The Japanese Background
your readers must be rzrateful to Mr. C. P. Fitzgerald for his dispassionate survey of the Japanese peace treaty problems. In particular ne sets out clearly the ,iatural fear that Australia has of a recrudescence of Japanese militarism. But this surely can only be removed by a removal of the causes which gave it birth ; and at the same time by an encouragement )f those factors which in past years made Japan a loyal ally and an influence for good in the Far East.
It is easy, when speaking of Japan's militarism, to forget that, when she fought first China and-then Russia, she had the full sympathy of the Brities nation; and that when the First World War broke out she immedi- ately came in on the Allied side without waiting to see which way the struggle would turn. It is not impossible that the Allies' refusal to avail thernselies of the offer of Japanese military support in the struggle in Europe led to her unfortunate militar, ventures in China; but this is ad- mittedly a matter of debate. But one thing is certain; for a full decade following the end of the war the military party was the most unpopular section, in Japanese society. What enabled them to stage a come-back were, inter alias the disappointment caused by the abrogation of the Anglo-Japanese alliance, the refusal of the West to allow the inclusion of a clause in the constitution of the League of Nations recognising the principle of racial equality, the American (though strange to say not the Australian) exclusion policy. and the increasing restrictions placed on Japanese trade.
If the Allies now pursue a generous policy towards Japan—and no nation in the world is quicker to appreciate a generous gesture than the Japanese—and make a serious and positive attempt to ameliorate some of thos. not altogether unreasonable causes for grievance, there is 'ne reason why Japan in future may not become a stabilising and constructive influence in the Far East, and the military party cease to be a sellout factor in Japanese politics. But ignore them, and, whatever be the Icons written into the peace treaty, fear will continue, and that not altogether without some justification.—Yours faithfully, W. H. MURRAY WaLloa.
The Vicarage, Bromley, Kent.
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