DIRECT APPEAL

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20634, 9 December 1941, Page 5

DIRECT APPEAL

JAP. EMPEROR ROOSEVELT’S MESSAGE EARLIER DOCUMENTS 'Elee. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (Reed. Dec. 9, 9 am..) WASHINGTON, Dec. 7. _ The text of President Roosevelt’s message to the Emperor of Japan is. “The people of the United States hoped for the termination of the SinoJapanese conflict and peace in the Pacific, enabling many diverse peoples to exist side by side without fear oi invasion. They also hoped for an alleviation of the armaments burden and a resumption of commerce. “I am certain it will be clear to Your Majesty, as it is to me, that America and Japan, in seeking these objectives, should agree to eliminate any form of military threat. During the past few weeks it has become clear that the Japanese forces sent to Indo-China were in such large numbers as to create reasonable doubt that the concentration was not defensive in character. It is now only reasonable that the people of the Philippines, the East Indies, Malaya and Thailand are asking whether Japan is preparing for attack. lam also sure you understand why the United States people look askance at the establishment of bases capaole o* offence. It is clear that a continuance of such a situation is unthinkable. People cannot sit permanently on a keg of dynamite- “ There is absolutely no thought by the United States of invading IndoChina. ~ _ , “I have no doubt that the East Indies, Thailand, China and Malaya would undertake to refrain Irom invading Indo-China if the Japanese troops are withdrawn, thus assunng peace in the south Pacific. “I hope Your Majesty will give thought in this emergency to ways ot dispelling the dark clouds. I am confident that both of us, for tn e sake of our own peoples and humanity, have a sacred duty to restore traditional amity and prevent further death and destruction.” Terms of Settlement

The Secretary of State, Mr. Cordell Hull, has released the text of his document of November 26 setting out the terms of R general settlement. They provided for the following: (1) The withdrawal of forces from Indo-China. . (2) Recognition of Marshal Chiang Kai-Shek. (3) The United States and Japan to give up territorial rights in China and atttempt to persuade Britain and other nations to do likewise. (4) America and Japan to negotiate a trade agreement and unfreeze each other's credits and stabilise the dollar and yen rate. (5) America and Japan to attempt to negotiate a non-aggression pact between the British Empire, China, Japan, the Netherlands East Indies, Russia, Thailand and the United Stcitcs. Mr. Hull has also released Japan’s reply, which completely rejects the American proposals and accused the Administration of conspiring with Britain and others to thwart the Japanese “new order.” It added that America was “obsessed with her own views and opinions and is scheming for an extension of the war and seeking to attack Italy and Germany, who are striving to establish a new order in Europe. America completely ignored the Japanese claims and also acted in bad faith by continuing to assist Chiang Kai-Shek. Japan’s reply professed an honest desire for Pacific peace. It revealed that Prince Konoye proposed to meet President Roosevelt in August, but America, while accepting in principle insisted that the meeting should occur only after a general agreement had been reached. Further Japanese Proposals

The reply added that Japan submitted a series of proposals on September 25, but failed to secure agreement, for which reason Japan submitted new proposals on November 20, consisting principally of the following points:— . . (1) America and Japan to retrain from sending armed forces in the south Pacific except to Indo-China. (2) America and Japan to collaborate in securing desired goods from the East Indies. (3) America and Japan to restore normal trade relations. . (4) America to agree to refrain from preventing a Chinese-Japanese peace. (5) Japan to withdraw her troops from Indo-China, provided a ChineseJapanese peace and also stabilisation in the Pacific were first established. Mr. Hull revealed that he rejected these proposals and then submitted his document of November 26. Mr. Hull, even before he heard ot the Japanese attack, made agreement impossible by describing the Japanese reply as “crowded with infamous falsehoods and distortions.” He had a further outburst of anger when he heard of the attack, describing it as treacherous and utterly unprovoked.