NEWS
OF THE WEEK THE chief preoccupation of the United States at this par- ticular moment is not Hitler but Tojo, for Americo-Japanese relations have reached such a point of tension that the only thing Mr. Cordell Hull could say about them on Wednesday was that the less said the better. The Japanese Diet is to meet in special session on November 15th, and it is evidently the hope and desire of General Tojo that by that time he willpe in a position to say something decisive about the situation. No doubt with that end in view, he has sent a special emissary by clipper to Washington to assist in the rather dilatory conversations which have been in progress there for some time between the Counsellor of-the Japanese Embassy and Mr. Sumner Welles. There are no signs of any bridge over the gulf which separates the two countries. The United States takes her stand very rightly on the Nine-Power Treaty of 1922, of which both she and Japan were signatoLiss, providing primarily for the integrity of China. Japan demands non-interference by America and Britain with the China " incident," recognition of her so-called East Asia co-prosperity policy, and the rest of the familiar rigmarole. There can be no reconciliation here, and Japan, egged an persistently by Germany, has gone so far that she can hardly retreat. Economic pressure, moreover, is affecting her so seriously that if she means to move she must move quickly. The general belief is that hti. first blow will be against the Burma Road, which is practically the only line of supply for China. In the circum- stances the announcement of the arrival of further heavy British reinforcements at Singapore is timely. Meanwhile the amend- ments to the American Neutrality Bill, providing for both the arming of merchantmen and their despatch to British ports, are likely to be law within a week.
