The Anglo-Japanese Alliance 335 



everything to gain by peace. The 

 Anglo-Japanese alliance sought to give 

 no advantage either to Great Britain 

 or to Japan that was not common to all 

 other nations. England, too, always 

 stood for "equal opportunity," for a 

 fair field and no favor, and that is our 

 policy, and it has long been the avowed 

 policy of the United States. The say- 

 ing, " May the best man win,'' applies 

 to nations as well as to individuals. 



Certainly, neither England nor Japan 

 made this alliance with the hope that it 

 will provoke war. In laying the treaty 

 before the House of Iyords, L,ord L,ands- 

 downe said that it was a guarantee of 

 peace, and so it was regarded by the 

 Japanese statesmen. 



I think no further evidence is needed 

 to prove that the alliance was not con- 

 cluded with the hope that it would lead 

 to war ; I think, on the contrary, every 

 fair-minded man must be convinced that 

 both Great Britain and Japan were ani- 

 mated solely and sincerely by the single 

 purpose to preserve peace and give com- 

 mercial development full sway. And I 

 repeat it to you, gentlemen, with full 

 appreciation of my statement, that the 

 alliance has fulfilled its purpose. It had 

 made for peace as much as it could. 

 There comes a time in the life of every 

 nation, as in the life of every individual, 

 when the nation must choose between 

 duty and its stern responsibilities, or 

 weakly yield to escape obligations and 

 pay the penalty for weakness tenfold. 

 The war now unhappily waging in Man- 

 churia was inevitable. It is a war not of 

 our seeking. It was forced upon us, as 

 I said before, by aggression and arro- 

 gance. 



I assume you are familiar with the 

 history of the negotiations preceding the 

 outbreak of hostilities, and I feel confi- 

 dent that you can have only reached one 

 conclusion from a study of the facts. 

 You cannot fail to have been impressed 

 by the spirit of forbearance, patience, 

 and absolute fairness displayed by His 



Majesty's government, and the desire, 

 pushed almost to the extreme limit of 

 generosity, to do everything possible to 

 avoid war. But we should have been 

 unworthy the respect of our friends in 

 England as well as in America, we 

 should have forfeited our own self-re- 

 spect, if we had permitted our desire for 

 peace to make us play the part of weak- 

 lings and surrender our rights and inter- 

 ests because we were not men enough 

 to defend them. We have done what 

 Englishmen would have done. We have 

 done what Americans, Frenchmen, Ger- 

 mans, and even Zulus would have done. 

 Our national existence was at stake. To 

 die in its defense was more honorable 

 than to live and lose all that we hold 

 most precious. It is most fitting to 

 quote as an expression of my o wri desire 

 what was said by President Roosevelt : 

 ' ' We wish peace; but we wish the peace 

 of justice; the peace of righteousness. 

 We wish it because we think it right, 

 and not because we are afraid." 



JAPAN DOES NOT MENACE THE UNITED 

 STATES POLITICALLY OR 

 COMMERCIALLY 



The sympathy of America having 

 been so freely expressed in our favor — 

 a sympathy, I beg to assure you, very 

 precious to us and which we shall ever 

 most sacredly cherish — it may appear 

 ungracious for me to take exception to 

 any expressions of American opinion, 

 but I avail myself of this opportunity, 

 knowing that what I say will not be 

 misinterpreted, to correct an erroneous 

 impression. It is quite evident a belief 

 exists that the strength and power of 

 Japan is both a political and commercial 

 menace to the United States. It has 

 been said that Japan dwells with covet- 

 ous eye on the Philippines and longs for 

 the Pacific Island possessions of the 

 United States. I assure you no serious- 

 minded person in Japan entertains any 

 such thought. Japan has enough to do 

 for many a year to come to develop her 



