Page:The Truth about China and Japan - Weale - 1919.djvu/92

 merely concentrating on one matter, i.e. pushing Peking to pawn every liquid asset so that Tokio's claims would be so overwhelmingly strong that when it came to a settlement of the Far Eastern question her wishes would be law.

It was under these auspices that Viscount Ishii sailed for the United States, a signal for the keen-witted that things were still deemed unsatisfactory by the Tokio Government and that the last refractory element must be forced into the melting-pot. Finding that two months' sojourn in Washington yielded no tangible results, the Japanese Special Envoy became almost desperate. Then followed a brief and curious departure for New York, with a brief and curious return to Washington, resulting in the Lansing-Ishii Notes of the 2d November, 1917. That this exchange of notes was very largely prompted by the reports of serious developments of Japanese policy if nothing were done to placate Japanese public opinion, there can to-day be no doubt. The manner in which German emissaries were constantly attempting to enter into relations with Japan—notably at the Scandinavian capitals—is well-known to those behind the scenes; and although Japan remained loyal in word and in deed during this