SIBERIAN BASES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21261, 25 November 1943, Page 3

SIBERIAN BASES

GRANT TO U.S. LIKELY SOVIET AID PREDICTED WAR AGAINST JAPAN (10.30 a.m.) NEW YORK, Nov. 23. American observers in Russia believe that the Soviet Union will grant the United States military bases against Japan as soon as the American forces demonstrate their ability to hold the bases against any possible Japanese attack. This was stated by the general secretary of the Institute of Pacific Relations, Mr. A. D. Ward Carter, on his return from a tour of China, Russia and India. Mr. Carter explained that the Soviet attitude towards Japan was originally motivated by Marshal Stalin’s determination to avoid a two-front war. However, with the Wehrmacht definitely on the run, Russia probably feels strong enough to guard her eastern flank and, after Germany’s defeat, will easily discover Japanese violations of the treaty of neutrality to justify granting the Allies eastern land, sea and air bases. Mr. William Holland, a member of the staff of the institute, who accompanied Mr. Carter, said that Chinese inflation had reached a runaway stage, in which industry had been seriously curtailed because manufacturers found it more profitable to hoard raw material than to produce.

The morale of American servicemen in China had been seriously affected by inflation, poor living conditions, and lack of prospect of early action against Japan.