Abstract

The Proper Interpretation of the Agreement

Writing of Japanese policy in 1895, just after the conclusion of peace between Japan and China, Count Tadasu Hayashi said: "What Japan has now to do is to keep perfectly quiet, to lull the suspicions that have arisen against her, and to wait, meanwhile strengthening the foundations of her national power, watching and waiting for the opportunity that must one day surely come in the Orient." The opportunity came with the European war, and it is a matter of history how Japan seized it. The Lansing-Ishii agreement just concluded is one of the last steps necessary for the consolidation of the new Japanese position in the Far East. The convention that has been concluded has the merit of at least defining the position and policy of the United States in the Orient.