Secretary Hughes concluded his statement to the Conference with a reiteration of the hope of his Government that Japan would find it possible to carry out within the near future her expressed intention of terminating finally the Siberian expedition and of restoring Sakhalin to the Russian people.

In the formal statement which he made in explanation of Japan's retention of troops in Siberia, and of the conditions under which they would be withdrawn, Baron Shidehara adverted to the fact that there were many Japanese nationals in Siberia who had lawfully established themselves there prior to the Bolshevik uprising, and who looked to Japanese troops for protection of their lives and property. Also that, due to geographical propinquity, the general situation in the districts around Vladivostok and Nikolsk was bound to affect the security of the Korean frontier. In particular, he said, it was known that these districts had long been the base of Korean conspiracies against Japan, and that, should the Japanese troops be withdrawn, there was every likelihood that, at the first favorable opportunity, these conspirators would penetrate Korea itself.

"It should be made clear," he said, " that no part of the maritime province is under Japan's military occupation. Japanese troops are still stationed in the southern portion of that province, but they have not set up any civil or military administration to displace local authorities. Their activity is confined to measures of selfprotection against the menace to their own safety and to the safety of their country and nationals. . . . . The Japanese Government is anxious to see an orderly and stable authority speedily reestab

lished in the Far Eastern possessions of Russia. The Japanese Government are now seriously considering plans which would justify them in carrying out their decision of the complete withdrawal of Japanese troops from the maritime province with reasonable precaution for the security of Japanese residents and of the Korean frontiers regions. It is for this purpose that negotiations were opened some time ago at Dairen between the Japanese representatives and the agents of the Chita Government. Those regulations at Dairen are in no way intended to secure for Japan any right or advantage of exclusive nature. They have been solely actuated by a desire to adjust some of the more pressing questions with which Japan is confronted in relation to Siberia. They have essentially in view the conclusion of provisional commercial arrangements, the removal of the existing menace to the security of Japan and to the lives and property of Japanese residents in Eastern Siberia, the provision of guarantees for the freedom of lawful undertakings in that region, and the prohibition of Bolshevik propaganda over the Siberian border. Should adequate provisions be arranged on the line indicated, the Japanese Government will at once proceed to the complete withdrawal of Japanese troops from the maritime province.

These conditions, even if one takes them at their full face value, show how far Japan has departed from the original conditions upon which she had

'In the communication of May 31, 1921 from the American to the Japanese Government, extracts from which Secretary Hughes read to the Conference, the American Government said that, in its view, the continued occupation by the Japanese troops of the strategic centers in Eastern Siberia, and the seizure of the Russian portion of Sakhalin and the establishment there of a civil administration "inevitably lends itself to misconception and antagonism-tends rather to increase than to allay the unrest and disorder in that region."

'It has, however, been understood that Japan has insisted that the Chita or Far Eastern Republic Government should recognize as valid the numerous economic concessions in Siberia which the Japanese nationals have obtained from one or the other political organizations that have from time to time been in existence in Siberia.

agreed with the American and other Governments she would withdraw her troops.

As to the occupation of the Russian Province of Sakhalin-that is, the northern part of the Island and certain points on the mainland opposite to the island -Baron Shidehara said that the situation was a different one both as to its nature and origin. These points had been occupied by Japan by way of reprisal for the killing of her nationals at Nikolaievsk, and would continue to be occupied until there was established in Russia a responsible authority with which Japan could communicate in order to obtain due satisfaction.

Secretary Hughes, in his statement to the Conference, said that he understood Japan's assurances to mean that she did not seek" through her military operation in Siberia, to impair the rights of the Russian people in any respect, or to absorb for her own use the Siberian fisheries, or to set up an exclusive exploitation either of the resources of Sakhalin or of the maritime province." To this statement the Japanese Delegation made no reply by way of either affirmation or denial or qualification.

Has a Fundamental Change of Policy on the Part of the Powers Been Effected? The results of such a Conference as the Washington cannot, however, be summed up in a series of specific achievements. They are not to be found explicitly stated in the agreements or formal resolutions which are signed by the participating Powers, for, in addition to these agreements and resolutions, there is the still more important question whether, as a result of the dis

cussions that have been had, a new and changed spirit has found its way into the foreign policies that are henceforth to be pursued. Monsieur Briand, in the address which he made in the third plenary session of the Conference, struck a note to which all those who heard him responded when he said: "It is not enough to reduce armies and to decrease the munitions of war. That is the material side of things. There is another consideration which one has no right to overlook when facing such a problem-a consideration which goes to the heart of questions vital to the welfare of a nation. A nation must be surrounded by what I may call an atmosphere of peace; disarmament must be moral as well as material.'

Monsieur Briand was speaking in defense of the continued maintenance by his country of her considerable land forces, but whether or not one is convinced of the necessity, under existing circumstances, of the large armies still maintained by France, the truthfulness and pertinency of the statement which had been quoted cannot be denied. If, then, we paraphrase this statement and apply it to political conditions in the Far East we have the equally true proposition that the answer to the question whether the Conference achieved the primary purpose for which it was convened depends largely upon the other question whether, as a result of its deliberations, the Nations with Pacific and Far Eastern interests have come to a firm intention to substitute cooperation for nationalistic competition, to do stricter justice to the weaker peoples than they have done in the past, and to guide themselves by the avowed spirit as well as by

the strict letter of the agreements which they have signed and by the various declarations which their delegates have made in the Conference and which are incorporated in its official records. Whether or not they have come to this firm intention and will continue to hold it, only future events can reveal.

The Future. What the future is to bring forth will depend in large measure upon the answer it gives to the question stated in the preceding paragraph. If we analyze this question into its chief parts they will be found to be the following: (1) the extent to which Japan, in reversal of its former policies, will be guided and controlled by a strict regard for the spirit as well as for the letter of its international engagements, and will sincerely seek, or, at least avoid the placing of obstacles in the way of, the welfare of its great neighbors, China and Russia; (2) the extent to which Great Britain and the United States will cooperate in the Far East; and (3) the extent to which China herself will exhibit a power to make use of the opportunity that the Powers have agreed to give her to establish and maintain for herself a strong central government and to create efficiently operated public administrative services.

That Japan's economic and political future is bound up in her ability to import increasing amounts of foodstuffs and raw materials for her manufacturing establishments there can be no doubt. It appears to be now evident to the Japanese themselves that immigration does not furnish them with a solution to the problem presented by their increasing population:-their emigrants will not be received by those