Japanese Visitors to Australia

NZ Truth, Issue 1029, 15 August 1925, Page 3

Japanese Visitors to Australia

And Some Facts Concerning Espionage

(Adapted from Melbourne "Truth.") A COUPLE of weeks ago the daily press published two unobtrusive personal paragraphs, which informed the Australia 1 ! public that two distinguished Japanese scholars had arrived m the Commonwealth to spend a few weeks. Both are from Tokio. ' ONE explains his presence t>y stating that' he is here to study Australian horse racing conditions and' courses, m order to place his observations at the disposal of the Tokio Race Club, which proposes to spend a large sum of money on an up-to-date racecourse. iTHE other is less recondite. He is a student of philosophy, and is here for a look round.

While Australia will, no doubt, appreciate the compliment of the racing enthusiast m coming here to model Japanese equine sports on Australian conditions at their very worst, it will be quite understandable if some of them ask themselves: Is it not remarkable that this Japanese gentleman picked the slackest part of the racing season m which to carry out his observations? • The conditions of racing at Shanghai, Hongkong, and Manila are quite as much up-to-date as those of Australia, and they are much closer to Japan. "Listening In" But, what these cities cannot offer is a close-up view of the American Fleet of 1925 m the relaxation of a wet port, at the end of a series of manoeuvres that are of the utmost importance to the Government of Japan. Such details as coal consumption, armament, and factors of manoeuvrability will be invaluable m bringing the records of the Japanese Naval Office right up to date. There is nothing- to be gained toy blinking at facts, and the sooner the, people of this country realise that the

Japanese loathe us just as much asthey loathe the United States, the sooner will pressure be brought to bear on the Federal Government to handle the little brown men of Japan, m the same way that they handle Australians who visit Hondo to ' have a look at the Cherry blossoms. The spy system of Japan is, probably, the most complete example of intelligence organisation m the modern world. Modelled on the general principles which operated m the Wilhelmstrasse before Germany became a republic, but infinitely more detailed, it constantly pours m a stream of information from all other parts of the world on commercial and. military subjects, which is being used by the" Administration to 'build up and co-or-dinate the commercial and military activities of Nippon to a, point when she will 'be more than a match for any other first-class power m existence. Ostrich And Australia— although the Federal Government refuses to see it — is at present receiving close attention from organised Japanese spies. A -well- informed naval official informed .the writer of this article that his department was aware that the headquarters of this spy system was m Brisbane, and that a former officer of the Japanese army, who fought m the Port Arthur operations, is at the head of it, though he disguises his real mission by conducting several businesses. ■ This outpost of the brown army of Japan meets regularly, and is closely watched by our own intelligence staff, though, so far as any record of their discoveries at Naval Headquarters goes to show, they are not learning very much of what is going 1 on, despite the fact that there are many sinister things happening along "he thousands of miles of our coast line north of the Tropic of Capricorn. But, before detailing these, an idea of how the Japanese spy system is organised m Australia will be timely. Japan uses the Continental system of compulsory military service, and combs the higher reaches of intelligence m each year's batch for the foreign service. Those selected are given intensive courses m military and naval strategy. Contrary to the practices of other nations, most of these men are rankers, with a thorough knowledge of some commercial trade. When they have reached the required stage of efficiency they are shipped as steerage passengers to the countries m which their future work will lie. As this is not possible here, o\dng to the White Australia Act, the process is a little different — they are smuggled m from the Dutch islands m the Torres Straits, just the same as they will be smuggled into the U.S.A. from Canada m the future. How Spies Are Organised ' The personnel of the spy army is constantly movjng about and changing. When one slips away furtively through the North to the land of the Rising Sun, another takes his place and his name. But there is a bedrock staff which is always with us m the shape of laundrymen, >pearl divers, •fishermen, cabinetmakers, and traders m miscellaneous merchandise. All of them have had military service, are expert m their own departments, and still actively on the army lists and pay rolls. , " But on any special occasion, when interesting things are happening m the Commonwealth, there is always an influx of "bigger fish" from ( Tokio. For instance, when the recent Pan-Pacific Conference met, no fewer than i's important Japanese, headed by the noted diplomat, Count Ypshi, and containing five politicians, visited us. They were not much interested m science, but they were vitally concerned about the Great Barrier Reef, which had d,isclosed its great commercial possibilities to Professor Richards., of Brisbane, and Mr. Hedley, of the Sydney Museum. But behind it all lay the sinister moves 'that have been going on all along the Queensland coast for the past five years.

Australians are encouraged to think that the number of little brown men on Federal territory is negligible, arid that it is confined to suburban laundries and pearling boats, under the supervision of British firms. The last census shows a very different state of affairs. There are, officially, 1300 Japs and 100 half-castes living m Queensland alone, which is another way of saying m the country bordering on the Torres Straits. However, people who have been to North Queensland, . traders or seafaring men, will tell you that those figures are entirely unrepresen? tative, and that, m reality, there are 5000 or more Japanese north of Rockhampton. ,Most of these own their own businesses, and hays taken complete charge of our pearling waters and the trocus shell and trepang industries. Just Plain Piracy The White Australia Law is no protection at all from these people. They concentrate on the Dutch islands and slip across at any point along the thousands of miles of unguarded Australian coast-line bordering Torres Straits. Boatload after boatload of them may be seen, at different times of the year, m the Gulf of Carpentaria,

• stealing our sandal-wood, prospecting for gold, stealing cattle, and carrying on every form of villainy with their tongues m their cheeks. In a word, the Japs own Northern Australia, have explored every inch of it, and are taking away thousands of pounds worth of produce from it for which, naturally, they never pay Customs duties. The Japanese invasion is well under Avay, and this paper considers it a duty to put it that way, bluntly, to its readers m the hope that publicity will make an end of our ostrich-with-its-head-in-the-sand attitude towards Japan. And to the American Fleet, fresh from its important naval manoeuvres, the menace of the Japanese spy organisation m this country cannot be too strongly emphasised. In Australia, they, will expect to find the U.S.A. off its guard. But every "gob" of the whole 40 ships should remember the old notice they and we saw *m French trains, etc., during the war: "Taisez vous; mefiez , yous — les oreilles enmies vous entend." (Be silent and discreet — enemy ears are listening to you.) • While the Federal Government was sleeping, they discovered the hidden wealth of the Great Barrier Reef,, and were the first to realise that, instead of being a curse, this wonderful marine formation was a source of untold wealth. Settlers along the islands m the Hinchinbrook Channel, and as far south as Townsend Island, have complained of .the organised invasion of the reef by the Japanese m defiance of the White Australia Act. Warships from Japan— the advent and presence of which have never been notifle.d, to the Commonwealth or to the people of this country — have cruised, and still do cruise, up and down the. coast, insolently sounding the reef, prospecting island harbors, and charting our waters, without so much as a beg pardon to our indolent Administration. Long ago they knew all there was to know about the Barrier Reef, and sent their big deputation to the PanPacific Conference to see just how far Japan can go on stealing these valuable marine deposits, always remembering that, outride the three-mile limit, it is Rafferty's Rules for the nations of the ''world.