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Show Tokyo Concerned About Fortification of Guam The word carries from, Tokyo that JiaiJin views the possible fortification fortifica-tion of Guam with "grave concern". There are reports that Japanese newspapers intimate that if the United States attempts to get a foothold in China, the Japanese Navy will "smash" the American fleet. Whether the fotrification of Guam should be undertaken by the United States is a question to be answered by .what the people and government of this country think of the proposal. If such an advance fleet base is deemed necessary, strategically, to insure adequate protection of this hemisphere against a possible hostile threa.t from Japan, the island should be fortified. Japan, which emphasizes great concern over iw'nat the United States might do in Guam, does not bother both-er about effects cf the Japanese invasion in-vasion upon American rights in China. To tell the truth, the United Uni-ted States, as a result of tne Washington Wash-ington Naval Treaty, agreed not to fortify or establish a naval base on Guam. This Treaty was terminated termin-ated by Ja:pan. thus freeing the United States fromi any limitation. It may be that naval experts will decide against fortifying Guam on the grounds that the island can not be defended against a major attack. at-tack. On the other hand, it is just possible that they believe that, in case Japan attempts aggression against the United States, Guam would be a source of considerable strength to tne defense of the United Uni-ted States. Quite frankly, we have no idea Whether Japanese ambition envisions envis-ions a future attack upon this country. Without knowing and with very little confidence in the "pacific designs of the Japanese, we are somewhat of the opinion that it might be better to fortify Guam and be oversafe than not to fortify it and be sorry. |
