Why A Japanese Consul
pp. 51-52 · Read in the full issue
Seeking Spies In
Honolulu.
Why A Japanese Consul Moved On.
By John Williams.
PERHAPS it was just a gentle hint that Uncle Sam doesn’t intend to let anybody tweak his nose—and get away with it. Which is something in these war-hysteria days.
Anyhow, it happened in Honolulu, which is the general headquarters of the U.S.
West Pacific defence scheme.
Since the Hawaiian Islands formally were annexed by the U.S. in 1900, the U.S. Government has spent more than 900,000,000 dollars in army and navy de fence projects in the islands; and the is land of Oahu, upon which Honolulu stands, probably is the most highly for tified island in the world.
Every year, U.S. taxpayers disgorge at least 100,000,000 dollars for spending en tirely within the islands for maintenance and improvement of that “straight left”, poised before Japan’s chin.
It is quite natural, therefore, that Jap an’s militarists must be interested in what is going on in Hawaii. If Japan plans to invade the west coast of America, U.S. forces pivoted on Hawaii will be the most serious handicap to the scheme.
Lately, U.S. army and navy manoeuv res have found the Hawaii defences to be impregnable; and the defences are be ing improved out of sight by long-range plans involving expansions of navy, army and air force bases.
It is natural, too, that when you live in a highly militarised place like Hono
lulu you hear wild and woolly rumours.
And you hear, too, lots of facts. It is obvious to detached observers that the U.S. armed forces here have spy com plexes, similar to (although not so hys terical as the anti-spy complexes of the militarists in Japan.
While U.S. taxpayers every year pay out such tremendous amounts for the de fence of their democracy, they yet accept the policy of the great American oil In dustry in shipping oil, vital to Japan’s expansion, from California wells to Japan.
Japanese navy tankers have been cross ing the Pacific for years now, and, home ward bound, they call in at Honolulu and remain for at least a week.
It is said these tankers are officered by Japanese navy officers and reservists, and observers here declare that these officers remain on the tankers for a few voyages, the Japanese idea being to give as many as possible of their officers train ing in trans-Pacific routes.
Whenever one of these Nippon tankers comes into Honolulu, there is activity among the army and navy intelligence officers, who are assigned to watch the movements of visitors ashore from the tankers. This is rather old-fashioned, be cause modern spying goes on in more slick ways, so say men who should know.
The U.S. navy has nabbed Americans, even U.S. navy officers, in the pay of Tokio. Spying seems to be done more ef fectively in higher places than from visit ing tankers in Hawaii. However, the in telligence operators must obey orders to spy on the alleged spies.
For some time, for example, the Hono lulu newspapers used to photograph the officers of tankers, be courteous about it, and the Japanese would be courteous in return. They’d doll up in their gold braid and group before the news cameras with nice beaming smiles. This went on for a long time, until the Japanese tankers
were told (evidently by one of their local observers) that the newspapers promptly turned over the photos, to the U.S. in telligence officers.
So, a few months ago, a Japanese tanker arrived and the intelligence opera tors were itching to get photos, of the officers. There must have been some spe cial person aboard that they badly wanted “mugged”. The newspapers, meanwhile, had been told about offended Japanese feelings, so they refused to be brought in on this special occasion.
So a U.S. navy intelligence operator was told off. He went down to the tanker in plain clothes, and with a camera. It hap pened that the tanker officers were group ed on deck with the Japanese Consul of Honolulu. The Consul, who evidently knew the intelligence operator by sight, stalked over and tried to snatch the operator’s camera.
The operator tried to pose as an ordin ary American citizen, and gave a city ad dress. Navy authorities even did not in terfere when the operator insisted upon police protection when the Japanese want ed to remove the film from his camera.
Honolulu police ruled that the operator was not violating any law in photograph ing the Japanese. The Consul was deep ly offended, because actually he knew what was up, although openly he would not say so.
Admiral Murfin, red-blooded high mo gul of the local U.S. navy forces, was angered that one of his men had been “strong-armed”, especially by Japanese.
It is said that he protested so vigorously about the incident that Japan withdrew this Consul from Honolulu. That is the story behind the story of why he left late in November.
It is hard to reason out just what a closely-observed Japanese officer could do in Honolulu.
Mr. and Mrs. Ward Williams recently arrived in Los Angeles from Hawaii, en route to New York (writes Mr. George C. Dromgold, in a personal note to the editor). A short time later I received a letter from him, stating that he was leaving New York by plane for South America.
Rev. Walter Daniels, accompanied by his wife, will leave Sydney for Thurs day Island by the “Merkur” on February 7. He will take up duties as assistant priest of the Anglican Torres Strait Mission.