The Crisis in Japan The political crisis in Japan means
that the inevitable has happened. The background- of the dispute between the Army and the Cabinet : is admirably sketched in by the late editor of the Japan_ ClgOniele in an -aitiele on a later page of this:issue. ]Fiut the future is "alarmingly obscure. The Army stands _'or flan .7 Toxeign:polien adventures on the mainland of Asia and an increasing domination over China, but the task of finding money for the rapidly expanding military budgets is no part of its business. The clash between the Diet and the Generals was bound to come, and under the Japanese constitution the Generals have the last word, since there can be no Cabinet without a War Minister and there can be no War Minister without the Army's approval. The expedient of inviting General Ugaki to form a Cabinet might have succeeded if General Ugaki had happened to be persona grata with the Army, which he emphatically is. not. At the time of writing he has not finally aban- doned his efforts, but it is hard to see how he can succeed. If he fails power will pass completely to the Army, whether the Diet remains nominally in being or not. And economic problems, which for Japan arc becoming daily more acute, are not usually solved by soldiers. The danger. is that the soldiers may feel that the only way of evading tasks they cannot cope with is to take to what they do understand—war.
