Page 148 - Micronesia

resident Wilson spoke for the interna- party nation under the League of Nations not as territories under temporary supervi-
brought about a compromise. sion of the international community. Access
P tional community who opposed all an- to the islands in the final context of the man-
J apan received a League of Nations date would serve as a springboard for Japan’s
nexations of wartime acquisition territories mandate to govern occupied Micronesia, advance into the South Pacific and for its
and pressed for the alternative of having the henceforth to be known as the Mandated development as a major maritime power. The
ex-German islands be governed by a disin- Islands. Terms of the mandate specified that diplomatic arguments and bad feelings over
terested third party smaller nation excluding the islands be demilitarized and Japan was the issues of Japan’s occupation of Microne-
Japan under a mandate, that the administra- not to extend its influence beyond its pres- sia would result in a legacy of suspicion and
tive nation should refrain from the fortifying ently occupied islands in the Pacific. The resentment and cause of strain and ill will
the islands, that freedom of commerce and previously proposed Open Door policy of in U.S.-Japanese relations. Having secured
trade be preserved, and that the administra- trade and immigration between Mandated a mandate from the League of Nations with
tor should protect the welfare of the inhabit- Islands held by Japan and those by Australia only minimal and ineffectual constraints by
ants of their mandated islands. This proposal and New Zealand was rejected. These last the international community, Japan’s rule
brought about a heated debate within the two provisions were an attempt to deny over the islands and peoples began with
delegates with major criticism coming from Japan’s aspirations for a southward advance governing policies following guidelines more
countries under British reign, particularly below the equator. Eliminating the Open like a colonial administration instead of a
Australia. Prime Minister William Hughes Door policy restricting trade and immigration trusteeship. Five naval districts were estab-
of Australia, even though concerned that would provide Japan an argument for keep- lished in Palau, Saipan, Truk, Ponape, and
Japan was Australia’s biggest threat, argued ing the Mandated Island waters off limits to Jaluit with headquarters for this command
vehemently for his country’s right to annex foreigners. In retrospect, the terms of the under a rear admiral at Truk.
certain territories south of the equator. The mandate provisions allowed the islands to be
results of the debate over Hughes’ spoils-of- administered as Japanese possessions and
war arguments and President Wilson’s stance
of having the islands administered by a third-