PACIFIC CRUISE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 18 December 1924, Page 5

PACIFIC CRUISE.

AMERICA JUSTIFIED. NO FEAR OF WAR. by gable—press association—copyright NEW YORK, Dec. 16. Ihe Tokio correspondent of the United Press states that General Itami, chief of the intelligence bureau of the Japanese General Staff, interviewed, declared that the United States was justified in holding naval manoeuvres in the Pacific, and Japan had no reason to object. General Itami said: ‘ ‘We have never considered the manoeuvres a 6 unfriendly*. Every country is doing the same thmg, and the necessity of defence justifies all such measures.” He stated that Japanese criticism of the proposed manoeuvres was the outgrowth of popular discussion by people who did not know the facts. The Pacific Ocean was a sufficient barrier to make impracticable war upon Japan by any Power on the opposite shore. General Itami said that such a war would be fought only on paper, in speeches, in imagination, and by way of the most idle speculation. It was true that there was some apprehension, but it was held by laymen unfamiliar with the situation. Despite the talk of war Japan and America were growing closer together. General Itami referred to the adoption by Japan of military training schools, following the American plan, as only one of many ideas obtained from the United States. He favoured criticism between nations, but it must be friendly to prevent bickerings. A NEW AMBASSADOR, TOKIO, Dec. 15. Mr Thuneo Matsudaiva, Vice-Minis-ter for Foreign Affairs, has been appointed Ambassador at Washington.