Secondly, the well-informed quarters added, Mr, Matsuoka was expected to enlist German influence with Moscow to improve the chances of a Russian-Japanese non-aggression pact and, by easing Tokyo's anxieties over Russian moves, further increase the temptation of driving southward, Thirdly, they believed, Chancellor Hitler may offer to renew Germany's unsuccessful 1937 mediation services with a view toward settling the Sino-Japanese hostilities, Also, they thought, such a move may be made for the purpose of enabling Japan to concentrate her armed forces for a possible attack against Britain and the United States or, at least, immobilize much of America's power in the Pacific.
The Germans may also support the Japanese pressure against Moscow to halt Russian military help to China, they believed, but they doubted whether M. Joseph Stalin could be coaxed into-e policy which would help Japan solve her No. 1 problem,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.