War?

The day after General Baron Tanaka had declaimed his Americanophile sympathies, Count Michimasa Soyejima. Tokyo Publisher, who will speak at a round table conference at the University of Chicago this month, saw war -- though not a Japanese-American war --within ten years. He argued: "The interests of Japan and Russia in Manchuria are opposed in so many respects that the conflict is inevitable. War with America is physically impossible, were there cause, but war with the Soviet is possible and probable. "China will join Russia against Japan because of her resentment over the 21 demands.* . . . "Japan made a big mistake in recognizing Russia. Despite her solemn pledge to the contrary, the Russians are doing their best to spread communism in Japan and Korea, as they are doing in China.

"The communization of China is impossible because of the ignorance of the masses, but the Japanese offer a good field, and. the Koreans, resenting Japanese rule, offer a still better one. . . .

"Japan won economic advantages on paper by the Russo-Japanese Treaty which Russia never would have granted if she had not been checkmated in England by the Conservatives. Russia promises Japan oil concessions in Saghalin and others in Siberia, but the Soviet's history shows that they generally fail to keep their word. Japan's benefits, therefore, are doubtful."

*The 21 Demands were made on China by Tapan on Jan. 18, 1915, were allegedly to secure: 1) China's recognition of arrangements made between Japan and Germany relative to German rights in Shantung and Kiaochow. 2) The consolidation of Japanese hegemony in Manchuria. 3) Control of China's iron output. 4) The military superiority of Japan. Subsequent events proved the above fears largely unfounded.