WAR STOCKS IN JAPAN

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 295, 10 September 1941, Page 7

WAR STOCKS IN JAPAN

Huge Accumulation ECONOMIC POSITION SURVEYED (British Official Wireless.) (Received September 9, 7.5 p.m.) RUGBY, September 8. A warning against under-estimat-ing Japan’s economic position and misunderstanding the increasing shortage of commodities offered for consumption is given in the current issue of the “Economist.” Supplies, it is stated, are large enough to cover Japanese wartime requirements for periods ranging in various goods from six to 15 months. It is estimated that they will permit Japan, while continuing the war in China, to face the AngloAmerican trade embargo for about a year or allow her to fight a southward blitzkrieg for some six months. Germany’s attack on Russia was not foreseen in Tokio and the new situation thereby created led the Japanese fighting services to demand an urgent further increase in war stocks so as to enable them to face, besides the continuation of the China war and the Anglo-American embargo or a southern blitzkrieg, aggressive action against Russia in ease it should collapse before the German onslaught. After Japan’s adherence to the tripartite pact, the complete apparatus of the German-financed economic and technical advisers was imported and superimposed by the Tokio War Offic® upon the whole of Japan's finance and economy. This apparatus of the German advisers is chiefly responsible for a huge accumulation of war stocks. These Germans are also responsible for the increasing difficulties of the current industrial production and for a decrease in the supply of commodities for civilian consumption in Japan. The accumulation in Japan of large additional stocks pf war supplies was accomplished, first, through the sys tematic economizing of war and other materials originally earmarked for use in China, secondly, by the continued tightening up during the past 12 months of Japan’s foreign trade and foreign exchange controls and reducing exports to the minimum required by the foreign exchange needs;'and. thirdly, by a further curtailment of civilian consumption all along the line. The writer adds, however: “influential Japanese military and naval leaders recently have become critical and are plainlj’ paying attention to the suggestion of private big business that production should be encouraged by the old standard methods of increasing prices and allowing higher private profits on war and related materials.”