PATIENCE CLAIMED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20635, 10 December 1941, Page 7

PATIENCE CLAIMED

EMPEROR OF JAPAN TIRADE FROM BERLIN (Reed. Dec. 9, 2.15 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 8. A Domei broadcast of the Imperial rescript in which the Emperor of Japan declared war on Britain and the United States called on the “hallowed spirits of our Imperial ancestors, and the loyalty and courage of subjects to achieve victory.” It was added that Japan had “waited patiently, hoping the situation might be saved, but Britain and America left no other recourse but appeal to the armies.” A Berlin message quotes the Volkischer Beobachter, which says:— “It is quite certain that if it were not for Roosevelt’s interference, the European war would have been over long ago. He now fights Japan with the same hatred with which he persecuted National Socialist Germany. Roosevelt has brought the American people to the point where Churchill and Jewry wanted them.” Broadcasting throughout Japan to-day the Japanese Prime Minister, General Tojo, said: “I am convinced of victory. America put forward to Japan unacceptable demands. If Japan had accepted these conditions her prestige and the very existence of the Japanese Empire would have been in question. The Japanese people will have to reckon on a long war and from its result will depend the rise or decline of the Japanese Empire, the ruin or prosperity of Eastern Asia. I am happy that our pact with Germany and Italy, as well as the relations with Manchukuo and China have taken even closer shape.” The German radio declared that Japanese troops had begun a “peaceful entry into Bangkok and also many important points in the eastern and southern areas in accordance with the Japan-Thailand agreement.” The Rome radio said that according to the tripartite pact, the Japanese declaration meant the existence of a state of war between the Axis and the United States. The Japanese radio at Taihoku broadcast a statement that Japanese warships had surrounded Guam and all the big buildings were set on fire. The Paris radio says that the Japanese High Command claims that 40 American planes were shot down in combat, in addition to 50 destroyed on an airfield during attacks on the Philippines.