Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

22 Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy
U. S. Relations with Japan
Th e six months’ notice we had given Japan of our intention
to terminate our 1911 commercial treaty expired on January 26,
1940. With the cancellation of that treaty, uncertainty prevailed
with respect to U.S.-Japanese trade. Th e Japanese were more or
less assured by U.S. offi cials, however, that they could expect trade
to continue about as usual. But the abrogation of the treaty meant
that tariff s, quotas, or embargoes could be imposed at any time.
Th e president and Congress were thus in a position to dictate the
terms under which Japan might continue to trade with us.
Japan at this time was trying to establish the Greater East Asia
Co-prosperity scheme “New Order” that she had announced in
November. On February 1 the Japanese foreign minister invited
other nations to join in this eff ort. Japan, he said, welcomed
foreign trade and investments, and he asked us to participate. But
we turned a cold shoulder on him and on Japan.
British Military Procurement and Politics
1940 was an election year. FDR decided to break all precedents
and run for a third term as president.
For most of FDR’s time in offi ce, his treasury secretary was
Henry J. Morgenthau, Jr. Morgenthau was Jewish and thus understandably
strongly anti-Hitler, eager to help England and to get
the United States into the war against Germany. 36 Morgenthau
36 As fi nancial editor from 1934–1935 of the United States News (predecessor
to U.S. News & World Report), I covered Morgenthau at the Treasury Department
and came to know him well. Morgenthau was a good friend, confi dant,
and great admirer of FDR’s. He could walk unobserved through an underground
passageway that connected the Treasury to the White House, and he
often did so, to report to FDR or to assume confi dential assignments. Morgenthau
had a residence in New York State, not far from FDR’s Hyde Park home.
He was undoubtedly closer to FDR personally than any other member of the
cabinet and didn’t hesitate at times to try to infl uence him.