Viscount Ishii, the head of the Japanese Mission to America,
made a speech of great importance in New York on Saturday last. Re- ferring to the persistent German efforts to cow dissension between Japan and America, as well as between Japan and Great Britain, he asked his hearers "to east out the devil of suspicion and distrust" and to "rebuild the shattered edifice of mutual confidence which Means so much as a stronghold for us both." He defined Japanese policy in China as the policy of the open door. "Not only will we not seek to assail the integrity or sovereignty of China, but we shall eventually be prepared to defend and maintain the integrity and in- dependence of China against any aggressor. For we know that our own landmarks would be threatened by any outside invasion or inter- ferer-toe in China." That is a practical and statesmanlike policy to which we can all heartily subscribe. Viscount Ishii recalled the, Japan-Amerioan Note of 1908, in which each country agreed to respect the other's possessions in the Pacific. "Gentlemen," he said,
"Japan is satisfied with this. Are you If so, there is no Pacific Ocean question between us." Another fond German illusion is thus dissipated.
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