THE DIPLOMATIC WHIRLIGIG

Memories of the Bernstoff revelations with their subsequent exposure of a Japanese-Mexican alliance have been awakened by news that Magdelina Bay, in Lower California, has been leased to a Tokio syndicate. In view of the close proximity of this district to the American border, Washington officials fear that the move may mean the establishment of a naval base and perhaps a Japanese colony. Twenty-five years ago the Senate blocked a similar project on the ground that it would be a source of danger to the safety of the United States. Consequently the Foreign Relations Committee is prepared to take active measures to frustrate the possibility of such a recurrence.

If it be true that the Calles regime has sanctioned such a lease, its purpose may have been to place the American government in an embarrassing position. The Japanese lease violates the new law against foreign ownership the application of which provoked the recent interchange of notes between Mexico and Washington. The present situation, however, may force the Administration to reverse its policy, by demanding that this law be enforced against all foreigners. Such action would place American diplomacy in a more just position.