JAPAN WORRIED

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24825, 23 February 1944, Page 5

JAPAN WORRIED

STRATEGICAL FAILURE EFFECT OF CHANGES STIMULATING THE NATION (Heed. 8.15 p.m.) NEW YORK. Feb. 22 The Japanese Government shakeup is the first confession of strategical failure, but is by no means an acknowledgment of defeat, says the. New York Times in an editorial article. On the contrary, it is a warning to the Japanese people that the land of the gods is endangered. This, by all precedents, will stimulate the fanaticism of the nation to even greater exertions, At the same time, the new set-up is expected to have very concrete and practical results, which might lead to increased war production and more active and more desperate strategy, says the paper. Tojo looks more like a Japanese Hitler who has concentrated all the political, military and economic power in his hands. Tho latest changes, in addition to recent mysterious upheavals in some of Japan's biggest business houses, suggest that Japan is moving under Tojo's guidance toward Imperial Socialism, tlie equivalent of Fascism and Nazism. Pacific War Accelerating The speed with which the Pacific offensive is accelerating suggests that Japan may be forced to risk the Japanese fleet in battle, even before the critical hour of the defence of the homeland, says the Associated Press. Observers in Washington are of the opinion that the course of the American offensive is veering westward from the northward course it has followed for a year and a-half. The purpose of the change in direction has already been explained by Admiral Nimitz—the opening of a direct supply line to the Asiatic mainland. The establishment of such a line would isolate Japan from the whole of the southern half of her zone of conquest, which contains such essential raw materials as rubber and oil. The new Japanese military and naval chiefs must decide whether to make a major effort to halt the American advance now. Situation Not Concealed

It is noteworthy that the Japanese leaders are not trying to hide the seriousness of the situation from the Japanese people. The grave tenor of Japanese broadcasts and speeches and the changes in the High Command indicate that Tojo is trying to shake the nation out of its complacent apathy The Washington correspondent of the New York Herald-Tribune says that experts forecast drastic changes in Japanese major strategy following the dismissal of Field-Marshal Sugiyama and Admiral Nagano, probably including a retirement to inner defensive positions. It is pointed out that the swiftness of the Japanese move indicated that Truk was much harder hit than we ourselves believe or have been able to find out. Some sources see an attempt to concentrate responsibility in Tojo's hands so when defeat comes he can commit hara-kiri, thus absolving the rest of the High Command from blame. The Baltimore Evening Sun, quoting a Pearl Harbour despatch, says that Rear-Admiral Radford, chief of staff of the Pacific Fleet Naval Air Force, said the Japanese still lag three or four years behind us in the development of high-powered aircraft engines. This is probably the basic reason that they were knocked out, so readily at Truk, Eniwetok and elsewhere.