Mr, Hull's reiteration of the position of the United States in regard to the East Indies tailed to excite diplomatic circles, which generally esumated the Far East as being in a stalemate at present, Officials were confident there would be no complications in that direction at present, Government circles said they bejueved Japan was willing to await developments at present and is prepared to take advantage of any break in the situation. The Unites States is also prepared for similar action, taking an attitude of watchful waiting, satisfied to support the status quo of the Indies, which Japan also is pledged to support, they said, State Department sources said no alarming inquiries had been received from the Philippines, indicating they anticipate any drastic eventualities, The preponderant view in informed circles is that Japan, at present, does not constitute a threat to the Philippines, except as a possible stepping stone to the Dutch East Indies, which would logically be Japan's chief economic objective.
Has Bases On the other hand, the Indies could not be approached by the Japanese navy without exposing the navy's rear to a naval threat irom the Philippines, where the United States maintains minor bases at Cavite and Pilangapo, These United States bases could serve as emergency bases for major operations, if they were not reduced before a major attempt was made against the Indies, The Indies are 2,00 miles from Japan's nearest naval base, Growing concern was shown in official quarters here yesterday regarding the future of imports from the Netherlands Indies, while trade circles expressed the belief that the Indies could largely off-set the loss of United States export markets in Belgium and Holland if trade lines could be kept open, Mr, Sol Bloom, Democratic Representative of New York, demanded that the nation's programme for the purchase of strategic war materials be speeded up, He charged that the United States' supplies of tin would last only three days if the United States entered the war,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.