SECURITY IN PACIFIC

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 39, 15 August 1944, Page 6

SECURITY IN PACIFIC

AUSTRALIA & ROOSEVELT

(Special P.A. Correspondent,) Rec. 9.30 a.m. SYDNEY, August 15. The tenor of President Roosevelt's statement on the post-war control of the Pacific has found general approval in Australia. Collaboration as outlined in the Australian-New Zealand agreement signed last January, is seen as an essential feature of the security arrangements to.be made for this part of the world. "President Roosevelt put with overwhelming logic the view that this problem is not American, nor British, nor Australian, but that it could only be solved by the give and take of a United Nations' control,", said the Sydney "Sun" editorially. "The hope of the world lies in collaboration, particularly of the two great English-speaking peoples. And collaboration entails some reasonable accommodation. "Any danger in the Pacific must be a danger equally affecting American and Empire security there, and particularly the security of Australia and New Zealand." JAPS MAY TRY AGAIN. Viewing the United States as the chief protector of the United Nations' Pacific interests the "Sun" voices the fear that pride, vengeance, and hate some day may lead Japan to dispute again the hegemony of the Pacific. The paper suggests as a safeguard some form of international defence control, not affecting the practical aspects of island sovereignty and the setting-up of a secretariat by the participating nations. "There is solid encouragement for Australia and New Zealand in the earnestness with which President Roosevelt addresses himself to the problem of securing the future peace of this region against aggression," says the "Sydney Morning Herald" editorially. "His preliminary suggestions, tentative and broad as they are, open the way for a continuance of the fruitful Allied wartime co-operation in drawing up a design for Pacific peace. ANZAC PACT FITS SCHEME. "Into his broad picture, the Austra-lian-New Zealand conception of a southern Pacific zone of security, embodied in the Anzac Pact, neatly fits. We ourselves must rely on a protective screen of ' islands which can be developed to full advantage only with the permanent collaboration of our American, Dutch, and French allies. "With our small population and limited industrial resources it is not enough to hold vital strategic points; we shall require help from other Powers in making effective use of them in an emergency." . "Few Australians will dispute America's right to take over the bases formerly held by Japan," comments the Sydney "Telegraph." "These bases will not only ensure America s safety, but also help us to protect ourselves. The paper adds that economic and commercial, as well as defence questions will be involved in the control of the Pacific islands. Only the use of great tact, honesty, and good will will make possible the reaching of an agreement between the United Nations. Australia must put forward every effort towards collaboration. ________—.