JAPAN’S MAIN CONCERN

Grey River Argus, 18 April 1940, Page 8

JAPAN’S MAIN CONCERN

PRESERVATION OF FREE TRADE. IN EAST INDIES. (Received April 17, 9-5 p.m.? NEW YORK, April 16. The Tokio correspondent of the United Press says: According to a reliable informant, the Japanese Got ernment is agreeable to an arrangement b v which a number of Powers would protect the Dutch East Indies, provided that Japan would be assured of the continuation of her economic rights in the Indies. U.S.A. RISE. IN PACIFIC FREIGHT. (Received April 17, 11.15 p.m.) NEW YORK, April 17. Cargo rates to the Far East have been raised by fifty per cent. Japanese Government bonds have declined by six points. The “New York Herald-Tribune’ points out that Britain’s and. the United States’ trade interests in the Dutch East Indies exceed Japan’s trade interests there. It adds: “Since Japan has been the major disturber of peace in East Asia for a decade, her claim to the right to extend police power southward elicits . only derision and resentment irom the United States. If Japan tries to assert naval supremacy on Singapore's doorstep, she will certainly not be long in stumbling into war, and in forfeiting what little American consideration she still enjoys.”