PEACE IN THE PACIFIC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19390, 27 July 1926, Page 9

PEACE IN THE PACIFIC.

EFFORT TO PRESERVE. FEARS OF A CONFLICT. JAPAN'S FRIENDLY ATTITUDE. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received 8.5 p.m.) A. and N.Z. SYDNEY. July 26. The Japa/iese Consul-General for Australia, Mr. I. Tokugawa, who has - just investigated the condition of Japanese residents in Queensland, was interviewed in Brisbane. He expressed himself as being well pleased. Mr. Tokugawa said Japan's relations with Australia must always be friendly. Ihe Japanese Government and people desired that all nations bordering on the Pacific should co-operate in the noble work of maintaining t,he peace of the Pacific. They would thus help toward ensuring universal peace. The general secretary of the Institute of Pacific Relations, Mr. J. Merle Davis, of Honolulu, is on a visit to Australia. He is gathering information to submit to a conference of the institute, which is to be held at Honolulu in July, 192?. The organisation is an unofficial body composed of business men. Their objective is to study questions which concern the Pacific and to remove existing racial friction by substituting facts for fears and suspicions. Mr. Davis has already visited Japan. He says he was much impressed by the circle of fear which exists right around the Pacific. He asserts that America is afraid of certain elements of Japanese life' and that Japan is desperately afraid of America's economic penetration and militarism. Japan is also afraid of China and Russia, says Mr. Davis, and China is much afraid of Japan, as is also Australia. The institute hopes if possible to avert a future conflict between the East and the 'West. It does not think it is possible to do this itself, Mr. Davis says, but it is making m appeal to the intelligent people of the various countries involved to make an effort to avert such a catastrophe. Mr. Davis will visit New Zealand before he returns to Honolulu.