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Show ; J America and Far East Reach Agreement on Naval Iand Military Operations and Preservation of Chinese Territorial Integrity, IS : WASHINGTON. Nov. 6. Japan and the United States have reached a com- e i plete agreement in relation to China Mi and at the same time have arrived jl at a clear understanding as to mili- Jl 1 tary, naval and economic co-operation jj in the Avar against Germany. Ill This momentous development was 'yM'T announced today hy Socretaiy Lansing iTfl, wno made public notes exchanged by li? lilm and Viscount Ishii. the special I Japanese ambassador, formally rccord- I ing an agreement recognizing that Jn- pan has a special interest in China i but pledging the independence and ter- ! ritorinl integrity of the eastern repub- I I lie and reaffirming the doctrine of the ( ' "open door" for commerce and indus- ; I : u-y- i t in a statement accompanying the j note. Mr. Lansing said Viscount Ishii Q i and the members of his mission, now 1 on their way home, had performed a ( j service of the highest value to the Uni- jgjj ted States as well as to Japan, by ffi clearing awaj misunderstandings S i whjch, if unchecked, promised to de- mi velop a serious situation In Lhe far ' jflj east. He spoke of an attitude of con- .fl 1 straint and doubt, fostered by a cam-j B paigu of falsehood adroitly and secret-) ly carried on by the Germans, and said 1 ivfti1' that through the frankness and cor-J Bly,-' diality of the Japanese commissioners,! n fjllf the propaganda of years had been un- aiJIj done in a. few days. Letters Made Public. J Jit Letters were exchanged between j DO&fc' Secretary Lansing and'Count Ishii con-i firming the understanding of the agree-' rerittT mont- t ! f1 The letters in part follow: ' "The special mission of Japan. "Washington, November 1, 1917. ."Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge acknowl-edge the receipt of your note of today communicating to mo your understand-. ing of the agreement reached by us in I our recent conversations, touching the orgs questions of mutual interest to ouri ie?lK governments, relating to the republic j rej. of China, I lanf "I am happy to be able to confirm to! tyffijH you, under authorization of my govern- c" tb ment the understanding in question setj jjffi forth in the following terms. (Here1 W the special ambassador repeats the lan-j nag! ' suage of the agreement as given in' io?a Secretary Lansing's note). j 4W (Signed) "K. ISHII. JjJ "Ambassador extraordinary and pleni- potentiary of Japan on special mis-S mis-S sion." I : "Honorable Robert Lansing, J WM "Secretary of State." i Si - Lansing's Statement. In his statement accompanying the announcement, Secretary Lansing "Viscount Ishii and the other Japanese Japan-ese commissioners who are now on their way back to their country, have performed a servico to the United States as well as to Japan which is of the highest value. "There had been unquestionably growing up between the peoples of the two countries a feeling of suspicion as to the motives inducing the artiv-lties artiv-lties of the other in the far east, a feeling which, if unchecked, promised to develop a serious situation. Humors and reports of improper intentions were more and more believed. Legitimate Legi-timate commercial and industrial enterprises en-terprises without ulterior motive were presumed to have political significance with the result that opposition to those enterprises were aroused in the other German Campaign of Falsehood. "The attitude of constraint and doubt thus created was fostered and encouraged by the campaign of false hood which for a long time had been j adroitly and secretly carried on by I Germans whose government, as part j of its foreign policy, desired especial-, ! ly to so alienate this country and Japan Ja-pan that it would bo at the chosen time no difficult task to cause a rupture of their good relations. Unfortunately there were people in both countries, many of whom were entirely honest in1 their beliefs, who accepted every false! rumor as true, and aided the German propaganda by declaring that their o-nu government should prepare for the conflict which they asserted was inevitable, in-evitable, that the interests of the two nations in the far east were hostile and that every activity o& the other country in the Pacific had a sinister purpose. Doubt Was Increasing. "Fortunately this distrust was not i so general in either the United States I or Japan as to affect the friendly relations rela-tions of the two governments, but I there is no doubt that the feeling of j suspicion was increasing and the untrue un-true reports were receiving more and more credence in spite of the earnest efforts which were made on both sides 1 of the Pacific to counteract a move-j I ment which would jeopardize the ancient an-cient ' friendship of the two najlions. ' The visit of Viscount Ishii and his col-; leagues has accomplished a great, I change of opinion in this country. By J frankly denouncing the evil influences j 'which haVo been at work, by openly proclaiming that the policy of Japanese is not one of aggression and by de-' jelaring that there is no intention to j take advantage commercially or industrially indus-trially of the special relations to China 1 created by geographical position. The' representatives of Japan have cleared1 the diplomatic atmosphere of the sus-j ipicions which had been so carefully! spread by our enemies and by mis-! (guided, or over-zealous, people in both1 ! countries In a few days the propa-1 I ga-nda of years has been undone and ' I both nations are now able to see how , near they came to being led into the I I trap which had been skillfully set fori i them. , ; "Throughout the conferences which have taken place Viscount Ishii hasj j shown a sincerity and candor which j dispelled ever? doubt as to his purpose pur-pose and brought the two govern-, I ments into an attitude of confidence' toward each other which mnde it possible pos-sible to discuss every question with1 frankness and cordiality. Approaching , the subjects in such a spirit and with , ' the mutual desire to remove every I possible cause of controversy the negotiations nego-tiations "were marked by a sincerity and frankness which "from the first1 1 Insured their success. 1 Mutual Understanding of Policies. ' "The principal result of the negotia-1 tions was the mutual understanding! which was reached as to the principles! goerning the policies of the two governments gov-ernments in relation to China. This, understanding is formally set forth in the notes exchanged and now made public. The statements in the notes! require no explanation. They not only contain a reaffirmation of the 'open door" policy, but introduce a principle! of non-interference with the sover-; eignty and territorial integrity of China, which, generally applied, is essential to perpetual international peace as clearly declared by President Wilson and which is the very foundation founda-tion also of Pan-A"merlcanism as interpreted inter-preted by this government. Visit Made Historic. "The removal of doubts and suspicions suspic-ions and the mutual declaration of the1 new doctrines as to the Far East would be enough to make the visit of the Japanese commission to the United States historic and memorable, but it accomplished a further purpose, which is of special Interest to the world at this time, in expressing Japan's earnest desire to co-operate with this countrv in waging war against the German government. The discussions, which covered the military, naval and economic activities to be employed with due regard to relative resources and abilitv, showed the same spirit of sincerity and candor which characterized character-ized the negotiations resulting in the exchange of notes. U. S. Government Gratified. "At the present time It is inexpedient inexpe-dient to make public the details of these conversations, but it may be said that this government has been gratified grati-fied by the assertions of Count Ishii and his colleagues that their government govern-ment desired to do their part in the suppression of Prussian militarism and were eager to co-operate in every practical way to that end. It might be added, however, that complete and satisfactory understandings upon the matter of naval co-operation in the Pacific for the purpose of obtaining the common object against Germany and her allies have been reached between be-tween the representative of the imperial im-perial Japanese navy who is attached to the special mission of Japan and the representative of the United States navy. Ishii Openly Friendly. "It Is only just to say that the success suc-cess which has attended the intercourse inter-course of the Japanese commission with American officials and with private pri-vate persons as well, is due in large measure to the personality of Viscount Ishii, the head of the mission. The natural resorve and hesitation whicn are not unusual in negotiations of a delicate nature, disappeared under the influence of his open friendliness while his frankness won the confidence of good will of all. It is doubtful if a representative of a different temper could in so short a time have done as much as Viscount Ishii to place on a belter and firmer basis the relations ' between the United States and Japan, j Through hfm the American people! have gained a new and higher concep-: tion of the reality of Nippon's friendship friend-ship for the United States which will i be mutually beneficial in the future. ( "Viscount Ishii will be remembered : in this country as a statesman of high attainments, as a diplomat with a true vision of international affairs and as a genuine and outspoken friend of' America." No American Principle Sacrificed. No American principle has been sacrificed sac-rificed in this agreement in the opinion of the officials, as the United States government itself in the cases of Mexico, Mex-ico, Cuba and other American rcpuo'' lies and in the Monroe doctrine itself has been foremost in the assertion of the doctrine of special privileges by reason of the geographic and economic relations. Japan has special interests of aj semi-political nature in Shantung, which province she wrested from Germany Ger-many early in the present war by rca-' son of its vicinity to Port Arthur, to I Korea and to the Japanese islands. I Also the prosperity of the great island j of Formosa and Its administration by Japanese is largely dependent upon conditions in the Chinese province of Fu-Kien, separated only by a narrow stra.iL Jap Railway Concessions. Japanese railway concessions in Manchurid also are regarded as proper objects of Japanese interest, not to establish large Japanese business in China, but the importance to Japan of the maintenance in China of a strong government capable of affording protection pro-tection against internal violation and against the insidious efforts of hostile foreign intrigue against such Jnpaneso Interests is freely admitted by American Ameri-can officiills, hence the willingness to consummate this agreement. Germans Planned to Create Trouble. Though only hinted at in Secretary Lansing's statement, it is known that the Germans had calculated to weaken the American campaign against Germany Ger-many m Europe by compelling the Washington government to keep nt home a large section of the United 1 States army and to maintain in Pacific waters a numerous American naval fleet to guard against an invasion from Japan. U. S. Has Free Hand. As it is now. the United States not only can deal with the prosecution of the war with a freer hand, but Japan will be able greatly to augment the efforts she has been making to sweep the Pacific and Indian oceans clear of German raiders; to aid the allied navies nav-ies in the Mediterranean and possibly even to employ Japanese troops in the j campaign against Germany. 1 ( Contlnuod on Page -i ) Japan and U. S. Wil Co-operate In World War (Continued From Page 1) Viscount Makes Statement. The following statement by Viscount Ishii, head of the Japanese special mission, was given out by the Japancso embassy: "My final departure from Washington Washing-ton affords a fit occasion for mo to express once more to the Amorlcan people my deep sense of gratitude for tho cordial reception and hospitality accorded to the special mission from Japan. The spontaneous and enthusiastic enthu-siastic manifestations of friendship and good will toward us on all hands hnve profoundly impressed not only the members of the mission but the whole Japanese people. The kindly feeling and fraternal spirit, always existing ex-isting between the two nations, have never been more emphatically testified testi-fied to. "Believing as I do in frank talking, I havo tried as best I could. In my public pub-lic utterances in this country, to tell tho truth and the facts about my country, coun-try, the aspirations and motives which spur my" nation. For, to my mind, it is misrepresentation and the lack of Information that allow discordance and distrust to creep Into the relationship between nations I am happy to think that at a time when tho true unity and co-operation between tho allied nations are dire necessities it has been given me to contribute in my small way to a better understanding understand-ing and appreciation among the Americans Amer-icans with regard to Japan. Agreement Augur Well for China. "The now understanding in regard to the line of policy to be followed by Japan and American respecting the , republic of China augurs well for the undisturbed maintenance of tho harmonious har-monious accord and good neighborhood between our countries. It certainly will do away with all doubts, that have now and then shadowed, the Japanese-American Japanese-American relationship. It- cannot fail to defeat for all time the efforts of German agents to whom every now situation developing in China always furnished so fruitful a field for blackening black-ening those relations. For the rest these new understandings of ours substantiates sub-stantiates the solidity of comradeship which is daily gaining strength among the honorable and worth' nations of the civilized world. 1 High Tribute to Lansing. "It Is a great pleasure for me to add that this declaration has been reached as an outcome of a free exchange ex-change of frank views between the two governments. I cannot pay too high a tribute to the sincerity and farsightedness far-sightedness of Secretary Lansing, with "whoni it was my privilege .to associate asso-ciate in so pleasurable a way. It is my firm belief that so long as the two governments gov-ernments maintain a perfectly appreciative appre-ciative attitude toward each other, so long as there is no lack of statesmanship statesman-ship to guide public opinion, the reign of peace and tranquility in our part of the world will remain unchallenged." increase of tho capital stock of tho said company and any other business that should rightfully come before It. (Signed) JAMES "WOTHERSPOON, Sec. of Lakevlew Mining Co. 1877 |
