of the brutal forces of militarism, with all their man-degrading and soul-destroying consequences. One other point which I should like to touch upon, and which may perhaps bo regarded with more interest in Australia than in any other parts of th«> world, is the final disposition of the late German colonies on the littoral of the Pacific Ocean, sucn as Kiao-Chao, Gorman New Guinea, and Marshall and Caroline Islands, and Samoa, which were_ all captured by the combined forces of Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. These colonies had been acquired by Germany, ostensibly for purposes of peaceful trade and commerce, but actually, as lifts now been disclosed, for strategic reasons, as naval and military bases. According to all appearances it should be centuries before Prussian militarism can be trusted by Australia or Japan to occupy any territory so closo to our respective shores. It is therefore tue<,truiig desire of Japan, as woll as of Australia and New Zealand, that .these colonies shall not bo handed back to Germany, as, if they were so handed back, the poace of the Pacific could not bo regarded as secure from 'the operations of a threatened and dangerous element. In conclusion, let me express my earnest hopo that tho terrible strugglo now apparently approaching its culmination in Prance may result in a decisive victory for tho Allied forces, so that the peace of the world may bo firmly established for all time, and a perfect understanding fostered and cemented between peoples on the littoral of the Pacific Ocean, and a freo development of peaceful commerce aud intercourse be assured.