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air power. Formerly the Anglo-Japanese alliance made a combination between these powers possible; since the signing of the treaties growing out of the conference for the limitation of armaments, the Anglo-Japanese alliance has come to an end, so that, at the present time, should hostilities seem imminent between the United States and Japan, England would observe a strict neutrality because, in a way, the United States would be waging a campaign to protect the British possessions in the Pacific, much as Japan fought England's war for her against the Russians in 1904-5. It would not be in keeping with England's traditional policy to actively aid anyone, unless her own possessions were directly menaced. This, Japan, at the time, would be careful to avoid. The Singapore base, therefore, puts Great Britain in the position, first, of protecting herself in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and at the same time offers a [[coquettish]] invitation to the United States to come around and visit a little in the Far East. While this apparently [[proffered]] British assistance is alluring in the extreme, particularly to our Navy, which not only is reaching out for

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