From Our own Correspondent.
Tokio, Aug, 3.
The statement made recently two the British press by Rear-Admiral Tamaki Tosu, Japanese naval attache in London, to the effect that the proposal of the British Admiralty to construct a naval base at Singapore was a perfectly correct thing to do and that neither the Japanese Government nor the Japanese people are evincing the slightest anxiety with regard to this move in the East Pacific, has been subjected to scathing criticism by the press.
-The general impression left on the reader's mind after perusing the criticisms is that not only the Japanese people, but also the Japanese Government, views with disfavour and disapproval the scheme of the British Admiralty, while it is declared in some quarters that an up-to-date aerial and naval base at Singapore is tantamount to fortifying Hongkong, which comes within the scope of the Washington naval restriction treaty, and that, therefore, the treaty is being seriously violated in spirit. The Japanese naval authorities, according to the "Kokumin Shimbun," an important daily paper of Tokio, ''declare that the Singapore naval project is a standing menace to Japan's national security.""
Baron Hayashi is held responsible for the statements made in the London press by the Japanese naval attache attached to the Japanese Embassy in London.
The comments of the "Kokumin," which reflect the general opinion of the press on this matter, are partly as follows:
"Although naval attaches and diplomats speak in diplomatic language, it is the height of folly for Rear-Admiral Tosu to declare that the Singapore project does not inspire misgivings in the mind of the Japanese people or of the naval authorities here. Rear-Admiral Tosu also said that the Singapore scheme is not contrary to the Washington naval treaty and that it is not incompatible tween England and Japan. Such with the good resting: eons be-statements ought to come from English sources, not from Japanese officer."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.