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Show UNITED STATES IS MUCH CONCERNED OVER ULTIMATUM WASHINGTON Aug 16 The Japanese embassador Baron Chlnda. tonight de lv ered to Secre ary Bryan the written an nouncement of Japan that an ultimatum had been addressed to Ge many request lng the latter s withdrawal from her fie d of activity in Ch na At the same time she communicated the assurances of Japan to the Un ted S ates t at the utmost endeavor would be exerc sed to safeguard the interests of th s country and a 1 others not lm mediate y concerned in the present opera t ons Ihe United States it became known af er Baron Ch nda s ca on Mr Bryan does not intend to be drawn in any way nto the oontro ersy regard ng It as a matter pu ely between Germany and Japan The American government con s ders satisfactory the promise of Japan of eventua restorat on to Ch na of the territory of K ao Chau Japans Purpose Baron Chlnda s conference with the secretary of state was he d at Mr Bryan s res dence The embassador pre sented a communication f om the fore gn office at Tok o wh ch embod es the sub s ance of the ultlmatun and added a strong1 statement concern ng Japan s pur poses of maintain ng the terr tor al in tegrity of the Ch nese republic by re storing to her the ter ory of K ao Chau o g na y ta en from Ch na by Germany as an ajt of repr sal for the ki ng of German m se ona es "Wh e the statement made no direct reference to the Un ted S ates it gave assurance in gene al that the nterests of all powers n erested In ma nta n ng the terr torlal status quo n the far east would be protected to the utmost. It developed as a result of the con ference that Japan had no assu ance up to the present time that Its u timatum had been de vered to Germany owing to the cab e d f flcult es v ith that coun try In order to make cer a n of its de 1 very a copy of the u timatum w 1 be communicated to Berl n through the chan I ne s of the Amer can government Salient Features Given The sal ent features In this new and grave Issue as made known through au thoritative sources are as fol ows Japan s action was taken on the pro posal of Great Britain and after ful con ferences wh ch led to the de erm nat on that the Ang o Japanese treaty of a ahce app led to the present s tuat on the two a es Great Brita n and Japan are therefore co ope atlng in the action 'now In progress Japan s ultimatum Is in the first in stance a fufi ment of her part In the Ang o Japanese all ance but it s de s gned also an issue hav ng arisen to terminate Germany s control of K ao Chau which Japan holds endangers the lnteg rlty of China and the peace, of the or ent The action of Japan tl d not come as an entire surprise to the United States gov ernment It was the climax of a ser es of d plomatio moves in which the Un ted States has been consu ted and has en deavored to maintain the principle of the Integrity of China. Japa s assurance that she wl 1 ma n tain the lntegr ty of China are regarded by Ame lean offlc a s as sat sfactory and wh e the Washington government is hopeful that some way may yet be found to malnta n a s at s quo in the far east here Is no dlsposl ion on the part .of the offlc als he e to be eve the adm nls tration will assume any attitude other than that of pass ve looker on shou d Japan follow out her Intent ons The situation in the far east for some days has been regarded by the offlc a s here as a de cate one Almost s mul taneous v. th the outbreak of host! es in Europe Ch na sent an appeal to the American govern ment express ng the hope that she m ght be ab e to rely on the prev ous po Icy of the Un ed States as an influence against the v o ation of her neutra Ity The American govern ment d d not It Is understood lnd cate in the reply what her att tude would be preferring to outline her pos tion as de ve opmen s arose Immediate y Germany began to sound the American go ernment as to the poss b 1 ty of neutraliz ng the German provinces In Ch na and t e atti tude of Germany was conveyed lnrormal ly through the Un ted S ates to Japan Embassador Guthr e at Toklo has had many conversations w th the Japanese government In which the lntimat on was constantly gTVen that whatever steps Japan might feel ob ged to take in a d of her ally Great Br a n the Un ted States cou d fee assured -of her intention to maintain the lntegr ty of China Embassador Chlnda has rema ned in Washington through the summer whl e most of the other d plomatio officials have been at the seashore Today he was at the embassy w th the fu 1 embassy staff n f equent cab e communication with the Tok o autho it es The m 1 tary and naval conditions at K ao Chau and the po tical events lead ing up to the present cr s s were out lined today by a d st ngu shed d plomat of the far east. He po nted out that K ao Chau Is at present the great German stronghold of the or ent S nee It was taken from Ch na e aborate fort ficatkms have been bul t with bast ons and glac s unti It s now cons dered to be as for m dab e as the great fortress at Port Ar thur In wh ch the Russ ans w thstood the Japaneso siege for months It is now garr soned by a German force of about 6000 men The ent re estab sh ment ml tary and na a Is under a Ger man m 1 ary governor Back of the fortress the Germans have improved the hinterland so as to assure a large and constant source of supp es to the fort ress St further back a network of ra ways have been developed by conces s ons unt 1 German inf uence is now prac t ca y pa amount throughout the who e of tl e Important province of Shantung Siege Is Probable This official po nted out the naval de fense of the Kiao Chau front of the bay which is large and deep and adequate fo the maneuver ng of a feet. However he German nava force there at present consists chief y of cru sers and g nboats w thout any ban eshlps of a large naval organ zat on comparing with that Japan ma ntains n her own waters It s ex pec ed the efo e tha in the event of op e a ons aga ns K ao Chau they wou d be of a mi itary rather than a naval cha acter It s the bel ef of Japanese s ateg sts that Germany wou d w hdraw her ships within the arbor m ne the en t ance aga nst approach and then depend on he m litary garr son and the st ength of he fortress o protect t aga ns a movement f on the and s de The Jap anese fleet it is expected wou d s ation tse f at the entrance to t e harbor much as ft d d at Port Arthur when the Russ an feet was held there and tl at m itary forces wou d be b ought from Japan to ay s ege to t e fo ess f on the and s de From the Japanese s andpo nt Kiao Chau e eh ef nenace to Japan is that It 1 es d ec y oppos te Korea t e great fie d of Japanese co on al deve opment and a so just across the sea f om the soutl er y Japanese is ands Origin in War With China Exp alnlng the pollt cal effect of Ger many s occupat on of K ao Chau th s d p oma c autho y on Or ental affa s sa d the ssue presented today had its o gin n the events of the Japan Ch na war At that t me he sa d Japan had succeed ed in tak ng Port A thur from Ch na after a memorab e contest At th s po nt how ever 1 e sa d Ge many took the lead an ong a group of European powe s In demand ng that Japan shou d not reta n the fru ts of her v ctory by ho d ng Port Arthur Tie d ng to this pressure Japan rel nqu shed the pr ze Shortly after this a German f eet occupied K ao Chau clain ng i as an ndemn ty for a e ed at ac s on Ge nan m ss onar es S nee then K ao Chau has been stead y deve oped until now whs fortress its h n ter and and 1 s outlying sect ons of Shan tung province it repre en s in the Japan ese view a most formidab e footho d of German influence Other Nations Get Out Meant me Russ a is no longer at Port Arthur and England has given up her na al estab shment at We Ha Wei So it is po nted out Germany rema ns p ac tica ly a one among the European pow ers In north China w th K ao Chau n a commanding pos tlon at the entrance to the China sea Ch na has long sought to have this ter rlto y restored thus re estab shins her terr torla n egr ty in nort Ch na Japan s constant a owed po ey has been to secure the re urn of K ao Chau to China ana It Is now dec ared in au thor tati e Japanese quarte s that Japan has no territor al asp rat ons whatever as to Kiao Chau that her sole purpose in securing Is res o at on to China s to preserve the terr tor al integrity of China and at the same time to remove the men ace to peace caused by the presence of a remte alien power In a powerful strongho d on the Ch na sea. Offensive and Defensive The Ang o Japanese al ance Is said to have been the dec s ve factor in b ne ing about the p esent step by Japan Th s al ance or glna y made in 190" was often s ve and defens ve n cha acter and was confined to events occurr ng n the fa east Later the a ance was en arged so as to take in events occu ring in Ind a where the mutual interes s of Japan and Great Br ta n were in olved On Ju y 13 1911 the a ance was ex tended for ten years and a so much en larged One lmpo tant addit on affect ng the Un ted S ates was in art c e 4 wh ch provided that ne ther of the con tractlng part es was obliged to go to war with whom a treaty of arb t ation was in force As the United S ates as reat ies of general arb trat on bot wi h G eat Britain and w th Japan th s new artic e 4 excepted th s country from the opera tlon of the Anglo Japanese a liance Great Britain's View It is unders ood that the recent ex changes between Eng sh and Japan offl c a s as brought out the ew of Great Britain that her spec a interest In the far east as referred to In the treaty of alliance were be ng endangered by the operat ons of German warsh ps against Ene sh warsh ps in eas ern wate s and by the general cond t ons grow ng out of Germany s strong m tary pos t on at K ao Chau Japan was qu ck to accep the ew of her a ly S nee the beginA ng of the European war Japan has been p epar n her m tary forces for al emergenc es and has been concertating her nava st ength in the Ch na sea Germany s resources in the far east are confined n tl e ma n to the 5000 men n the ga rison at Kiao Chau These have recent y been augmented by a the German troops usua y 1 ept n and near Pek n and Tients n under inter atlona ag eement w th ot er powers for the pur pose of ma n a n ng open commun cat on with the seaboard Th s latter German force cons s s of seven ee officers and 443 men a of whom have now been con cent ated w th the nan force at K ao Chau Japan Far Superior Japan s resources are fa greater as her wars lps and arm es are a 1 con centrated In the or ent Japan s na al nations in southern Korea a e with n 350 m les of Kiao Ciau and t e ch ef naval depots arsena s and naval and mi tarv bases in Japan a e w th n 800 miles of K ao Chau It is hardly more than a day s sa for the f ee and transports convoyed by warsh ps cou d make the passage In three or four days from the time of concentration and em barkatlon at Japanese ports There are about 1200 Unl ed States ma rlijes and infantr men stationed at Pek n Major D on WI ams commands the 336 marines and the nfantrymen are under Co qne John C T son Japanese naval experts took the view today that Japanese activities wou d be confined ent rel to the far east at least for the present But It was declared at n the event of war between Japan and Se man Japan s fie d of actlvit es woud not ne es ar be confl ed to t e fa east as he fee ad fo es woud beaaabe if an o as on equlred for opera on n conju c on w h he r al y n este n wa ers n ud ng he ome ports of German h t The Ge man charge a not he e to dav bu s expe ed bit k n Wash ngton ShKat Vu Sha Ch nese ii n ste here when shown he tex of the ultimatum dec ned to make an comment saying he had heard no h ng from his go ern mAmong experened d !p on at sts the fact has no escaped notice that Japans ult mat m not only brings her nto the active de elopment of the present con f let but also brl gs 1 er d p on acy as a factor to be reckoned w th when the flna councils of Europe are he d to set t e he str fe Thus far the conf lets of Europe have been sett ed by the congress es of European powers |