Japan Sees U.S.A. Poised For War

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 102, 1 May 1941, Page 7

Japan Sees U.S.A. Poised For War

PATROL EXTENSION TOKIO, April 29. The newspaper Kokuroin Shimbun declared to-day that the United States’ decision to extend its patrol in the Atlantic waters of the Western Hemisphere “means that the United States is only a step from entering the war.” The Times-Advertiser, which is controlled by the Japanese Foreign Office, carried the headline: “War Worry Causes General Price Drop” over a story which said: “Concern is felt on the New York market that the United States is bracing itself to take a catastrophic plunge into the European War, and this has caused a wholesale fall in stocks.” (It should be noted that the TimesAdvertiser’s comment on the New York stock market is inaccurate. Since the Balkan defeat, the general tendency has been for prices tp move irregularly upwards.) The Times-Advertiser, in an editorial, said: “The possibility of peace terms rests upon the United States; hence the United States holds the power of decision. A grave responsibility rests upon President Roosevelt’s shoulders at this critical hour.” The usually temperate newspaper Asahi described the United States as “going headlong into war,” and said: “The grim determination of Mr Roosevelt to take the offensive against the Axis Powers means the letting loose of American patrols on all the seas of the world for the purpose of convoying United States transports carrying war material* to Britain ”