America and the Declaration There is one aspect of the
situation created by the British declaration at Tokyo on which comment of our own is for- tunately unnecessary. There have been some censorious critics of the declaration in the American Press. That is hardly fair. The difficulties in China either concern a general issue, in which case the United States might be expected to associate herself with us, or a purely Anglo- Japanese issue, in which case American criticism of our action is ungracious. No more need be said on that, for what needs saying has been said admirably by the New York Herald-Tribune. After referring to the prospect of grumbling and talk of " betrayal " in America, the paper adds :
"It must be remembered, however, that such grumbling will come with a poor grace from this country, which has given Great Britain absolutely no encouragement to defend those treaty rights with which ours are bound up, or any reason to believe that we should champion our common rights if the European situation were abruptly to demand from her a concentration of all her strength on her own doorstep."
That is a just comment which will be widely appreciated on this side of the Atlantic.
