ABSTRACT
The newcomer by name into the policies of nations, the Open Door, this artificially sustained balance of commercial opportunity, or free competition, proposes to exclude the advantage which most peoples to-day secure for their own industries within the limits of their territorial control. The Open Door demands evident security of maintenance, freedom from disturbance, under the balance of forces applicable in the Pacific in general, and in the Western Pacific in particular. It seems then of interest to consider the question of balance of power in the Pacific, as bearing upon the question of the maintenance of the Open Door. Attempts to obtain undue national privileges, especially if by force, or by an unfair use of present occupation, may make the Open Door a cause of war by inducing measures to resist its violation. With Japan in the Pacific, and in her attitude towards the Open Door, the case is very different from that of European or American Powers.
