Forced to Fight?

Exceedingly high strung, therefore often indiscreet, and consequently world-champion deniers are most Japanese diplomats. Notably so is their ardent chief Foreign Minister Koki Hirota, a super-patriot of the Black Dragon Society. In his youth Mr. Hirota drafted Japan's crushing Twenty-One Demands upon China, demands so flagrantly outrageous that their very existence was denied to President Woodrow Wilson repeatedly, officially and as long as possible by the Japanese Embassy.

In Philadelphia last week newshawks, none of whom wrote shorthand, took down to the best of their abilities certain remarks by Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Saito, a fidgety and incessant smoker. They agreed that they had heard him say: "Japan will commit national suicide if necessary to pursue her plan of establishing peace in the Far East. She will pursue this policy if she has to fight both Great Britain and the United States and regardless of the whims of these two nations. Japan has only peace in mind. If we feel it necessary for our purpose of establishing peace in the Far East, Japan will gobble up Northern China for that purpose, and we will do so regardless of what the other powers say! If America tries to keep Japan from becoming an imperialistic nation, America will have to send her fleet to the Far East!"

Same day Ambassador Saito officially explained at his Embassy that he had not meant any such thing. But, as often happens with Oriental denials, it was obvious that His Excellency was splitting a hair. He claimed to have meant: "Great Britain and the United States will eventually understand our policy. If, however, the United States and Great Britain should fail to understand and should attempt forcibly to swerve our course, then Japan would be forced to fight."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.