PEACE EFFORT

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24143, 9 December 1941, Page 8

PEACE EFFORT

ROOSEVELT'S MESSAGE 1 ' '• " EMPEROR OF JAPAN ! J ••SITTING ON DYNAMITE" (Eecd. 8.10 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 The text of President Roosevelt's message to the Emperor of Japan was as follows: "The people of the United States hoped for the termination of the Sino-Japanese conflict and peace in the Pacific, enabling its many diverse peoples to exist side by side without fear of invasion. They also hoped for the alleviation of the armaments burden and the resumption of commerce. "I am certain it will be clear to Your Majesty, as it is to me, that America and Japan, in seeking these objectives, should agree to eliminate any form of military threat. "During the past few weeks it has become clear that Japanese forces have been sent to Indo-China in such large numbers as to create a reasonable doubt that the concentration is not defensive in character. "It is now only reasonable that the people of the Philippines, the East Indies, Malaya and Thailand are asking whether Japan is preparing an attack. "I am sure Your Majesty understands that such fear is legitimate. I am also sure you understand why the people of the United States look askance at the establishment of bases capable of offence. It is clear that the continuance of such a situation is unthinkable. People cannot sit permanently on a keg of dynamite. There is absolutely no thought by the United States of invading Indo-China, if every Japanese soldier and sailor were withdrawn from there. I have no doubt the East Indies, Thailand, China and Malaya would undertake to refrain from invading Indo-China if the Japanese troops were withdrawn, thus assuring peace in the South Pacific. "I hope Your Majesty will give thought in this emergency to ways of dispelling the dark clouds. I am confident that both of us, for the sake of our own peoples and of humanity, have a sacred duty to restore traditional amity and prevent further death and destruction." EMBASSY PACKS UP SCENE IN WASHINGTON FEDERAL AGENTS READY (Eecd. 8.40 p.m.) WASHINGTON. Dec. 7 The special Japanese envoy to the United States, Mr. Kurusu has obtained reservations to fly from New York to San Francisco to-night. A crowd watched the Japanese Embassy staff burn official papers in the Embassy yard, and then scuttle into the building as spectators shouted "come on out." The documents were destroyed within an hour of the war starting. The police arrived as the crowd became restless and dispersed them. The State Department announced it had taken all necessary steps to protect official Japanese establishments and officials in the United State. The Japanese Embassy doors were locked at 5 p.m., when a crowd booed the last returning member of the staff. The Treasury lights blinked as officials considered what to do with Japanese assets of 130,000,000 dollars in the United States. It is understood that Kurusu and Admiral Nomura and their staffs are preparing to leave. Japanese sources said Nomura and Kurusu were astounded by the attack. Federal agents are prepared fco seize every Japanese national regarded as potentially dangerous. At Norfolk, Virginia, the site of one of the largest naval bases on the Atlantic coast,, all Japanese residents have been arrested. About 93.000 Japanese registered under the alien registration law last year, of whom 41,000 are in Hawaii. The Treasury Department has olosed the United States borders to Japanese nationals, and imposed a strict ban on any financial transactions by Japanese aliens. The Mayor of New York, Mr. Laguardia, announced to-day that he had ordered all Japanese nationals throughout the city to remain in their homes until their status had been established by the Federal Government. The police at Panama are rounding up all Japanese, holding them under heavy guard. MORE SHOTS IN PARIS ANOTHER GERMAN WOUNDED CLOSE RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED (Eecd. 8.55 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 8 The Berlin news agenoy reports that two further attacks on German soldiers have occurred in Paris, and a lieutenant; shot last Saturday night, is likely to die. A bomb thrown at mid-day on Sunday badly damaged a Montparnasse restaurant which was occupied by German soldiers, but there were no casualties. ■ The military governor of Paris has ordered all restaurants and theatres to close at 5 p.m., and has forbidden any traffic in the Seine department between 6 p.m. and 5 a.mi Debrinon, the Vichy representative in Paris,. again appealed to the Parisians not to, support these acts of terrorism. He added: "The adversaries of French unity craftily attack the soldiers of the army of occupation who are carrying out their duties." DOGGED BY MINE FUGITIVES IN OPEN BOAT MACHINE-GUNNED FROM AIR LONDON, Nov. 26 Some Norwegians who escaped to England in a small open boat rowed desperately for hours with a floating mine, caught in the same current, bobbing about alongside. A German bomber machine-gunned them, holed the boat, killed one of the three men and badly wounded another. The boat, with the two survivors and the body of their comrade, wriß finally picked up by a British trawler. The wounded man's right arm was almost shot away, and thero were bullets in his chest and thigh. "We made our getaway from Norway during a storm," this man said. "The storm lasted four days. We hoisted a sail but then a dead calm set in. Eventually wo sighted the coast for which we were aiming, but the currents were against us and we could not get any nearer. "Then a floating mine joined us For hour after hour it bobbed about alongside and sometimes we had to rov desperately to get away from it. The next day two Nazi bombers circled us. They flow on to Norway, but then a third swooped down on us with machine-guns rattling, "The first attack made a largo hole in the bottom of the boat, and water began to flood in. One of my comrades hurled himself to the hole and then stuffed a blanket in it, ' but as he crouched down the bomber swooped again and killed him. It also peppered me, destroying my right arm, and then new off."