New Ambassador

In spite of official denials, a rumor continued to spread that Viscount Ki-kujiro Ishii, now Japanese Ambassador to France, and cosignatory with ex-Secretary of State Robert Lansing to the famed Lansing-Ishii pact,* was to succeed smiling Ambassador Masanao Hanihara at Washington.

Viscount Ishii, ex-Foreign Minister, has twice visited the U. S. in an official capacity: once in 1907, when he conferred with President Roosevelt on problems arising from anti-Japanese disturbances; again, in 1917, when he headed the special mission sent by the Japanese Government to the U. S. which ended in the Lansing-Ishii agreement. It was he who was largely responsible for securing Japan's acceptance of the invitation to the Washington Arms Conference.

At a notable speech made at Newport,/- R.I., in 1917 he said:

"... Not so long ago but that living men could well remember and tell it to their grandchildren, Japan lived in isolation, well contented. One day there came a knocking at our door and looking forth we saw strange sights indeed. Fantastic folk, in awesome ships, with gruesome guns, held out the hands of friendship--and thus came America and Commodore Perry to our shores.

"Reluctantly we let you in, and in time, with more reluctance still, we ventured forth ourselves on a voyage of exploration to this land of golden dreams. And all this was but 60 years ago. . . . These 60 years just past must constitute one full chapter in the history of Japan. During all that time the Pacific Ocean, so illimitable then to us, has been growing more narrow daily. The East and the West, which stood aloof without a thing in common except their common humanity, have been by that wonderful thread drawn closer and closer together, until today we stand shoulder to shoulder as friends and allies, defying the power of the force of evil to destroy that splendid heritage which we are agreed to share as common heirs.

"It is a far cry from Newport to Tokyo, but because of these 60 years of learning we have come to recognize each others voices. We know the way -- whichever route we take. In either home a hearty welcome awaits the coming guest!"

* Lansing-Ishii agreement, said to have been drawn up by Viscount Ishii and President Wilson in 1917, was to affirm the principle of the Open Door in China. A paragraph, however, recognized Japan's "paramount interest"--a part which led the Japanese to suppose erroneously that the U. S. was intent upon abandoning her interest in the Far East.

/-Newport is the burial place of Commodore Perry.