Amsterdam, Jan. 25, Germany has from the very start adopted and maintained an attitude of strict neutrality in the Finnish-Soviet conflict, German circles in Berlin declared today in answer to the reports that German aviators had been_sent to the conflict raging. in the North, as well as to refute the criticisms emanating from the Reich itself against the policy towards Finland.
Numerous Germans living in Finland are now serving in the Finnish army. Their actions are well known in Berlin, The Soviet aggression, in the minds of many Germans, reflects "discredit, not only on the aggressor but also on the accomplice in the aggression. Foreign observers declare that never, even at the time of the German aggressions against Poland, Austria and Czechoslovakia, have the German People resented so strongly the moral isolation of Germany.
German newspapers were forced to launch a campaign against the "maudlin sentimentality" of many Germans in "shedding tears" for Finland in her misfortune.
The Finnish affair also has served to reveal that the German people are wavering uncertainly between the German policy and the Italian policy of sympathy towards Finland. Foreign diplomats in Berlin report that when they ask questions on the subject of the Red invasion, the answer is almost invariably an embarrassed one, Foreign observers declare that the German leaders are taking the opportunity of Russia's set-backs in Finland to make the Kremlin access: ible to the German demands.—Havas.
The "Asahi" chain of newspapers today pointed out that both Japan and America had taken measures to remove hindrances in trade upon the expiration of the 1911 Treaty. The paper urged, however, that the United States reconsider its attitude to safeguard peace in the Pacific, interests of the United States in East Asia and goodwill between Japan and America.
The "Nichi Nichi" chain suspected that the United States was showing no enthusiasm for a renewal of the treaty to defer a settlement of the China conflict until after the termination of the war in Europe. Then, the "Nichi Nichi" declared, the United States, together with Great Britain and France could bring joint pressure to bear on Japan, but meanwhile the United States intends to throw its entire weight of economic resources into an attempt to hinder the smooth operations of Japan's continental policy.
The "Kokumin Shimbun" sounded a note of warning that a treatyless situation was filled with danger and might lead to the rupture of diplomatic relations between Japan and the United States. The paper urged that the Japanese nation face the situation with grave concern and grim determination—Domei.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.