REPORTS ON JAPAN FASCISM UNTRUE, HINDMARSH SAYS

"China is a dish of macaroni: too long to swallow, and too tough to bite off," said Albert E. Hindmarsh, instructor in Government, citing a current Oriental proverb as he spoke on his recent observations in the Far East before a packed house at the Geographical Institute yesterday afternoon.

Japan's activities in China, he said, can be explained by the triple formula of "food, face, and fear"--food for Japan's dense population; a sense of "face" that demands complete naval supremacy; and fear of growing Communism in her huge neighbor.

Two popular conceptions, that Japan is on the verge of a revolution, and that Fascism is on the upgrade there, he branded as false. Almost unanimously the people believe that the land of the rising sun must "expand or explode"; any quarrel the people have to pick is with the means, not with the end. There is no more Fascism than in any nation at war, he said.

Officials Welcome Criticism

Free speech in Japan is a reality according to Hindmarsh. He explained that with permission from the War and Navy Departments, he spoke last fall in Tokio in bitter condemnation of Japanese military and diplomatic policies, a speech that was printed in newspapers with a total circulation of over nine million. From War and Navy officials came nothing but letters of praise.

Only once was Hindmarsh arrested by Japanese police in Shanghai, and that was outside the Soviet Embassy. In the war zone after the Panay incident, officers were instructed to pick up all Americans and apologize profusely for the bombing. "I got feeling a little guilty about the Panay after four or five arrests," Hindmarsh said.

Pacifists Weak-Kneed

Pacifists and liberals in Nippon do not have the courage of their own convictions, he said, citing one man as an example, who concluded a two hour harangue on the horrors of aggression by taking the train for Shanghai "to congratulate the Japanese armies."

Japan, stated Hindmarsh dryly, regards the present Neutrality Act as very desirable.

Unlike Japan, censorship in the U.S.S.R. is a very real factor. The approved method of gathering news, Hindmarsh said, is for a foreign correspondent to take a brief "rumor story" relayed to him from his home office, expand it into a long "dispatch," and take it down to the censor. If he approves it, the correspondent throws it away. If he disapproves, the correspondent knows the rumor is true. If he merely mumbles, the reporter has to guess.

Speaking of the Panay incident, films of which were shown at the conclusion of the lecture, he said, "The fact that some 80 Japanese soldiers who ran out into the river in an attempt to warn the attacking bombers of the Panay's nationality were machine-gunned, and two officers killed, does not indicate that the attack was a result of an order from higher up."