America and Japan
Mr. Joseph Grew, the American Ambassador in Tokyo, was undoubtedly speaking with authority when he told a Japanese audience what America thinks of the proposed new order in the Far East. He had just returned from the United States, where he had been in conference with President Roosevelt, and it is clear that his frank warning to Japan was more than an individual expression of opinion. He reminded the Japanese that the benefits of the " Open Door " which they were seeking to abolish in China were enjoyed by themselves in other parts of the world, and assured them that American opinion had been roused by the high-handed actions of the Japanese Army in interfering with American rights and inflicting injuries on American citizens, and that respect for treaties was one of the cardinal principles of American policy. These candid words, which were reported in the Japanese Press, should be salutary reading for the Japanese public. But it is probable also that they were indirectly addressed to British readers also. In its recent diplomatic dealings with Japan the British Govern- ment has resisted certain proposals on the ground that they involve rights under treaties to which other countries were signatories. The Ambassador's speech is not without a hint to Great Britain that a change of policy under stress of war might be detrimental to American interests as well as British.
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