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that General Abe's son was recently married to the daughter of Marquess Kido, the outgoing Minister of Internal Affairs. There is thus a further close family connexion between the new Prime Minister and circles in close touch with Prince Konoe.
5. The other members of the new Cabinet, in which the Prime Minister will concurrently hold the portfolio for Foreign Affairs, are as follows:—
Minister of Internal Affairs: Mr. Naoshi Ohara.
Minister of Welfare: Mr. Naoshi Ohara.
Minister of Finance: Mr. Kazuo Aoki.
Minister of War: General Shunroku Hata.
Minister of Marine: Vice-Admiral Zengo Yoshida.
Minister of Justice: Dr. Chogoro Miyagi.
Minister of Education: Mr. Kakichi Kawarada.
Minister of Commerce and Industry: Vice-Admiral Takuo Godo. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry: Vice-Admiral Takuo Godo. Minister of Communications: Mr. Ryutaro Nagai. Minister of Railways Mr. Ryutaro Nagai. Minister of Overseas Affairs: Mr. Tsuneo Kanemitsu.
As reported in my telegram No. 1132 of the 30th August the formal installation took place on the afternoon of that date.
6. Vice-Admiral Yoshida was from the outset mentioned as the most likely candidate for the post of Minister of Marine, and it seems that this was actually He is the first definite appointment to be made by the new Prime Minister. said to have been marked out for his present post for some years; he belongs to the same school as Admiral Yonai, is a man of moderate views, and has, it appears, kept himself free from definite association with any particular faction in the navy.
7. The choice of a Minister of War seems to have caused some difficulty, and the names of Lieutenant-General Kensuke Isogai and, later, of Lieutenant- General Hayao Tada, were at first freely mentioned in connexion with this key post. Both these officers, however, now hold important posts in the Kwantung army, and it appears to have been mainly for this reason that recourse was had to General Hata. From our point of view it is doubtful whether the choice could have been a better one, for it is safe to say that had he not been in favour in Court circles he would not have been given, as recently as May of this year, the post of chief aide-de-camp to the Emperor. On the other hand, both General Isogai and General Tada are known to belong to the more reactionary section of the army, and it will be recalled that as Japanese military attaché at Peking from 1935-36 the former was the author of many aggressive statements on the subject of Japan's policy towards China. I may add that the new Minister of War was, it is generally supposed, specially selected to command the Japanese forces in Central China upon the recall early in 1938 of General Iwane Matsui, it being said that he was regarded as particularly suited to this command at a time when it was necessary to restore discipline to the Japanese army of occupa- tion after the excesses accompanying the fall of Nanking.
8. Of the civilian members of the Cabinet three, namely, Messrs. Aoki, Miyagi and Kanemitsu, have not previously held a ministerial post. The first two are both Government officials who have served principally in the Ministries of Finance and Justice respectively, over which they are now called upon to preside. Little is known at this embassy of either of them. Mr. Kanemitsu is a politician; he was formerly a member of the Seiyukai, but withdrew from the party upon his appointment in 1937 to be vice-president of the House of Representatives. He will now represent the Seiyukai in the Cabinet, it being understood that he owes his selection to the fact that the party is in the position of a house divided against itself. In this connexion I have the honour to refer your Lordship to my despatch No. 371 of the 17th May last. There are still no signs of a rapprochement between the "reformist" and "orthodox" sections headed by Mr. Nakajima and Mr. Kuhara respectively, and the new Prime Minister has thus extricated himself from a difficult position by choosing a representative of the party from neither.
9. The other four members of the Cabinet have all had previous experience in administrative work, two of them, namely, Vice-Admiral Godo and Mr. Ohara, having previously held the portfolios now entrusted to them. Mr. Kawarada has
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formerly held office as Minister of Home Affairs, and it is interesting to note he is known to have very close connexions with the family of Prince Konoe. Mr. Nagai, who represents the Minseito, and Vice-Admiral Godo are both from the same province as the new Prime Minister, a fact which is not without importance in this country, and one which may have inspired the wish expressed editorially by the Asahi some days ago that an end might be put to the practice of selecting Ministers from personal considerations.
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10. As I had the honour to report in my telegram No. 1134 of the 30th August the new Cabinet has been received by the press without enthusiasm. The Nichi Nichi, for instance, in a leading article in its issue of the 30th August, says that what is required in order to effect a refreshment of the public mind (to the necessity for which Baron Hiranuma referred in explaining his resigna- tion) is to eliminate the anxiety of the nation as to the causes of the frequent changes of Cabinet at a time when it is engrossed upon the China incident. The nation could not be indifferent to changes unless each succeeding Cabinet was stronger than the last. No comparison could be drawn between the adminis- trative ability of the new Prime Minister and that of either Prince Konoe or Baron Hiranuma. The former was immensely popular, and the latter was well known as a statesman close to the throne and as the holder of definite views. From the point of view of practical politics, popularity might not be of great importance, but it was desirable that the Cabinet should be headed by a man who was known to the people and stood high in their estimation. There was, however, no suggestion that the nation would not support the new Cabinet.
The Chugai looks upon the new Cabinet as yet another continuation of the Konoe and Hiranuma administrations, although it points out that in one respect it has an advantage over that of Baron Hiranuma, since under the latter the policy of Japan vis-à-vis Europe took shape and this has now been liquidated; The new Cabinet is therefore in a position to make a new start and to show its ability in this direction. The Hochi is openly sceptical of General Abe's qualifications as a statesman; while the Kokumin says that no improvement in politics can be hoped for so long as the system under which members of the outgoing Cabinet interest themselves in the formation of the next continues.
As stated in my telegram No. 1162 of the 3rd September, I am not personally very favourably impressed with the new Cabinet, and it appears to be the general feeling that it is by no means a strong one. Herein, I think, lies the danger of the present position. The German betrayal of the spirit, if not of the letter, of the Anti-Comintern Pact, has been a rude shock to the country. It has also caused the military party and the reactionary elements who were exerting every effort to force the Hiranuma Cabinet into an alliance with the Axis Powers a serious loss of face. But it would be idle to pretend that this indicates any radical change in their feelings towards ourselves. This is not the case, and I am convinced that a large section of the people of this country are now deeply imbued with a sense of animosity towards ourselves. In con- versation with a member of my staff some days ago a well-known journalist said that although by tradition and upbringing he had formerly been friendly to Great Britain, he now felt it his duty as a patriotic Japanese to regard her as Japan's worst enemy. I fear that similar sentiments permeate many sections of the Japanese people to-day, and it will require hard work, caution and perseverance if we are to remedy this unfortunate and dangerous situation,
I have, &c.
J. L. DODDS.
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