Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 March 1918 — JAPAN AND THE WAR. [ARTICLE]

JAPAN AND THE WAR.

’ The country will be glad to know . that the Japanese government un- | derstands that the reluctance of the United Sstates to join with the enente allies in suggesting Japanese intervention in Siberia is not prompted by a distrust of Japan, but only by fear of the effect of such action on the people of Russia. No doubt it also understands that the Unitec States can best serve the world by refusing to become involved at this time in treaty engagement. There is no reason why this government should, except in case of the gravest necessity, act in the present case. If Great Britian desires Japanese intervention, air it has to do is to say so, since the two nations are bound by a formal treaty of alliance. If the American government feels that such intervention would antagonize the people of Russia, and perhaps throy them into the arms of Germany, it will say so, and its opinion will undoubtedly have great influence. -

It is perhaps not surprising that some people should have reverted to their old prejudice against Japan, Most of this is due to sensational newspapers and pro-German propaganda. It should be remembered that Japan is our associate in this war quite as truly as is any one of the entente powers. Throughout the struggle Japan has been entirely, loyal to its obligations and allies. The only German possession in China was captured by Japan early the war. Japanese fleets have kept the Pacific ocean clear of Germans, and are now patrolling the Mediterranean. Everything that has been asked has been done. There has been no suggestion of selfiishness in any action that has been taimen. Never were the relations between this country and Japan more friendly and cordial than they are now. The new ambassador is known to be a warm friend of the United States. In a recent interview in the Washington Post, Henry J. Flack, of San Francisco, said that he had been “shocked to know that many Americans object to the entry of the Nipponese because they fear a yellow peril.’ ”, The yellow peril, it should not be forgotten, is an invention of the kaiser. Mr. Flack went on to say:

Japan has amply demonstrated her good faith in this war. I have traveled largely in that country. Its business men have told me time and again that Japan’s future demands that militarism and junkerism as emphasized by Prussia be crushed. There is no “yellow peril,, now, and there is no reason to suppose*. there ever will be. But there is a German menace—a menace more serious than the American people realize. There can be no talk about the yellow peril at this time that will not be mere camouflage for the German menance. We know that Germany tried to set Japan against the United States, and that it has been for years, and is now striving to create antagonism between the two nations. The German propagandists in this county have done their utmost in this direction. What we have to deal’with now, as Mr. Flack points out, is the German menace wh,ich is formidable and real.—lndianapolis News.