DANGEROUS AND CRITICAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 6 October 1936, Page 3

DANGEROUS AND CRITICAL

BUT NOT WITHOUT HOPE ; I ! SITUATION IN PACIFIC j (United Press Association) WELLINGTON, This Day. “The situation in the Pacific, though dangerous and critical, struck me as being not without, elements of hope and promise,” said the Rev. H. W. Newell, who returned to Wellington on Saturday after attending the Institute of Pacific Relations Conference at Yosemite, California, and the Pacific Area Conference of the Student Christian Federation at Oakland, California. ' “There is increased recognition of the necessity of finding room for j every nation in the economy of na- ; tions," continued Mr Newell, “and among the large number of able minds clearly informed of the facts of the situation and steadily working toward a solution, not a few are found in the British Commonwealth of Nations.” Sir Kenneth Wigram, one of the British delegation, Mr Newell said had summed up the thoughts of many of the delegates when he said: “There is much to fear; many actions are aggravating suspicion, but the remedy clearly lies in a more liberal recognition of each nation’s duty to its neighbour.” “The United States was the first country under review,” Mr Newell continued. “President Roosevelt’s New Deal was carefully examined from the point of view of its repercussions on other Pacific countries.

AMERICAN CANDOUR “Americans had the difficult task of explaining the present trend of American policy. The Japanese delegates in particular were anxious to know how America stood with regard to its traditional open door policy in China and whether the granting of independence to the Phillipines was an indication of their desire. to pursue a self-contained American policy in the future. The Americans had to admit that their country’s policy is liable to variation and is much influenced by the difficult internal situation in the United States. On'e could not help but admire the candour and vigorous independence of American thought as represented at the conference.” I JAPAN’S SENSE OF DESTINY The Japanese delegates had not emerged so well when the policy of their country was being scrutinised. The question of food shortage in Japan, the rapidly increasing population, and the shortage of raw materials for industry were matters ably put forward as being the reasons for Japanese expansion in the Far East and in the markets of the world. Many delegates with intimate knowledge of Japan, however, had been inclined to stress another factor which had to be remembered, and that was Japan’s sense of destiny in the present world situation. “They are a people with a profound belief in their own national mission in the world,” Mr Newell continued. “They may be better expressed by saying that they desire to preserve for the world the culture and spiritual life of the Far Eastern peoples and to protect it from the cheapening Western materialism would bring.

“The situation is exceedingly complex because the Japanese seem decidedly frightened of Communistic propaganda and are prepared to go to considerable lengths to keep it out. This fear is also crossed by the enormous influence of the great financial families in Japan. One must say about Japan, therefore, as one has to in every country, that no one factor can be put down as the prevailing influence in politics to-day. The Japanese were exceedingly sensitive to Western criticism and were in sharp contrast to the American admission of mistakes.”

RUSSIA EAGER TO CO-OPERATE

Soviet Russia was the next country studied. Mr Motiley, leader of the Russian delegation, had shown a real willingness to collaborate with the other nations who were anxious to work for a peaceful and ordered society. He said: “The Soviet republics have no need for foreign trade, but that does not mean that we have no desire to develop economic relations with foreign countries; our trade with such countries will be dependent on the conditions of that trade.” Russia, said Mr Newell, was not a competitor for Pacific trade, as she was too deeply concerned in building up her own internal economy. With regard to Japan, the Russians had hinted at a possible connection between Japan and Germany against Russia, but the Japanese delegates, who ought to know, had given the suggestion a categorical denial.

“BELGIUM OF THE EAST” A great deal of the discussion had revolved round the question of Outer Mongolia, where a real battle of ideals was taking place. At the present time the Soviet type of economy was in the ascendency and Japanese capital was seeking fresh entry there. Some delegates thought Outer Mongolia the danger spot of the world at the present time, describing it as “The Belgium of the East” because three great civilisations, those of China, Japan and Russia, meet at "that spot. That had to be borne in mind in thinking of Japanese encroachment in northern China. The Chinese delegation was, of course, in* a chastened and anxious frame of mind. They were thoroughly disillusioned about European nations and felt helpless in view of their own internal differences. It was striking to notice the martial spirit in even the most strongly pacifist people from China. Mr Newell said the Yosemite conference had formed an admirable back-ground for the deliberations of

the Pacific Area Conference of the World Student Christian Federation, which had followed immediately afterwards at Oakland, California. About 150 representatives of some 14 nations in the Pacific came together to consider the situation .from the point of view of the Christian way out. As one delegate put it, “It is not that we know the way out of our difficulties, but we know of an address, where we can apply for the way out.” The whole conference was, as it were, a prolonged inquiry at that address where the sources of a changed life and a changed economy of nations, which the Yosemite conference longed for, might be found.