PACIFIC POWERS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 4 February 1944, Page 2

PACIFIC POWERS

CONFERENCE MAY BE HELD JAPANESE MANDATED TERRITORY (Rec. 11.30 a.m.) New York, Jan. 3. A conference of Pacific Powers may be held this year to discuss control of Japanese mandated territory after the war. This may be one of the outcc#ies of tile invasion of the Marshall Islands, which has raised the question of control of territory taken from the Japanese, says William Philip Simms writing in the “New York World Telegram. ’ He adds: “The accepted thesis is that there will be some sort of collective security and organisation after the war, with the United States shouldering tne main responsibility in the Pacific. The New Zealand Minister in Washington, Mr W. Nash recently suggested an international trusteeship designed to assure security in the island area and to develop the resources. Washington will probably fall into line with this view as far as it goes. But many felt that before anything like an international condominium is arranged the United States must be admitted to membership on the basis of equality with the rest of the club. After the last war Australia, New Zealand, Britain, France and others received Pacific mandates The United States neither asked for nor accepted any. Events have now proved that this decision was unwise. Without secure bases west of Honolulu the United States would hardly accept the costly and dangerous honour of undertaking the main burden of policing the Pacific.”