VOL. I.

JUNE, 1908

No. 9

THE
FAR
EAST

The Grand Expo-
sition of Japan,
and its Relation
to Foreign Trade

Viscount Kantko

The Commercial In-
tegrity of Nippon

Adachi Kinnosuke

Autobiography of
Prince Ito Hir-
obumi

The -New East in
the Making

Asada Maiuo

The Development
of Shipyards and
Ship-Building In-
dustry of Nippon

Hirala Takateki

m* gar 6M QuhiialjMB G*>*

DETROIT, MICH., U. S. A.

:TY CENTS THE COPY. THREE DOLLARS THE YEi

The Far East

Adachi Kinnosuke,

Proprietor and Editor

JUNE, 1908

CONTENTS

PORTRAIT OF VISCOUNT KANEKO

THE GRAND EXPOSITION OF
JAPAN, AND ITS RELATION TO
FOREIGN TRADE
(Illustrated)

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF PRINCE

ITO HIROBUMI— IV

Being an account of his life told
by himself and recorded by
(Illustrated)

THE COMMERCIAL INTEGRITY
OF NIPPON

FRONTISPIECE

VISCOUNT KANEKO

OHASHI OTOWA

ADACHI KINNOSUKE

HAS JAPAN THE BETTER NAVY? PROF. D. K. LAMBUTH

THE NEW EAST IN THE MAKING
The Trade of Taken
Telephones in Fuchao
The Trans-Pacific Service
Oriental Colonization Company
China and the Press
Visit of the American Squadron to

Nippon, and the Attitude of the

People of Nippon
International Struggle on the

Yangtse River
China and Her Army
The Alignment of Political Parties

in the Imperial Diet, House of

Representatives
Nippon Funds for the Korean Treasury
Germany and Shansi
The Financial Crisis in Nippon— Its

Cause
Russia is Still in Manchuria
The Railway Construction Dispute in

Manchuria
In Manchuria
(Illustrated)

DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPYARDS
AND SHIP-BUILDING INDUSTRY
OF NIPPON

(Illustrated)

ON THE BUDGET FOR THE

FISCAL YEAR, 1908

ASADA MASUO

480
427
435

$

HIRATA TAKATOKI

BARON MATSUDA

Copyright, 1908, by The Far East Publishing Co.,

Application made at the Detroit Post-office to be entered

as second class matter.

The Addison,

Published Monthly by
The Far East Publishing Co.,

Detroit, Mich, U. S. A.

A-3Jap of ttje Nan-§l|anH

&iuin.csteb by the (flliiueoe UJlaaaic (fhtatraiu
of (ficucral Nuai

I.

^^^^Ije bay ia tome : - Anb tlje waters of tlje
m ^| Pecljili are golb anb emeralb anb fire ; - <J 3n
^^^^y its beatlj Ijour, it tjas gattjereb all its glories
upon tlje lone uiljite stone ~ <J (3lt marks tlje
spot uitjere a solbier passeb into an Ijeroic memory) -
«I Sfljere a-top of tlje Nan-&ljan ijill.

II.

s> ""M" mtjtte star, gleaming against tlje alien sky -
v 1 ^f (A mere tofjite stone, some may say, uritlj

7 [ mljiclj your comraoe markeo tlje spot you fell)

<I ©ut. al|, 'Ofis tlje llljite IGotus of famatu

tljat blooms <J 0{ljere a-top of tlje 2fan-£>ban 2jtll.

onci

—

III.

uiljite star, bib 31 sag ? UKaytjap it he a Proptjet
robeb in uiljite ligljt tjuftjat gon see glim-
mering against tlje rose of tlje sun-bourn
sea ; *I 'QJis tlje storg of tlje neui Nippon to
be, tljat tlje Prupljet tells npon gonber uiljite stone ^f (At
once tlje tomb of a son of Nogi, anb tlje crable of tlje
greater Nippon) Sfljere, a-top of tlje Nan-01jan ijill.

In May 1904 the battle of Nan-Shan was fought. General Oku defeated the Russians
and isolated Port Arthur. The eldest son of General Nogi lost his life in this battle.
His comrade found the body, dug a grave with his own sword and burried him on

the i..»st p| tne Nan-Shan Hill which commanded the fairest

of the Gulf of

Pechih. tb tne early summer of the same year General Nogi was appointed the
commander ot tl.» hesieging army of Nippon at Port Arthur. General Nogi rode out
from Kin-chau to taVe ^mmand. The sun was falling on the Gulf of Pechili as
the General skirted the foot ol 4v- Nan-Shan. }t seemed as though the summer day
was gathering all the glories of earth andUfoes upon the white stone which marked the
tomb of his eldest son, a-top of the Nan-Shan Hill, arid the General composed a
Chinese quatrain which has passed into classics.

VISCOUNT KANEKO,
Director-General of the Grand Exposition 1912.

The Far East

Vol. I. June 1908. No. 9.

THE GRAND EXPOSITION OF JAPAN, AND ITS RELATION
TO FOREIGN TRADE.

Being a speech by Viscount Kaneko before the Yokohama Foreign Board of Trade, at the Im-
perial Hotel, on the Evening of December 23rd, 1907.

OUTWARDLY and in name, the exhibition would be domes-
tic, but in materials we expect to make it an international
one. Then you might ask me, why do we not call it an
international exhibition? But when we look upon the pres-
ent condition of Japan, the condition of the people, and the
condition of transportation and social conveniences, we are not yet in a
proper position to welcome foreign governments and peoples; therefore, we
dare not ask them to come with a notion of participating in such an interna-
tional exposition, as they are accustomed to in Europe and America, but we
simply extend our most cordial invitation to asisst us in our domestic exhibition.

LIMITATIONS OF EXHIBITS.

Neither do we dare ask foreign governments and peoples to send all their
products, because the space at our disposal is not large enough to take them
all. For this reason, the exhibits are limited under five heads — Education,
Science, Machinery, Electricity and Manufactured Goods. But here let me
say a few words ; If any foreign government or corporation would like to send
the articles not included in the foregoing categories, such an exhibitor can
build at his own expense a separate building, governmental or private, where
he can exhibit whatever produce he likes; of course, the space allotted him
will be free of charge, and we do not expect to collect a single penny in
this connection.

PLAN OF EXHIBITION.

The sight of the exhibition grounds includes the former Parade Ground
at Aoyama, belonging to the Army Department, which covers about 1 40,000
tsubo.* This is not sufficent for our purpose, and we submitted a humble
request to His Imperial Majesty, the Emporer, who has granted us the use
of his Imperial Estate of Yoyogi. This is nearly 160,000 tsubo,* much
larger than the Parade Ground. These two places will be connected by a
wide avenue, extending somewhere over 700 ken* in length.

* One tsubo equals about four yards.

* One ken equals six feet.

'—

410 THEFAREAST

The site has 'been decided somewhat after the fashion of the Exhibition
lately held at Milan, and also is similar to the site of the late Exhibition at
Liege. These two grounds are connected by wide avenues, thus we might
say that the Belgian and Italian Exhibitions gave us an example.

ASIATIC PRODUCTS.

We have studied the coming exhibition from special points of view.
First we expect to make it a genuine representative display of Asiatic products.
As far as we know, no exhibition has even been held taking in the whole of
Asia for the special benefit of the people of the West. The gentleman on
my left, the Chinese Consul-General, will, I am sure, assist us all in his
power to make the exhibition meet our aim, and bring a success in this
respect.

The next point, we expect to make the exhibition a special one in con-
nection with the Western Colonies in the East. The gentlemen here present
have lived in Japan many years, and have studied the trade in the Far East.
As you all know, the Colonies of Europe and America in Asia are now
coming rapidly to the front in international commerce. The products of these
colonies are coming to Japan, some in the form of raw material, and others
in a manufactured shape. This colonial trade of Japan is now held as an
important factor of our future commerce in the Indian Archipelago and
Asiatic waters. Furthermore, it extends beyond the equator to New Zealand,
Australia, and many other parts of the world. We expect to make Japan
the center of the colonial trade of Western nations in the Far East.

MACHINERY AND ELECTRICITY.

In regard to machinery, electricity and manufactured goods, I appeal
to your special consideration. You, gentlemen, have studied the growth of
our commercial conditions. Japan has just entered the industrial comity; in
other words, Japan is just transforming her former industries, as have been
in Europe seventy or eighty years ago. Europe was once in the state of
home industries, whose factories were found here and there by the road-
side, or by little streams. Although Japan is now rapidly changing her in-
dustrial condition, we would ask you to bear in mind that we are yet in a
very imperfect state. Therefore we ask the Western people, with their ex-
perience and scientific knowledge, to bring their new machines and new
inventions, and show us how to change properly from home industry to the
factory system, of which Europe and America are so proud to-day. So with
regard to machinery, I hope you will influence your people at home to bring
such machines as will fit in the present condition of Japan. Supposing you
bring a machine, which is so gigantic that we could not possibly utilize it in

- -v r~

THE FAR EAST 411

this country at present, I fear that it might he shipped back after the the exhibi-
tion. Therefore I hope you will tell your home people just what dimensions,
what horsepower, and what kinds of machines are needed for our use.

MACHINES TO BE BOUGHT.

Our Government desires every exhibitor from foreign countries to bring
such machines as will find Japanese purchasers at the exhibition. We do not
want foreign exhibitors to take their machines back home. We hope to have
every one of them bought by our people, and the exhibitors return home with
a prospect of future trade. That is the wish of our Imperial Government.
Consequently we may possibly limit the horsepower of machinery by the regu-
lation shortly to be issued, with a view simply to guide foreign exhibitors in
the class of machines needed in Japan at present. In this connection, I
might emphasize two kinds that are most needed now, particularly the hand
machines, and those having to do with electricity. As you know already,
Japan is a mountainous country. From the coast to the base of the hills,
the distance is so short that there are many rapids and waterfalls, just as in
Switzerland, or Sweden and Norway. Water-power is found everywhere,
and we expect to utilize it by such machinery as is used in those countries.
Therefore, if such machinery should be brought here, and its working explained
by foreign engineers, the Japanese will then understand its usefulness, and
the machines will be sent for from different parts of the country, where the
pools, water-falls and rapids are abundant. Moreover, the street cars, elec-
tric light and many electrical plants are still in the stage of infancy. In
these lines we need an assistance of foreign exhibitors. We cannot develop
our foreign trade or increase it without the assistance of Western people.
Therefore we earnestly request your assistance to make this exhibition a
success.

MUTUAL ADVANTAGES.

With regard to manufactured goods, you are more or less directly or
indirectly acquainted. As we have no large factories to supply even our
own needs, so there is a very large margin to be filled up by the manufactured
goods of Europe and America. Let your keen business men come to Japan
and compare our articles with their own, they will no doubt find many things
that will be supplied by their goods much cheaper than we make them here;
because our industrial establishments are not up to the mark of the Western
countries. Moreover, they will find many articles made in Japan, which
can be sent profitably home for commercial purposes. Thus the coming ex-
hibition could be easily made a reciprocal benefit and a mutual gain, as well
as an interchange of ideas. I might enumerate many examples to corroborate
What I have already said. The machine for cutting a timber has been in-

> -T~ — T

412 THE FAR EAST

traduced !by our Government within the last year or two, to be used in the
Government forests. Formerly we used to cut our timber by hand-saw;
but now we are using the machines imported from England. Such as dye-
ing substances from Germany, glass wares from Belgium, and engines and
iron materials from the United States, and wines and artistic goods from
France, are the important articles in our foreign trade which has grown
enormously within the last few years. If this exhibition is carried out in
a proper way, it will prove a decided benfit both to Japan and foreign
nations. Therefore do I hope, gentlemen, to have this Grand Exhibition of
1912, not merely a temporary display of foreign products, but one of lasting
effect upon our international commerce. We expect to make this coming
World's Fair a reciprocal and mutual benefit, by bringing foreign machines
and goods nearer and closer to the Japanese market. So closely interwoven
should these commercial interests become, that no power on earth could dis-
turb our cordial relations with foreign nations, which have been so happily
maintained for a half century.

1

r,

THE FAR EAST 413

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF PRINCE ITO HIROBUMI.

Being an account of his life told by himself to and recorded by
OHASHI OTOWA.

IV.

^^^^^^HERE was a man by the name of Asada. Both Kido and
m C~\ Nakamura Kuro had reasons to treat him with deference and
^^ 1 respect. But this man had a taint of insanity in his blood ; an

^^^^^ insane fit attacked him once When he was in Kyoto, but he
had recovered completely. He was exceedingly truthful and
honest. Such men as Yoshida in his mistaken moments, used to call him
crooked and traitorous, but there was no truth in that. He was not quite
strong enough, however, to unify all the Choshu elements in Kyoto. Anarchic
conditions prevailed among us; every man followed his own bent, directed
his actions according to his own judgment, there was no unity amongst us in
our movements, but Nakamura was endowed with an exceptionally great
administrative power, beside him were Asada, Maeda Magoemon, Mori and
Noboru; these were all thoughtful, conservative, gentle and truthful men.
Kido and Takasugi were not quite their peers. Asada withdrew from the
company one day. The rumor had it that it was on account of the wound in-
flicted upon him by Nakamura brothers, Akagawa, Sakuma, and others. I
heard the story of this incident from the men of the Kido and Takasugi party,
it is quite one-sided therefore, and I had no way of hearing the story from
the side of Asada. Nakamura seized this opportunity, and declared that
this was the one chance to make Takasugi one of the officers. He tried to
carry out his program through the co-operation of the men of Kihei Ta't.
For that reason Akane and his associates did not look upon Nakamura in an
evil light. So it came to pass that Nakamura and Kido did not become any
more friendly. As for Kishima, he was one of those men who put upon
himself the airs of a despotic captain, — just an ideal man for the commissioner
of police, — and was utterly indifferent as to the political aspects of things.

There was another man called Maki Izumi, he was the head of the
ronin. He was a man whom Hisazaka greatly admired. As for Nakamura,
he was proud of his attainments in Chinses classics, and associated with the
ronin on scholarly plane, and he was one of those who did not for one moment,
permit anybody to step ahead of him.

Hisazaka had never been known to have had any serious quarrel with
Takasugi. He did not occupy an important official position, at the same
time he was always at the head of young blades, and he moreover and always,
carried out his ideas on independent lines. He was one of the pupils of
Yoshida Shoin, and did a great deal in promoting the sentiment of Kinno Joi
among the outsiders. He had no special dislike against Nakamura. Those

414 THE FAR EAST

whom he looked upon as vile and as his bitter enemies were the men in power,
or near the dais of the shogun. As for Kijima, he was a singular fellow.

Shogun Iemochi entered Kyoto in the spring of the third year of Bunkyu.
This visit of the Shogun was the result of repeated and persistent communica-
tions from Kyoto, requesting him to pay his respects to the Emperor at Kyoto.
But the visit of the Shogun did not unify the policy or the public opinions of
the Empire. His visit was barren of results, therefore the shogun begged
leave to depart from Kyoto and return to Edo. That was the occasion when
Takasugi declared that he would assassinate the shogun.

The dusk was just falling upon the city of Kyoto, but the discussions
among us were stormy, and nothing was decided. In the morning of the day
came to us a man of Higo called Minami Hachiro. "I've caught it on the
tiding of the winds that you are about to do something. Pray let your servant
be one of the number." But Takasugi said to him; "We do not think that we
should trouble you about this matter," ajid declined to take him into the com-
pany. At once he committed harakiri. That was in the morning of the day
following the night of the heated discussion. As the day wore on, we decided
that we should assassinate the shogun at the Kuge Gate, because the shogun
was to have imperial audience that night — a farewell audience before he started
for Edo. Just before we decided to start out on our work, I returned to my
lodging in Kiya Street. At the official residence of Kawamachi, there was
Kishima. He was one of the officers of the clan, and in fact was in charge of
the official yashiki- Nevertheless, he said, "By all means. Hit away, and hit
sure!" He at once ordered the preparation of lunches which we were to
carry with us. It was decided that sixteen or seventeen of us should do this
work. One fellow whose name was Oraku Gentaro showed his "lily liver,"
and absolutely melted away in no time to nowhere. It seemed that this fellow
betrayed us and went to the Takatsukasa House. The retainers of Prince
Takatsukasa, greatly amazed, rushed to the palace. The shogun had not
left the palace, and the palace officers assured the retainer of Prince Takat-
sukasa that they would not permit the Shogun to venture out from the palace
that night. So the entire plan ended without farther development.

Much has been said of the meeting of Takasugi and Saigo, that is — just
before Takasugi raised his standard of revolt. This is questionable. There
is a document written by Hazakawa, but he mentions nothing of the sort.
I was one of about forty men who used to gather together in those days,
and it is impossible that we should not have known something of it, had it
actually happened. The story of the interview between Saigo and Takasugi,
therefore, must have been a fiction ; as a matter of fact, there was no chance
of Takasugi meeting Saigo at that time, face to face. The Choshu had not
made up with Satsuma in those days. The chief among the men who brought
about the unification of Choshu and Satsuma was Sakamoto Ryuma.

THE FAR EAST 415

After our return from abroad, and not very long after that, there arose a
violent dissention in the Choshu clan. At the time there was a sort of per-
sonal guard of honor to our Lord. The company was composed of picked
men of the clan and was called Sempotai, — the Van-guard, that is to say. —
Some of them began to say that Inoue and Ito came back from Europe, and
after they came home, they stirred up so much trouble that all this dis-
cussion among the clansmen was the direct result of their return. It
would never do to let them live in peace. They decided, therefore once for
all, to kill us both, and on that very night.

Inoue said to me, "Now we have come back, so far, so good. But it is
not quite satisfactory to be cut down by any people before we accomplish the
end for which we have taken so much trouble in getting ourselves home.
Rather than to be killed by others," he said to me, "I would commit seppuku."
I said to Inoue: — "That would never do. Since we have started in this
work, we cannot retrace our steps. If we be doomed to be cut down by our
enemy, there is no help for it. If they come to us to-night, even if they be
in great numbers, we have our own swords, and we shall die fighting, and
that is all there is to it." So saying, we decided not to commit harakiri. But
very fortunately, the clan as a clan, somehow managed to stop these men of
the Van-guard, and the expected assassination did not come to pass.

There was in Choshu in those days, another band of soldiers, they called
themselves Kiheitai. It was organized at first by Takasugi. Yamagata
(Field-marshall Prince Yamagata of to-day) was one of them. Even after
Takasugi accepted an official position, the men of his company were friendly
to him. At the time of our return, Takasugi was shut up in prison. The men
of the Kiheitai came to see us off and on. They said to us, "It's too bad.
But, it can't be helped. In the days of old, you used to be one of us, and for
the sake of the olden days, we shall never kill you." So we enjoyed their
protection. A similar situation exists to-day between the two political parties
of our country, the liberal party and the progressionists.

Days passed ; they were full of many dangerous incidents ; speaking gener-
ally and in short, die twelve days of grace which we had secured from the min-
isters of the foreign powers were about to expire. Their men-of-war were wait-
ing for the answer, and the answer must be given. We had had many a
conference with the officers of the clan, but nothing definite was settled on
this point. The last day approached, on which we had to return and carry
our answer.

Meanwhile, there was convened in the Administration Hall in the city of
Yamaguchi, what may be called a cabinet conference of the clan. At the
meeting of this clan cabinet, it was declared that the Choshu clan simply
carried out the imperial commands and wishes in its anti-foreign attitude and
action. In order to stop the hostile measures regarding its anti-foreign actions,

416 THE FAR EAST

therefore, an imperial order to that effect was necessary. It was impossible
to stop the hostile action toward the foreigners by the private decision of the
Choshu clan itself, and therefore, when the Lord of Choshu will pay his
respects at the Imperial Court in the city of Kyoto, he will inquire into the
imperial wishes, and thereafter will answer to the communications of the
foreign powers as to the future action of the Choshu clan. This course meant
further delay; therefore the Choshu clan wished to have at least three months
before the delivery of the final answer. If the representatives of the foreign
powers were to come to Bakwaji or Shimonoseki three months later, therefore,
they will be ready with the answer. On the other hand, if it pleased them to
declare war, why, the Choshu clan was perfectly delighted to see them do
so at any time. They were always ready to receive them when our foreign
friends would come.

But this answer was exceedingly unsatisfactory to us. This was not the
sort of answer we promised the foreign minister at all. I talked it over
with Inoue, and he said to me: "This is bad. How can we take such an
outlandish answer, even to a foreigner? But, of course, even so ungracious
an answer is very much better than telling them a lie." Thereupon, we de-
cided to carry this answer back to our foreign friends. This time we took
a boat from Mitajiri and went to Himejima. We reached Himejima on
the night of the eleventh day. The foreign ships were ready to weigh anchor
the following morning. When we saw Mr. Satow, he said to us: "Well,
I am delighted to see you back; we had no idea that you were still alive."
He at once brought out a bottle of champagne, and then asked us, "How
have you fared? What answer have you brought back?" Then we told
him that we did everything we could, but all went for naught. "What
answer have you brought back to our communication?" he asked us. "There
is no particular answer," we said, "to your communication." "Well, then,"
said Mr. Satow, "did not they give you even a receipt for our communi-
cation?"

"No," we said, "not even a receipt. Now, all the answer that we have
brought back is that we are ready to apologize for this failure to bring back
a satisfactory answer, with our own lives."

"In that case," Mr. Satow said to us, "we may perhaps have the
pleasure of seeing you gentlemen under a shower of bullets."

The parting was not at all enjoyable. We went back; the time was
critical. In Choshu preparations were made for a number of the leading
men of the clan to make their way up to Kyoto in company with Prince
Sanjo, and other nobles, seven in all. The lord of our clan, Lord Gentoku,
was to head this special embassy to the capital. In the city of Kyoto
itself, as I have said, there were Fukuhara, Masuda, Kokushi, and there was
also Kido. War was in the air. It was indeed imminent. The reason

I

ttV:

ffcV

ftw in

m*±

THE FAR EAST 417

for this special embassy accompanying these seven nobles was — so ran the
public announcement — to present a petition to the Imperial Court at Kyoto.
In reality, however, it was not to beg the Imperial Court to forgive us, the
men of Choshu, for whatever faults of which we had been guilty, but on
the contrary, the men of Choshu were to take advantage of this oppor-
tunity, to prove that their former actions had no other significance than obeying
the orders of the Imperial Court, and carrying His Majesty's wishes into
action. The outcome of it all, as all men knew, was to bring about a
fight. There was nothing at the end of this embassy except a pitched battle.

As I have already mentioned, one of the elders of the clan was called
Shimizu Seitaro. He came from a prominent family. One of his fore-
fathers was called Shimizu Chosaemon, whose name became famous in con-
nection with the siege of Takamatsu Castle, when the Castle was flooded by
water. Rather than to see the fall of the Castle, he committed harakiri, as
we all know. One day Elder Shimizu wished to hear our side of the
story. We certainly did not hesitate to speak frankly. He was good
enough to say, "What you say is quite right; I agree with you." He
went on to say, "From this day I shall take a similar view of the situation
with you; I shall agree to lock up the anti- foreign antagonism of mine in my
own heart, and for fifty years to come. But I want you to go at once to
Kyoto; it will never do to have anything happen in the city of Kyoto at
the present time. I wish you would go up to Kyoto and take the matter
up with Anato Samanosuke and his comrades. I want you to persuade
them to give up their anti-foreign propaganda, and turn their activities into
another channel. Let them employ all their efforts and influence to bring
about the restoration of the Imperial power."

We assented at once, and started for Kyoto. We reached Oka'yama in
the Province of Bizen. There we met a company of a few straggling
soldiers. They were going home to Choshu. They were the broken and
defeated fragments of the Choshu men, from Kyoto way. So they had
fought; they had been defeated. We found out that Prince Sanjo and the
seven nobles took the same route and returned to Muronotsu in the Province
of Harima. There was nothing whatever to do after that, so we too,
returned to Mitajiri. The lord of the clan at once summoned the council.
The defeat at Kyoto changed the aspect of things very largely, as far as
Choshu was concerned. Everybody saw that it would be a difficult task
to invite a fleet of foreign powers once more into Bakwan and fight against
them. The chief point discussed at the conference was how to aver? such
a predicament. The council devoted time and attention in discussing practi-
cal methods and in detail, of preventing such an attack from the foreign
ships. Everybody recognized the difficulty of it. It was not impossible
to avert the attack from foreigners at the time when we paid our first

418 THE FAR EAST

visit to Choshu with the message from the combined fleet. Time had
changed, however, and it was no easy matter to induce the foreigners to listen
to our peace proposal again. With it all, we decided to do our best, at
least we would try. At that time it was impossible for us to return to
Yokohama, there was no other way open to us save to make for Nagasaki.
As we were discussing the means to bring this about, we received the news,
and that within a very few days after the council was in session, that eighteen
ships of war were sighted off Himejima. When the news reached Ohoshu
we were at a hotel in Yamajguchi. Sufu Masanosuke had been serving
a sentence of penal confinement at the time of our return, but was suddenly
called out of his enforced retirement. The gentleman called upon us, and
said to us: "We have just received a report of the coming of the foreign
ships. Are there no means of preventing them from bombarding our coast?

We said that it was exceedingly improbable and extremely difficult to
bring about anything of that kind; we told him that this time the foreigners
must have returned with a thorough intention of opening hostility, and
pointed out many other difficulties which were in the way. But still this man,
who was serving at the time as a member of the clan cabinet, if one may call
him such, insisted on finding some method of meeting the situation, of
making the foreigners stop the hostile action against us.

"Well," we said, "we may approach them with a proposition of the
following type: we shall say to the foreigners that we would be willing to
enter into a treaty agreement of furnishing them with food and water, and
also permit them free intercourse at Bakwan. So it was agreed that we
should start at once. We were to be armed with this proposal in form,
stamped with the official seal of the Lord of our Clan. There was no time
to summon the council, and for that reason the document was taken to our
lord in his bed-chamber, and the official seal was placed by him without
loss of time. We were to be accompanied by a man of Mitajiri,
Matsushima Kozo, who enjoyed the title of an admiral. The order was at
once issued to him to accompany us. The following morning, we started
for Mitajiri. We took a boat and sailed out toward Himejima where the
fleet was reported to be. The distance was about seven or eight ri (one ri
equals about two and one-half miles). We had to row every inch of our
way. It was a little past three o'clock in the afternoon we sighted steam-
ships, evidently the vessels of the combined fleet, steaming for Shimonoseki.
We saw the uselessness of chasing the steamers with our boat, so we changed
our direction and rowed back. We gave up all hope of stopping the for-
eigners from carrying out their hostile intentions. That night we returned
to Mitajiri, and did not reach Yamaguchi until the next day.

On our return, we found that Takasugi, who had been imprisoned at
Hagi, had been set free. Of course in those days Takasugi was not

THE FAR EAST 419

allowed to go abroad anywhere he wished. He was under strict surveillance
and was confined to his own house. Long before this, we had felt the neces-
sity of talking a number of affairs over with Takasugi. As soon as we
found that he was out of prison, we agreed that at least one of us should
go to see him. Inoue went over, therefore, and saw Takasugi. A little
later, I too, was able to pay him a visit. He said to me:

"I had been serving my term in prison, but all of a sudden I was called
out of it. I have not been told that my sentence has been revoked, or that
I am forgiven for whatever crime with which I had been charged Simply
I was called out because there was some official business. I don't under-
stand this proceeding at all."

We talked the matter over, and agreed that it was useless for us to be
in Hagi. We agreed to make haste to go to Bakwan, and so, about two
o'clock in the afternoon of the very same day we took kago, both of us,
and started for Bakwan. Inoue had preceded us there. On our way toward
Bakwan, as we reached a small village some two ri distant from Himachi, we
heard the report of cannons. It came from the direction of Bakwan. It was
about ten o'clock in the evening, perhaps a little later. We met someone who
came from the direction of Bakwan ; he was riding a fago, but had a white
band around his head, and with his shoes on. We stopped him and asked
who he was. We were told that he was a Choshu sumurai. In answer to
our question, he told us that the war had began at Bakwan, and he was on his
way to report the situation to the lord of the clan. We did not stop, neither
did we turn back; we kept on going. Once more we met another k&§o, and
we found that it was Inoue who was coming back from Bakwan. We stopped
our k^go, and at once put our heads together, three of us, in a serious dis-
cussion. Inoue told us that he not only went to Bakwan, but actually went to
the men-of-war, and moreover, saw Mr. Satow, face to face. Mr. Satow
told him that this time he was ready to make a present of cannon balls, and
he would not discuss the matter any further.

"On my way home," so said Inoue, "I passed by the Fort of Dannoura,
and I noticed that a very, very few of the shells from the Armstrong guns
told on the fort; most of them went over it. But," he said, "now that they
have opened fire upon us, the peace would not be brought about until after
we shall have fought it out. This war may wipe us out. Let us go
home, three of us, and urge our lord to take the field in person. Nothing
would have such a powerful influence on the awakening of the spirit of
Choshu among our men, as the personal leadership of the Lord of the
Clan."

420 THE FAR EAST

THE COMMERCIAL INTEGRITY OF NIPPON.

BY ADACHI KINNOSUKE.

XT was in the City of New York, and it was in the office of a
large steel export company : —
"I hear so much, and so often, of the low commercial moral-
ity of the Japanese. How about it? Is there anything to it?
"Mr. Manager," I said, "you are at die head of one of the
largest industrial corporations in the United States : you are a business man. Let
me put this question to you : — Suppose to-morrow you were to adopt the Jew-
peddler policy of skinning everybody that may come to deal with you; for
how many years do you suppose your company will hold its high standing
of today?"

"Oh," said the Manager, "not many years — two or three years perhaps."

"Let me give you a few figures from a simple statistical table," I said to
him. "In 1 868 the foreign commerce of Nippon amounted in value to 1 5,553,-
473 yen. In the year of Grace, 1907, the foreign trade of Nippon amounted
to 924,708,000 yen. Within half a century our foreign commerce bridged
the distance between the fifteen and half million pen mark to nearly one billion
yen mark. The growth has not been a sudden one; — gradual, natural,
healthy. You, as a business man, pray read the significance of these two
statistical figures. It is not a question of ethics at all. It is simply the question
of business sense. No business can possibly be built up on any other basis
than that you would satisfy your customer, and in this world rare indeed are
the customers who are pleased with any other method on the part of a merchant
save that of unscrupulous honesty. Our American friends seem to give us
credit for having common ordinary horse-sense. Admit that we are not a
race of idiots or mad men; you must at the same time grant that the business
methods of our country are not very far different from those of the Christian
lands."

One great weakness, the American has — it is his grandmotherly, desperate
weakness for a good story. When Nippon stepped out of the comparative
obscurity of a third-class power into the full glare at the center of the world's
stage, almost with a bounce — as far as the understanding of our Western
friends was concerned — with the spectacular doings in the late war, many
good stories were told of us. Among others, this; that we are a race which
can fight fairly well, but when it comes to commercial dealings we are woe-
fully lacking in principle. Now this sad reputation of the Nippon merchants
has its foundation.

In the early days of our foreign commerce it was the adventurers, the
riff-raffs of the West, that came to our shores. At a few open ports, which were
opened for foreign commerce in the early days, there were no conservative

THE FAR EAST 421

merchants who were willing to do business with foreigners because first, they
had plenty to do at home, and because secondly, they knew practically
nothing of the business methods and characters of foreign merchants. They
did not care to deal with them. So it came to pass that the foreign adventurers
who landed at our shores were compelled to deal with the Nippon traders at
the treaty ports. To begin with, these, our adventurers, were past masters of
Oriental tricks of trade. By the time they finished with our foreign friends,
they were the past masters of both the eastern and western tricks. It also
came to pass that in their dealings with foreigners some of them became rich.

Then came the transition period. More responsible merchants abroad
awoke to the possibilities of the Oriental trade, and driving before them the
adventurers, they came to our shores to trade. The active participation in for-
eign trade gained ground with western merchants much more rapidly than it
did with the conservative merchants of Nippon. When the good western houses
came to us to trade, our conservative mercantile houses were still utterly in-
different to have any dealing with them. Now these western merchants of
good standing and good record, when they came to our treaty ports, found no
conservative merchants of ours of unquestioned standing to do business with.
There was only one kind of Nippon merchants who was willing to deal with
them — the same old adventurous class. I have already said that some of them
became wealthy in their dealings. When, therefore, the western merchants of
good standing came and saw a certain number of merchants, let us say in
Yokohama, and saw that they were rated as wealthy men, not knowing any-
thing of their past records or the character of these lucky men of wealth of
the adventurous class of our merchants, the western houses at once jumped to
the conclusion that they were well-to-do merchants of good standing. They
did business with them. The past masters in the tricks of both the East and
the West smashed the decalogue with every dealing they had with these
merchants of good standing. The howl went up. That was natural.

This then was the beginning.

One dog bitten is very apt to make more noise than a thousand dogs
well fed. Moreover, it is a good story to tell — especially when Nippon was
showing to the civilized and Christian world a rare spectacle — far rarer in
these days than the feeding of five thousand with a few loaves and fishes was
in the classic days of Rome and of our Lord — of conducting perhaps the
greatest campaign history has ever known, of handling over six hundred million
dollars of public money without so much as a hint of graft, without so much
as a cent going astray into a private purse — I say it is a good story to tell
of the Nippon merchant who could give many a pointer to the shrewd folks
of the Ghetto, when the world rang with the marvelous tales of unquestioned
integrity and honesty on the part of Nippon public men.

And that is not all. There is a class of merchants, most of them residing
in Nippon, who are there either from America or Europe, and who are known

422 THE FAR EAST

under the general name of "commission merchants." The sad reputation of
Nippon merchants to them is something more than a good story. To these
commission merchants residing in Nippon, it means dollars and cents. For
this reason — let the importers and buyers in Europe and America get an idea
that the Nippon merchants are thoroughly trustworthy, that there is no danger
whatever in dealing with them direct, would the American or the European
merchants be foolish enough to pay half a red cent to a middleman whom
they did not need? It can be seen readily therefore, that it is to the advantage
of this class of merchants, the commission merchants, to foster the evil reports
of the commercial integrity of the Nippon merchants in the minds of the
western buyers and sellers.

The commission men will say to their customers back home in America
and Europe: "You know that you cannot trust the Japanese at all. You
don't know them. If you were to try to do business direct with them they
would skin the Jew let alone a generous customer like yourself. Let us handle
your business. We don't charge you much, and then we know these Japanese,
they cannot fool us." And to these amiable people is due the Christian work
of throwing broadcast highly entertaining stories about the shady doings of
the Nippon merchants.

Another phase —

It was in the City of Chicago very recently, I had the pleasure of talking
with a representative of one of the greatest press makers of the world. Said
he to me, "We sent to Japan one of these great presses, just one, and we
haven't sent another." "Why?" I said. "Oh, you know," said he, "You
fellows over there are so clever that you just buy one machine of us, and when
you get it over there you take it to pieces and at once begin to manufacture
the whole thing, and by Jove! you imitate even the name pUte." I laughed;
partially because it was a good story; partially because of the unconscious
humor to which this friend of mine was treating himself and me, at the ex-
pense of his common sense. I said, "Perhaps you can tell me better than I
can tell you, how many different machines are necessary to manufacture the
hundred different parts of this great press. You can tell me better than I
can tell you, how much capital would be involved in the purchase and estab-
lishment of one hundred or one thousand different machines which manufac-
ture the different parts of this great press. Now I can tell you better than you
can tell me, that in the entire Empire of Nippon, and for that matter in the
entire Far East, there can be not more than four people who could possibly
make use of this immense press which you are showing to me. Look me
square in the face and tell me if you really mean to take us people of Nippon
as such a hopeless race of idiots as to sink, let us say, one million dollars of
capital in the purchase and establishment of the different machinery necessary
for the manufacture of different pieces which enter into the making of this
great press, that we might manufacture four presses of this type, which cer-

THE FAR EAST 423

tainly cannot think of paying a shadow of a dividend, and would do very well
to pay one-tenth of the wages of the men necessary to watch over the many
pieces of machinery." All of which does not prevent our friend, I fancy,
from repeating the same old story to everybody that comes along. Why?
Why, it is simply a good story to tell. If he were to say that he sent over
to Nippon a simple hoe, a bucket or a tin horn and say that the Nippon manu-
facturers robbed the patents that is all very well and good. There is at least
a touch of credibility in that tale.

The complaints over the violation of trade-marks in the East is another
text upon which many a sermon, humorous (unconsciously) and otherwise,
is being told here every day. People will tell you that there is no such a
thing as patent protection in Nippon. As a matter of fact, robbing patents
is an enterprise of highly Christian parentage. Long before Nippon ever
dreamed of basking in the sunlight of modern inventions, in so sober and res-
pectable a city as that of Boston, so have I been told, as well as in New
York, and even in Philadelphia, not exactly famous for its wide-awake ag-
gressiveness, the commendable work of utilizing European patents which were
not protected in the United States, either by reason of limitation of time, I
mean by that because of the failure of European investors to take out American
patents on their inventions in the specified period of time, or because of the non-
enforcement of patent-rights which were taken out in this country, was going
on. Next time you hear a complaint against the violation of patents on the
part of Nippon people, ask the manufacturer the question, "Did you take out
patents in Japan for your invention?" I shall be very much surprised if he
says yes. And if he says 'yes, ask him what practical measures of protection he
has taken.

It is one of the choicest delights of my life to put this question to the
manufacturers who complain, and here is the almost universal, almost mon-
otonous, unbroken answer that I receive in response: "Oh, — what the thunder
can we do at the end of ten thousand miles?" And the happy race of the
violators of patents in Nippon have the most beautiful chance of giving a
Ha! Ha! to these good manufacturers in America; but, of course, they are
entirely too polite to do anything like that.

American manufacturers have to thank their own neglectful selves for
such violation of patents as are prospering in Nippon and elsewhere.

Darkness is always at the very foot of the candle.

It is the mission of the missionary in a heathen land to denounce in the
severest terms, the sins of the heathendom, and in this divine work many of
them forget that if the good Lord were to rip open the two cities to the core,
New York and Tokio, that the heathen city of Tokio would shine in snowy
splendor of virtue in comparison with what is being done in the metropolis
of the great Christian nation, especially in patent violation.

424 THE FAR EAST

Still another phase: —

"I hear" said a friend of mine, one day in the City of New York, "that
you people in Japan are so clever that you cannot trust yourselves. I hear
that you employ the Chinese altogether in your banks."

That made me laugh.

"Well now" said he, "I have a friend of mine right here in this city who
was in your country a year ago. He told me not more than two weeks ago
that in every hank that he visited in Japan he saw Chinese employed."

"Let us" I said, in answer, "invite that excellent friend of yours to lunch.
I am curious to meet him. Moreover I would like to show him just one Nip-
pon bank which does not employ a single Chinese. In Wall Street, as you may
know, we have a branch office of the Yokohama Specie Bank. You ask
your friend to go with us."

And so we lunched. "Did you really see" said I, to the friend of my
friend, "with your own eyes a single Chinaman in any Nippon Bank at home?"
"Sure — in every one of them" said he. "Well" said I, "I will show you
one in which you cannot see a single Chinaman."

We went to Wall Street. With a sweeping gesture I took in the whole
office, and with considerable pride and home-made mirth I treated myself to
the flippant expression — "You see there is an American but you cannot see a
single Chinaman here, and this is one of the branch offices of our Bank."

What do you suppose he said to me? With a grin which was very much
more satisfactory than my smile, he turned round to me and said "You can't
fool me." "I am not trying to fool you" said I, "look for yourself. Can you
see a single Chinaman?" "Why sure," said he, and indicating one or two
Nippon boys sitting in a corner of the office he said "they are Chinamen with
their queues cut off."

Let an Anglo-Saxon get an idea into his head, especially when he gets
it second-hand and third-hand, from some of his friends, long before
he himself has an opportunity of investigating the matter, and especially if
such an idea is confirmed by a few strange voyagers here and there as he wan-
ders over different parts of the country, the good Lord may be able to take it
out of his head perhaps, — I for one, doubt it.

Now the story of seeing Chinese employees in Nippon banks is, like all the
rest of them, a good story, and a good story has, unfortunately, more wings
than Mercury. Moreover, the story of the Chinese in Nippon banks, like
the sad stories told of the low standard of commercial morality in Japan, has
a foundation.

In the early days foreign dealings at the treaty ports, when travelers from
abroad wished to exchange the American or European currency or coins for
Nippon money, there were no banking institutions of our own country to which
such travelers could go for the accommodation. There were a number of
Chinese money changers, at the offices of such British banks as the Hong Kong

THEFAREAST 425

Shanghai Bank and it was to them that the travelers went to exchange their
money. In such places, in a number of cases, there Were many Nippon em-
ployees and unquestionably the traveler who saw the Chinese handle money
thought that they were dealing with Nippon banks which employed Chinese.
Later, when Nippon had to a certain degree perfected her banking system,
and entered the field of handling exchanges from abroad, in a large number of
cases the Nippon banks retained the Chinese employees for one good reason : —
some of the Chinese in banking business have developed a marvelous tactical
sense of detecting real silver from false coin. The writer himself has seen
many a Chinaman who could tell the true from the false by simply letting
hundreds of silver coins stream past his finger tips. Now in those days Nippon
banks handled an enormous quantity of silver coin. There were a large num-
ber of Mexican dollars, as well as native coins, and I regret to say that some
of the Mexican dollars were not true, and in the capacity of testing rapidly
the true from the false a number of Chinese were employed by the Nippon
banks. ,

There is not one Nippon bank to-day in the entire Empire which employs
the Chinese in a responsible position of trust, and all the Americans can see
this fact with their own eyes — save those who belong to the admirable
cult of which our New York friend was a type.

And then too, there is another reason which may perhaps explain this
matter in a very much ampler and vital way — the sad repute of the Nippon
merchant. In the days of elder Nippon, when the Samurai was in flower,
the people of Nippon used to look down upon him who handled the money.
"Money and brain do not keep good company" the writer used to hear many a
time. The children of the Samurai class were expected to compose quatrains
in classic Chinese of the days of Confucius at the age of eight, but they were
brought up in utter and absolute ignorance of even a single piece of money
until about fifteen years of age. In the social scale of the elder Nippon we
classed the merchant at the bottom of the ladder, just above the outcast;
The ideal of Nippon was the combination of the scholar and the soldier— the
merchant had nothing whatever to do with it. Very naturally the men who
composed the merchant class, men upon whom the entire nation was taught
to look down under the amiable title of "the men of the market" could not
very well have been the flower of the race.

Now in the earlier days of the new order of things, in the enlightened reign
of Meiji, one of the most difficult problems our country had to solve was to
place her commercial activities into the hands of right people. The wooden
junk with a crested sail and a few spears aboard differs somewhat from the
20,000-ton battle-ship, the Saisuma, which commands ten 1 2-inch guns on
either broadside. The difference is not a whit greater, however, than the
difference between the Nippon merchant of 1860 and the Nippon merchant
of the year of Grace 1 908. To-day a vase majority of greater mercantile en-

426 THE FAR EAST

terprises are in the bands of the children of the Samurai class. Moreover the
children of the old merchant class have breathed in a new atmosphere. They
have seen the break of a new dawn.

Many a western critic still insists upon judging the Nippon merchant of
to-day by the standard of fifty years ago. That is wrong. The order of the
thing is not that the Nippon merchant should change so much as that the
western critic should lay aside its antiquated standard of judgment.

/

THE FAR EAST 427

HAS JAPAN THE BETTER NAVY?

BY DAVID LAMBUTH.

"Will we fight Japan?" Everyone is asking that question and answering
it to suit his own theories — or ignorance. But there are very few who ask,
"If we should fight, what would happen?" To those who understand the
relations between the two countries such a war seems preposterous enough. Yet
there are agitators with the spirit of the mob on both sides of the Pacific, and
it is on record that the mob spirit has more than once achieved the impossible.

War — if it should be war indeed — must of necessity be largely naval.
The Philippines, and not our own far off coast would be Japan's objective.
And for this reason it is thoroughly pertinent to compare American naval
efficiency with that of the Sunrise Kingdom. Mere Anglo-Saxon confidence
will not win the struggle. It is distinctly more humorous than logical to admit
the criticisms recently made of our navy and then conclude, "Nevertheless, I
believe we can whip any other nation on the sea." The thoughtful man asks,
"Why?"

THE VALUE OF BATTLE EXPERIENCE.

Designing battleships is a ticklish business at best. Only real war can
possibly test theories, but real war is an expensive, and sometimes too con-
clusive, experiment. The case of fact against theory is pleasantly illustrated
by a German fleet manoeuvre a few years ago. One fleet steaming in line
ahead formation cut the line of the opposing fleet which was drawn up across
its bows, at right angles to its course. "It was held," these are the words of
the commentator, that fleet No. 1 had fatally damaged the two ships of fleet
No. 2, between which it had passed. Not many months later at the Battle
of Tsushima, the Japanese fleet successively shot to pieces, in a period measur-
ed only in minutes, the three Russian ships which attempted to lead just such
a formation toward the enemy's line, and this at a range of from four to
seven miles. With mechanical appliances it is much the same as with tactics.
Year after year the design, the armor, and the armament of battleships
change, while the actual value of the innovation is largely guesswork. Here is
the first great advantage of Japan. Not to mention the war with China in
1 894-5, Japan has but recently emerged from more than a year's conflict with
a valiant foe. She knows what war with modern weapons is. like, but she is not
gratuitously telling the world what she has learned. "The experience of the
war," writes a Japanese officer, "gives us very interesting lessons in war-ship
design, but most of the information is still kept secret, as our intention is to build
warships in our own country ;" — an intention which is being energetically pur-
sued. Victories such as those over the Spanish fleet are more productive of over-
confidence than anything else. Had Japan profited as little from her war with
China as the United States did from hers with Spain, the Russian fleet would
not now so generously strew the weed-grown bottom of the Straits of Tsushima.

428 THEFAREAST

Captain Semenoff in his dramatic narrative of that battle tells us that the
ill-fated Russian flagship Suveroff had guns and turrets rendered useless
through the destruction of the electrical apparatus that manoeuvred them. In
every American battleship built since 1 896 the turrets and ammunition hoists
have been managed by electricity alone. Japan is not taking any such chances.
Some of the boats captured from Russia employ only electricity, but her own
Shikashima and Asahi have steam and hand for the turrets, steam, electric,
and hand for the hoists ; the Mikasa steam, hydraulic, and hand for the turrets,
steam, electric, and hand for the hoists; the Kashima and Katori electric,
hydraulic, and hand for the turrets, electric and semi-automatic for the hoists ;
and the Satsuma and Aki electric and hydraulic for the turrets — information
as to their hoists or the turrets and hoists of the latest boats is not yet obtainable.

Much has been made by recent criticisms of the low armor belt of the
American ships, a fault to which the late war gave point. This war also show-
ed the vital need of protected bows, but whereas the Japanese have increased
the armor on their bows from 4 inches to 6 and 6^2 inches, the American
navy has actually decreased it from 4 inches to 1 '/2 inch on the two new ships
of the South Carolina class, which are to be launched in 1 909.

japan's greater speed and heavier armaments.

It was Admiral Togo's extra knot or so of speed which enabled him so
brilliantly to out-manoeuvre the Russians at Tsushima, circling round and
round them as a hawk around its prey. Modern battles are fought by fleets as
units, not by individual vessels, and it is necessarily the slowest vessel of the
fleet that sets the pace for all. Though the tonnage of the ships of the two
fleets is approximately the same, all the Japanese battleships built since 1 896
have 18 knots or more of speed an hour, while the American fleet out of
twenty-two ships built in the same period have six of 1 6 knots, two of 1 7
knots, and the other fourteen of 1 8 knots or over.

"But," says one apologist, "the American navy has sacrificed something
of both speed and armor in order to carry, on ships of the same tonnage, more
and heavier guns than other nations" This, it is claimed, is an immemorial
policy. But what are the facts? To take representative ships, the Mikasa,
designed in '99, carries four 1 2" guns and four 1 0", while the Maine of the
same year carries only four 12". The Satsuma class, designed '05, has four
12" and twelve 10" guns; the South Carolina, also of '05, has but eight
12". As a 10" gun will pierce about 7.5 inches of steel at six miles with a
projectile which weighs 500 pounds, while a 12" gun will only pierce 8.4
inches with its shell of 850 pounds, which moreover cannot be fired so rapidly,
it is evident that the armament of the Satsuma is at least 70 % heavier than that
of the South Carolina. The two latest ships of the Japanese navy, designed
in '06, and to be completed this year and the next, carry twelve 1 2" guns as
against ten 12" guns of the Delaware class, designed a year later and to be

THE FAR EAST 429

completed in 1910. In the armored cruisers the state of affairs is much
worse. So vanishes the boast of our heavier armament!

During the attack upon Zu-san-li-tai, near Port Arthur, a Japanese Aid
discovered a battery apparently annihilated. He started back to get more
gunners, but out of the trench a man called to him. "My comrades are all
gone," he said, "I cannot live if I don't avenge them. But my eyes are all
swollen up and I cannot take aim. Do aid me for mercy's sake to set the
gun aright." It is upon her heavy guns and such men behind them that
Japan relies, rather than upon defensive armor. Moreover in emphasizing
speed and multiplying armored cruisers in place of battleships, she has carried
out consistently her policy of providing for swift and powerful attacks rather
than great resistance. She has beaten the United States at her own game.
She understands that the object of war is to "annihilate the enemy in the
shortest possible time."

By the time the fleet of American battleships reaches the East, Japan
will have eleven first class battleships of 1 8 knots or over and one of 1 7 knots.
But though she possesses fewer battleships, she has a magnificent armored
cruiser fleet of thirteen vessels — such vessels as Admiral Kamimura led in line
of battle at Tsushima — faster and fully twice as heavily armed as the thirteen
cruisers of the same class belonging to the United States. Thus Japan could
put in line of battle twenty four efficient fighting ships of 18 knots and over
and one of 17 knots, with a total of 56 12" guns, 34 10" guns, and 48
8", besides fifteen other modern cruisers of varying efficiency and a much more
formidable torpedo flotilla than our own.

NOT SHIPS BUT TRAINED MEN.

But statistics after all mean little. They do not man batteries nor man-
oeuvre fleets. They failed to save Russia in her day of peril. America puts
her trust in her personnel — but so does Japan! As a nation we have un-
bounded confidence in the ability of our seamen to rise to an emergency. Is
the confidence well founded?

Efficiency is not a sort of racial inspiration. It comes from training. Con-
stant practice and long service must make the best navy. The battleships of
Nippon are manned by eager soldiers whose patriotic enthusiasm fills the army
and navy with the bravest and ablest of the race. These men are not merely
serving short term enlistments, but are war-trained veterans who have learned
to handle their ships through years of experience. The storm of shell poured
upon the ill-starred Russian boats at Tsushima, averaging about 40% of hits
at a distance of from four to seven miles, is proof enough of scientific accuracy
and splendid coolness. A newspaper correspondent remarks upon the fact that
scarcely a blue-jacket during the battle had recourse to the buckets of drinking
water placed within easy reach. They seemed to be as composed as if at
target practice. Yet battle and target practice are two very different things.

430 THE FAR EAST

In the matter of accuracy of fire the American fleet did not do nearly so well
at half the distance at Santiago, in spite of notable records of marksmanship
in time of peace.

Of the American navy Lieutenant Fullinwider, U. S. N., writes: "It is
difficult to enlist desirable men in sufficient numbers to man the fleet; a large
percentage desert (12%, in fact); a small proportion of those who serve a
full term re-enlist; and we have no adequate facilities for training recruits."
A newspaper correspondent says of the battleship Louisiana, now on its way
to the East, "Most of the crew have come almost green to the vessel." There
is a net loss to our navy of about 25% of trained men every year. In the
official year 1 905-6, statistics from nine battleships — all that were procurable
— show that 47% of the 12 and 13 inch gun pointers did not re-enlist; of the
8" guns 50% were lost; of 4", 5", and 6" guns 41 %. About 45 per cent
green men! Yet on the training, accuracy, and nerve of these men particularly
must the fate of battle depend. Accuracy in gun fire is not a matter of in-
stinct.

It is a surprising fact that the American navy has never practiced battle
manoeuvres with two opposing fleets. The handling of a large fleet and the
rapidity of movement necessary to meet unexpected moves by an able opponent
are vitally different from pre-ordained evolutions however intricate. Failure
to train the fleet to the conditions of actual warfare is not the road to efficiency.
It is unnecessary to do more than refer to the serious discrepancy in the matter
of both age and experience in their respective ranks between the admirals and
captains of Japan and America. "A comparison of the sea experience of our
men," says Lieutenant Commander Key, "would be much more to their dis-
advantage." In length of service, in training, in practice manoeuvres, and in
battle experience, it is not the navy of young Japan but that of America that
is the amateur.

THE SPIRIT OF BUSHIDO.

It is always easy to win an argument by mere shouting, but battles do not
yield to the same treatment. China used to provide her soldiers with long
feather dusters — rooster feathers probably — and train them in the face of the
enemy to spring forward with a blood-curdling yell, viciously shaking their
dusters. But even China has given this up. It is as easy as it is fallacious in
the present case to fall back upon the 'great American spirit.' It may be
possible that Japan has a spirit too. What is this American spirit of which
our patriots boast even in the absence of adequate training? It is certainly
not the military character of the nation.

Japan is as essentially a military as she is an artistic nation. Until the new
era, beginning in 1868, the country was the scene of the most incessant and
bitter struggles. The flash of the sword and the ring of steel on steel was the
glory of life. The Samurai, with the ideals of Bushido in his heart, carried
two swords, a long one for his enemy, a short one for himself in case of defeat.

THE FAR EAST 431

And this sword was no mere instrument, but an integral portion of the soul
of the wearer; dishonor destroyed both alike. The soul and the sword of the
Samurai were one, and life or death was the same if in the line of duty and
honor. Nowhere have glory and utter self-sacrifice in war been raised higher
than in the Samurai's conception of Bushido. The native religion, Shinto,
is not strictly a religion. It is rather a ceremonious expression of the nation's
fundamental demand for courage, courtesy, filial piety, and absolute readiness
to sacrifice oneself without counting the cost, an ideal that has permeated the
emotional life of the race.

Of the soldier of Nippon, a Japanese apologist says: "If he sometimes
offers his blood too freely, it is through an exuberance of patriotic love; for
love like death recognizes no limits." And another writes: "To rush into the
thick of battle and to be slain in it is easy enough, and the merest churl is
equal to that task; but it is true courage to live when it is right to live, and to
die only when it is right to die." That is the Samurai spirit, and by her public
schools and the enlistment of all ranks into the army, by her literature, her
drama and her art, the nation has gone far toward makbg these ideals the
animating spirit of the whole people. A Russian officer tells a strange story.
Retreating past a number of Japanese dead and wounded he saw one apparent-
ly writing a letter. He went nearer and found him sitting in a pool of blood,
suppressed agony in his face. "Across his knee face downward was a tattered
map, and on this with a stick dipped in his own blood he was laboriously
sketching a field gun on the top of a hill with a little Japanese infantryman
running straight at the muzzle."

From his first school day the boy is trained in war, drilled and marched.
His earliest readers, which the Government carefully edits, contain stories of
boys who are accepted as recruits into the army. The family rejoices and
his friends crowd round to congratulate him upon being permitted to be a
soldier of the Emperor. Meanwhile the rejected applicant goes home in chagrin
and tears. Not the successful business-man, lawyer or politician, but the
soldier who died on the field is held up for the child's admiration, and not
merely the soldier who was brave, but the soldier who died, that is a part of
the idea. The Japanese War Album, in commenting upon the picture of a
mother and her fatherless children, says, "The death of any of their kin is
regarded as the highest honor worthy of being transmitted to posterity." Pa-
triotism and self-sacrifice, remorseless and unhesitating, is the key-note of
Japan's educational system.

Captain Dillingham, U. S. N. says of the American recruit: "He comes
with the influence of our democratic institutions shown in his character, with
very little idea of the military requirements of the business he is undertaking.
Our country is not a military country, and not the least of the difficulties is
found in trying to instill into the enlisted man the military character of his
calling." Brave and efficient our recruit may be, but can he be compared, to

432 THEFAREAST

his own advantage, with those who man the ships of Dai Nippon, animated
with the most enthusiastic patriotism, making their country's honor their own,
saturated with the idea that death for the Mikado is the greatest glory to
which a loyal subject can aspire?

DEATH OR VICTORY THE IDEAL OF NIPPON.

It is useless to deny facts. The soldier of Nippon is unreasoning in his
bravery. The Anglo-Saxon fights bravely while he sees any hope of success,
but there is a point at which he balks. He has the bad habit of thinking for
himself. He refuses to be merely butchered. Incredible as it may seem, the
soldier of the Mikado starts to the front with the prayer that he may honor
his family and himself by dying. To be alive where others have bravely died
appears to him a stigma of disgrace; it argues a less daring spirit. "If people
do not like being killed," naively remarked a Japanese officer, "why do they
fight?" In conversation with General Stoessel after the fall of Port Arthur,
General Nogi expressed his sense of gratitude that his two sons had been per-
mitted to die for their country. "This" says a Japanese paper, "greatly
moved the Russian Commander and made him feel more than ever that in
this spirit alone lay the true strength of the Japanese army."

To the American soldier death is an accident of war, to the Japanese
it is but an incident. The spirits of the past go with him, living or dead he is
swept on into the victory of his race. Lafcardio Hearn quotes an old
Japanese: "Perhaps by Western people it is thought that the dead never re-
turn. There are no Japanese dead who do not return. From China and from
Chosen, and out of the bitter sea, all our dead have come back — all. They
are with us now. In every dusk they gather to hear the bugles that call them
home. And they will hear them also in that day when the armies of the Son
of Heaven shall be summoned against Russia." They did hear them in that
day, as the world knows, and when again her armies are summoned to war it
will not be battalions of flesh and blood alone that go forth under the banner
of the Son of Heaven, the living symbol, in the words of the Constitution, of
"a line of Emperors unbroken from ages eternal." With such a creed bravery
becomes sheer fanaticism. It is beyond the conception of 'civilized' man.
There was wisdom in the words of a soldier of Nippon who said he did not
fear the Germans because "they were civilized enough to know when they
were licked."

In the attempts to close the harbor of Port Arthur in 1904, merchant
vessels were scuttled and sunk in the channel. It was no infrequent thing for
little bands of Japanese, unable to return to their comrades and scorning sur-
render, to fling themselves with senseless bravado upon some Russian fort or
vessel. It was but three Japanese one night that clambered over the sides of
the Retvizan, a battleship of 1 2,000 tons, and attempted to take her by storm.

Two guns in the fortifications before Port Arthur, swept a siege trench
and annihilated those who assaulted. Suddenly into this pit of death sprang

THE FAR EAST

433

two soldiers with bags of sand upon their heads. They climbed the opposite
bank. They made straight for the casemates. They crammed their bags of
sand into the cannon's mouths. One instant their comrades saw them; the
next and there was only nothingness where they had stood, but in that moment
of delay the men of Nippon had crossed the trench.

At the battle of Liao Yang five thousand men had been hurled upon a
single stubborn link in the Russian line. They disappeared like mist. The
General in command notified Oyama and asked for orders. The answer came
back: "Send another five." He sent another five and they too melted like
the first. His command had been originally but twenty thousand and he sent
to Oyama again, and again the answer came: "The guns must be fed; send
another five."

'Death or Victory' may be a melodramatic phrase, but it wins battles.
This was the spirit of the troops in the transport ships overtaken by Russian
cruisers. The boats were utterly unarmored. There were no weapons save
the rifles. When the enemy demanded surrender Commander Shiina draw up
his men. "My brave soldiers, our ship is now irrevocably doomed. For us
there remains nothing but to fight and die on board and to face death. It is
then that we shall show them what manner of men we Japanese soldiers are."
They burnt their regimental colors and chanted the national air, and then the
Russians opened fire. They sank still firing with their ineffective rifles upon
the armored vessels of the enemy.

THE RELIGION OF NO SURRENDER.

Every Japanese is taught to "conquer or die." To a race moulded for
many centuries by Christian ethics useless resistance is a waste of human life.
The individual in himself has a value which must be set over against the cost
of success. If his cause is lost, he may survive it. Surrender has always been
an admitted last resort. The bravest soldiers of our Civil War acknowledged
it. But that is not the religion of Nippon. "Our soldiers have learned to
march," says a native commentator," but they are ignorant of the art of re-
treating."

When Admiral Nebogotoff, on the morning after Tsushima, surrendered
the remnant of his fleet, the civilized world acquitted him because he was no
longer able to injure the enemy. Admiral Hopkins of the British navy com-
mends his decision not uselessly to sacrifice his men. "Ought I to have blown
up my ships in the open sea," queries Nebogotoff, "and turned two thousand
sailors into bloody pieces? In the name of what?" But is it possible to
imagine that an Admiral of Nippon would ever surrender? That a ship of
Nippon would ever strike her flag? Attempting to palliate the act of the
Russian Admiral a Japanese admits: "Of course folks looking with every-
day eyes condemn this surrender as cowardly and disloyal." Such manner of
men are the every-da'y people of Nippon!

434 THE FAR EAST

The religion of 'No surrender' may look like fanaticism — and so it is —
but is there no militant immortality in such spectacular heroism? Nothing
counted more for the victory of Japan than the old Bushido ideal set before
every man — the ideal of Victory or Death. Did not the thousand helpless
troops who went down into the sea with Commander Shiina contribute as
much to their comrades' irresistable bravery as fifty thousand dying in the
course of battle? In the creed of the Samurai the civilized conception of
horror at useless bloodshed finds no place. Against fanaticism such as this,
embodied in trained armies and formidable fleets, what is it that will stand?

In the end war is not profitable. It is not a thing to be desired. The
cause of peace is the cause of civilization. Yet to speak brutally, our senti-
ments, although they do us credit, cut the nerves of war — as they are intended
to do A recent peace publication, after pointing out that the United States,
through humanitarian motives, has abolished the giving of prizes to naval men
for success in battle, offers a word of exhortation. "Never let children sing
without protest such words as 'The Army and Navy forever,' or 'Then conquer
we must for our cause it is just.' Never allow toy guns or soldiers or playing
at killing."

Edwin Emerson gives the reverse of the picture, from the Sunrise King-
dom. "I watched four little boys at play in a ship yard. The captain waved
his little tin sword aloft. The bugler blew a blast on his little trumpet. Cap-
tain, color-bearer and infantry charged madly forward with shrill screams.
Now the bugler flung himself into the headlong assault. They scaled the
crest of a pile of bricks and proudly planted the Sun flag on the top of it.
All the children's play harked back to the war. The very air seemed to tingle
with it. All the boys were playing soldiers, shooting off imaginary guns and
charging invisible foes to the blare of tin trumpets and shrill shouts of
'Bansai.' " Ethically, and in the interests of peace, this is very horrible,
but practically, so long as a nation contemplates war, it is very wise. Soldiers
with the pitiless bravery of the Japanese are not made out of hand from a
nation that has come to abhor the sight of blood.

The American sailor, though hampered by lack of experience as compared
with the Japanese, is capable of great efficiency and splendid heroism, but the
war-like spirit fostered by centuries of savage feuds is not one that either
bravery or training can counterbalance. Bushido is bloodthirsty and cruel as
well as heroic and self-sacrificing. A nation which even to-day, despite legal
prohibition, looks upon Hara kiri with complacency, runs upon death in a
fashion which the Anglo-Saxon can not really comprehend. When to such a
spirit is added the most careful training and the deadliest weapons, what are
the reasonable chances of prevailing against it? The cause of peace is the
cause of civilization. Surely nothing promotes peace more than refraining from
idle boasts. Before we speak or act too arrogantly toward our neighbors it
may be just as well to count the cost.

;::

\<:

THE FAR EAST 435

THE NEW EAST IN THE MAKING.

BY ASADA MASUO.

THE TRADE OF TAIREN (THE DALNY OF THE RUSSIANS) FOR THE
LATTER HALF OF 1907.

^The total amount of the import trade of Tairen in the latter half of
1907, amounted to 49,639,644 yen. The export trade for the same
period amounted to 9,106,816 pen. The chief items of export were
beans and bean cakes and fertilizers. Bean export reached in value to
the amount of 2,822,105, while the bean cakes and pulverized beans
amounted to 4,953,926 pen in value. The chief items of import through
the port of Tairen were different kinds of machinery, metals, building
materials, grain, seeds and food stuff. Tairen imported, in the latter half
of 1907, different kinds of machinery amounting in value to 37,632,095.
It imported building materials valued at 3,707,351. The importation of
metals of different kinds amounted to 1,721,174 yen in value. Grain
and seeds amounted close to 1 ,000,000 yen, and so did the food stuff.

TELEPHONES IN FUCHAO.

CflUnder the encouragement of the Financial Department of the Fukian
Province, was organized the Fuchao Telephone Company, Limited. The
Company had undertaken to install a telephone system in Fuchao, the
work was completed early this year. The telephone system connects the
foreign settlement of Fuchao with the native walled city, which is about
three or four miles from the concession. They have very few subscribers
at the present time, not more than a few hundred, and even among these
about 50 per cent are utilized by public schools, residences of officials,
public offices, meeting halls, banks, both native and foreign merchants.
The greater part of the Chinese merchants do not seem to take zealously
to the use of telephones. Ignorance is at the bottom of it, perhaps. At
the same time, now that they see in front of their eyes the practical utility
of the telephone system, it will not be long before they would realize the
marvelous convenience which the system affords in the daily conduct of
business. ^The Telephone Company has a capitalization of $30,000
Mexican, one-third of which was taken by the Finance Office of the
Province, and the two-thirds of the stock by Chinese merchants.

THE TRANS-PACIFIC SERVICE.

<JTill late the trans-Pacific service out of San Francisco has practically
been monopolized by three leading steamship companies, — the Pacific
Mail, Oriental and Oceanic Steamship Company, and Toyo Kisen
Kaisha. They have worked in perfect harmony, people there are who
accused them even of forming a trust over the steamship service on the

436 THEFAREAST

Pacific. The three companies working in harmony, could almost dictate,
according to a report in Tokyo Asahi, the terms in passenger and freight
traffic on the Pacific. Especially was the combination all-powerful after
they had parted company with the North American Pacific Steamship
Company, ^f There has been a constant complaint against the high tariff
that the combination saw fit to impose upon the trade. Moreover, the ship-
pers have suffered from inadequate service; there have not been enough
ships and proper facilities for the trans-Pacific business. The three steam-
ship companies which almost monopolized the Pacific trade, however,
did not seem to pay the slightest attention to many complaints. CfThen
came the French Steamship Company. Just at the time, however, when the
Company placed the vessels for this service touching Kobe and Yokohama
on the Nippon side, and San Francisco on the other side of the Pacific,
the American market began to feel the withering effect of the financial
panic. It reduced the cargo trade materially. The French Company was
therefore compelled to fight against all sorts of hostile conditions, as well
as against the combination of the three; it carried on the war of competi-
tion by cutting down the tariff. In spite of the aggressive war waged by
the French Steamship Company, however, the combination of the three
great steamship companies which had monopolized the Pacific trade before
the French entered the field, seemed to treat the new comer with perfect
indifference. The combination did not show in the least, any desire of
entering into an arena in competing with the French. They did not cut
their rate at all. This for a long time has raised one standing question
among those who are interested in the trans-Pacific service. CflThe
Tokyo Asahi learns from one interested in trans-Pacific trade, that
the three companies which have been working in perfect harmony, saw at
once the impossibility on the part of any steamship company to conduct
the business as the French Steamship Company had done, and succeed
in driving out its competitors from the field. The French Steamship
Company was simply committing suicide in lowering its tariff to such a
violent extent, knowing that such method would ultimately result in killing
the French line, without any outside efforts or assistance whatever. Mean-
while, the Toyo Kisen Kaisha placed in May, 1908, two great ships
fresh from the Mitsubishi docks. These ships, as the world knows, have
the tonnage of 1 4,000 and have been constructed especially for the trans-
Pacific service of the Toyo Kisen Kaisha. CjfT'his would place the
French compnay in a still less advantageous field.. It is probable that
the panicky condition of the American business will continue until the
Presidential year will be over, which means that there is still quite a
stretch of days through which the French Steamship Company will be
compelled to fight its battle against great odds.

THE FAR EAST 437

ORIENTAL COLONIZATION COMPANY.

ffln one of the former issues we have mentioned the scope of the Oriental
Colonization Company. The Oriental Colonization Company, which
counts among its patrons, originators and stockholders some of the great-
est names in the Empire, and in fact fathered by Count Katsura, who was
the Prime Minister through the Russo-Nippon War, originated somewhat
after the following fashion. <ISome seven years ago, when Baron Goto,
the present head of the South Manchurian Railway Company, and Prof.
Nitobe were in Berlin together, Prof. Nitobe expressed his desire to in-
vestigate the result of the work of Prussia in Poland, especially in coloni-
zation. So it came to pass that Baron Goto and Prof. Nitobe made a
special trip of investigation to Poland. The investigation resulted in
arousing the interests of Baron Goto exceedingly. When he returned to
Nippon, he told his friends the things he had seen on his trip to Poland,
and insisted that it would be an excellent idea to apply a similar method in
our colonial enterprise in Korea. At the time, there was no one who took
the suggestion seriously. A little later Kiuchi took up this same question,
and advocated it with all his enthusiasm. But his efforts, too, were fruit-
less at the time. The suggestion, however, must have remained with Resi-
dent-General, Prince Ito. The result of it was that last year Prince Ito
invited Prof. Nitobe to Korea, and at many a conference the Resident-
General invited free expression on the question from Prof. Nitobe. At
the time it had been reported that Prof. Nitobe and Prince Ito did not
always agree. The Resident-General held that the natives of Korea were
increasing in number from year to year. Prof. Nitobe, on the contrary,
was convinced that the population of Korea was on the decrease. Neither
Prince Ito nor Prof. Nitobe had at their command, a statistical record
upon which they could base their convictions. Their conclusions were
born as a result of their personal investigations and impressions, without
any assistance of an authoritative document. Prof. Nitobe's idea that the
Koreans were on the decrease, was, however, largely based, it is reported,
on a record kept in a Roman Catholic Church in Seoul, which extended
for a period of over one hundred years. As for the Resident-General's
opinion, it was founded on his generous enthusiasm for the work of giving
a new life to Korea, and that through the efforts of the Koreans them-
selves. The Resident-General, as has been known all over the world,
wished to bring about the re-birth of Korea purely through the hands of
the Koreans. As for Prof. Nitobe, he held to the conviction that the
regeneration of Korea, the development of the country, the advance of
the Korean Peninsula, in short, everything, when once the new day will
break upon the Korean Peninsula, depended on the men of Nippon.

438 THEFAREAST

When Count Katsura paid a visit to Korea, in October 1907, the vice
Resident-General Sone, discussed the colonization enterprises in Korea
extensively with Count Katsura. Prince Ito, himself, wished to have the
active co-operation of Count Katsura. It resulted in the organization of
the company which is now known under the name of the Oriental Coloni-
zation Company. Just when this company shall take up its work actively
in Korea, is still a question. It will be a stock company, and the marketing
of the stock will necessarily take some time. In the judgment of a man
identified with this movement, it is very likely that the work will not
begin earlier than June or July, 1 908.

CHINA AND THE PRESS.

^According to the report of the Peking representative of the Tokyo
Asahi, laws and regulations governing the conduct of the press in China
were promulgated in the middle of March, in which different phases of
the press censorship have been made public. CJThe Chinese newspapers
are required to submit to the press censors the material for a day's issue on
or before 12 o'clock midnight preceding the day of publication, and re-
ceive the sanction of the censors. It is also provided in article 36 of the
press laws, that for those newspapers which have received through proper
channels the permission for publication, the government will give a special
telegraph and mail rate. But the newspapers which have not received
such official permission will be in danger of being suppressed at the post
office, at the steamers and at railway stations, and refused transportation.
It is also stated in article 40, that the newspapers and magazines published
abroad which have not received such permission, or have in any way
violated the press laws of China, will be stopped at the customs and pre-
vented from entering the Chinese Empire. <|A number of other items
brought out in the press laws of China would affect materially the con-
duct of the newspapers in China.

VISIT OF THE AMERICAN SQUADRON TO NIPPON, AND THE ATTITUDE OF
THE PEOPLE OF NIPPON.

C|In its editorial comment of the issue of the 24th of March, 1 908, com-
menting on the talk of the proposed visit of the American squadron to
Nippon, the Tokyo Asahi says : Ifl When we heard, sometime ago, of the
coming of the American fleet to our country, we said, one and all, as if
we had rehearsed it for a stage, — "Come, Come to us and we shall
welcome you." The oneness of sentiment in our country is at once
pleasant and unstudied. It has neither the front nor the back. The
national welcome springs from out of the sincerity of the Nippon race to-
ward America. For a time it was rumoured however, that Washington

1

THE FAR EAST 439

had decided after all not to send the fleet to Nippon. Perhaps it might
have been, that while Washington is well aware of the unanimous friendly
attitude of the press of Nippon, it might have had a misgiving as to the
attitude of the popular mass of Nippon. It might have thought that in some
corners among some people of the many millions of Nippon there are they
who may interpret the proposed visit of the American fleet to Nippon in
a wrong way, and construe its friendly significance in an entirely hostile
manner. America was afraid that such people may look upon the visit
of the American fleet as a threat and demonstration of force on the part
of the United States. <JIt was just at this juncture as we understand, that
the Nippon government as such, publicly sent an invitation for the Ameri-
can fleet to pay us a visit, and after such cordial invitation through proper
channels from the authorities in Nippon, the Washington government had
no hesitation whatever, and for that reason we understand the proposed
program was once more altered, and it has been decided that the fleet
should visit Nippon. <|We believe that this will be another and very ex-
cellent opportunity for us, people of Nippon, to renew the friendly rela-
tions of the two peoples. We do not doubt that the reception that will be
accorded to the officers and men of the American navy on our shores
by the Imperial House would be exceedingly magnificent. But all of us
who belong to the general public ought to make the very best of this op-
portunity which is coming to us. Especially would this be true, in our
judgment, with the men of the Nippon navy. They are to be the hosts,
in a special sense. Let them, for once, abandon the ceremonial stiffness.
Rather let them receive the American friends with all the freedom and
open-hearted friendship; talk to their friends in utmost frankness; let our
friends read down to the bottom of their red-hearts, and let them see that
we have nothing whatever for them but the most kindly friendship; that
we desire on our part, to become more and more friendly as the years go
by. For the navies of Nippon and the United States of North America,
the future may have in store, a rather grave responsibility of settling, side
by side, the great question of the maintenance of peace in the Asian con-
tinent, for the protection of the "open door policy," so called, in China.
iJAs for the war talk between America and Nippon, not even, into the
wildest nightmares of the insane, should such an impossibility enter !

INTERNATIONAL STRUGGLE ON THE YANGTSE RIVER.

<]fThe growth of the shipping traffic on the Yangtse has been rapid and
remarkable. Nippon, Great Britain, France, Germany, China, have
all opened different lines of steamship service on the Yangtse, and at the
present time there are about 90,000 tons of merchantmen engaged in the
traffic on the Yangtse. Last year the four companies, — the Honan, the

440 THEFAREAST

Daiton, the Yuson, and the Osaka Shosen steamship companies, united
into one organization, under the name of the Nisshin Steamship Company.
It placed on the Yangtse service such vessels as the Gakuryo, the Nanyo,
the Joyo, all newly built ships; this helped to bring on an exceedingly
violent competition. On top of the tremendous increase in the number
of vessels placed in the Yangtse service, came the period of tradal in-
activity in China. It decreased the cargo; the decrease of freight did
not decrease the number of ships; the competition became unbearable.
Toward the close of last year, the competition on the Yangtse had
reached its acme. As a result, the rate on the passenger traffic on the
Yangtse dropped to an unheard-of extent. The fare from Shanghai to
Hankow, a distance of six hundred miles, was reduced to one yen
(50 cents in gold). Three years ago it used to be six yen. In other
words, it dropped to one-sixth of the normal price. The freight rate
dropped in proportion also. As the Chinese would say, these steamship
companies were like the tigers which were eating their own flesh off their
own bones. The other day representatives of the leading British, Ger-
man, French and Nisshin Companies gathered together in a conference
at Shanghai. They discussed the possibility of working out an equitable
rate in both passenger and freight tariffs, but as all these different steam-
ship companies are recipients of subsidies from their diverse governments,
each of them held to its own position tenaciously. Nothing resulted from
the conference therefore. ^Speaking purely from the number and ton-
nage of ships, the Nisshin Company ranks the first, with its fifteen
vessels of the total tonnage of 29,000. Against this Nisshin combination,
the three companies, the Chinese government line, the Jardin line, and
the Butterfield line have combined. These three companies have had
many years of experience in the past; they have a strong hold on the
business which they had created long before the new-comers entered the
field. The German line is comparatively new, and the French line is
also very weak, having only three vessels at its ocmmand, and it is
expected that they will be driven out of the Yangtse business.

CHINA AND HER ARMY.

•JMen are talking of the New Army of China as women have never gos-
siped of their neighbors. Even so eminent an authority as Prof. W. A .P.
Martin, in his recent work on "The Awakening of China," estimates
the New Army of China at 200,000. According to the reports of
a recent investigation by one of the most competent of American
authorities, however, the writer learns that the available army of China
of to-day does not exceed 90,000 men. Since the days of Lord
Wolseley, the militant China has figured immodestly in the nightmares

I

KKI

I

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THE FAR EAST 441

of the West. The simple fact is that the Chinaman has never fought
well ; a student of China's history can hardly escape the suspicion, — he is
too civilized to be a good soldier. The national ideal of China is the
merchant. Being wise, the fine art of butchering men by the thousands
appears to the Chinaman somewhat more serious than a bit of uncon-
scious and vain-glorious jest. Still, China is in her transition period
to-day. That is another way of saying that she is dead drunk. The
Chinaman is reported to have taken to the bicycle and the gilded watch
chains in Hankow. Having cut off his queue, he might come down to the
scientific level of fighting out the differences in ethics and politics through
the highly scientific composition of gun-powder. Like all the rest of
Christian and civilized powers, China, too, mistakes Shimose or some
other powder for the supreme judge of all rights and wrongs. At any rate,
it is what China is said to be doing. According to a recent report —
the original plan of China, in the re-organization of her Army, was to
establish thirty-six divisions in eighteen Provinces. Since the issuance
of the Imperial Edict ordering the re-building of the army, already
seven divisions have been established, from No. 1 to 7 inclusive, and
the remaining twenty-nine divisions are to be completed within three
years to come. Viceroys and governors of different provinces are in-
structed to devote their utmost energy for the completion of this im-
portant work. But the creation of an army is a tremendous work;
three years is a short period of time; in the judgment of the com-
petent people, it is entirely too short for so large a work. Many
difficulties are in the way, — first and perhaps the paramount difficulty
is in the present disordered condition of Chinese finance. €JThe ex-
penditure of the creation and the maintenance of the army was placed,
not on the shoulders of the central government, but upon the local ad-
ministration of different provinces. As for the disordered condition of
collecting taxes throughout the Chinese Empire, it is no secret. The
administration of different provinces is in as sad a condition as their
finance. And none of them seem to have the ability to furnish the
funds necessary for the establishment and maintenance of the new
army. The second difficulty is in securing proper officers of the new
army. Now, thirty-six divisions are no small force. It takes a large
number of officers to command them, and the making of army officers
is a thing that calls for more than a day or two. The primitive con-
dition of the military schools in China of to-day, and the work done at
the Imperial University, do not flatter even a Chinaman to a happy
dream of fishing good officers out of those classic halls as easily as you
would bills from Mandarins' pigeonholes. The third difficulty, and by
no means the least, is in the gathering together of young men of the
empire to serve in the army. If China knows an effective means to

442 THE FAR EAST

recruit her army, she has never told anybody. To be sure, there exists
a regulation governing the method of recruiting the Chinese army. And
if she has no other magic beside that, it would be many years before
she could look upon her people and say that all the able-bodied men of
the empire are trained soldiers. Three years, forsooth, would be none
too long to accomplish this great work. It has been reported that the
central government has provided special prizes for such provinces as
would be successful in accomplishing the organization of the army in
the specified time, and die central government also has not neglected to
take measures to punish those provinces which would fail in accomplish-
ing this work in the said specified time.

THE ALIGNMENT OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE IMPERIAL DIET, HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Seiyu kai (Constitutionalists) 1 80

Shimpo-to (Progressive) 89

Daido Club, (Union Party) 60

Yuko 35

Independents 13

Total 377

•flFrom the above, one can readily see the enormous power of the Con-
stitutional Association of Political Friends, the Seiyu. It is nearly 50
per cent of the entire number. The Seiyu is the party of power to-day,
and the Prime Minister of the present cabinet is its leader.

NIPPON FUNDS EOR THE KOREAN TREASURY.

^Mr. Arai, rvho is a prominent official connected with the Residency-
General in Korea, is reported to have given the following interview on
his recent visit to Nippon. €|My mission this time is in connection with
the raising of a loan to cover the deficit in the ordinary and extraordin-
ary expenditure of Korea. The extraordinary expenditure of 4,000,000
yen is the amount of loan for 1907 and 1908. It is to be devoted to
the establishment of courts and custom-houses, and a number of other
government buildings. As for the court, we are to establish one district
court in every district, a court of cassation at thirteen points, and the
supreme court of law at Seoul. To house the supreme court, we shall
repair and remodel the old building for its temporary quarters, without
building a new structure. We are to place custom-houses at about
two hundred and thirty different points, and in the five cities, Seoul,
Ping-yang, Tokio, Kinshu and Gensan, we are to establish the offices
of customs bureaus. The construction of government buildings was
placed in the hands of the bureau of construction, and at the present

ifoftBfti

1

i

^QHB98S9My

THE FAR EAST 443

time the bricks necessary for the building are being manufactured in
different brick factories of Korea. The bricks cost about four sen (1
sen equals one-half cent) per piece, if we imported them from Nippon,
while by manufacturing them in the country, the cost is reduced to 1.1
sen per piece. The establishment of brick factories in Korea is a dif-
ficult matter, however. As everyone knows, there is a scarcity of
timber in Korea, and this places a great difficulty in the way of the
successful manufacture of bricks. Hereafter a great deal of attention
will be paid to the forestry of Korea. We are also to establish at
Ping-yang a school of agriculture and forestry, at the expenditure of
140,000 yen. Korea has a large quantity of excellent coal, and we
are to appropriate about 300,000 yen for coal mining. Even after
that if die coal supply of Korea should fail to satisfy the demand
there, we shall have to import coal from Fushun. CJKorean agriculture,
like her forestry, ought to receive a great deal of attention. The soil
of Korea is fertile, her methods of tilling it are primitive beyond all
conception. In order to introduce the scientific method of agriculture
into different sections of the country, we have decided to send an expert
and scientific agriculturist to every province of the Empire, and cause
them to establish experimental stations. There they will give practical
lessons to the people in agriculture. ^[Heretofore, the distinction between
the palace finance and that of the government proper has been undefined,
and for that reason, a large portion of the national revenue found its way
into the private purse of the Korean Emperor. In revising the revenues of
state, the amounts raised from the taxation on ginseng and on mines, are
to be turned over entirely into the national treasury, and for the expendi-
ture of the imperial household, the annual provision of 1,500,00 yen,
is made.

GERMANY AND SHANSI.

•[[That diplomatic mixture of theatrical candor and Machievelian wisdom
who has so much method in all his planks, and whom we know under
the august title of the Kaiser, "moves in a mysterious way, his wonders
to perform" — especially in the Far Eastern politics. When it was re-
ported that Germany abandoned its concession for the building of a
railway in Shantung out of Kiauchau, the world at once brightened its
eyes to see at what other point the German Imperial ambition would
come to flower. Such is the confidence of the world now in the ability
of the German Emperor that whenever he abandons anything, it takes
it for granted that he has something much bigger to take in its place,
and nothing that the Kaiser has done justifies this confidence of the
public better than his superb and daring tilt in the Far Eastern politics.
tfAnd here comes a report of an event big in prophetic significance.

444 THE FAR EAST

Chang Chih-tung and Yuan Shih-kai and a number of others, joined
in the recommendation of building a railway from Techao through Seit-
eimen in Pechihli and reaching to Kaihofu. The expenditure for con-
struction is to be defrayed in fifteen years, and in case of necessity, to
raise foreign loans in Germany. It has been reported that this recom-
mendation of the prominent Chinese officials has received the Imperial
sanction already. In this move of the Kaiser, one can hardly say that
there is "method in his madness," for there is not a touch of madness
anywhere in the abandonment of the concession which he already
had to establish a railway between Kiaochao and Kichao, for as
long as there is the Tsinho Railway, the proposed railway for Which
he had the concession between Kiaochao and Kichao would certainly
parallel the Eiteimen line and would become a competing line. There
is a very poor future and small profit in this railway enterprise, and by
his abandonment, the disinterestedness and generosity of the Kaiser dis-
played therein duly advertised, after the most approved fashion of the
vaudeville (of which the Kaiser is the most distinguished exponent of
the day). His Imperial Germanic Majesty lays his golden hand in the
work of furnishing money to China for the construction of the Shansi
and Honan line. And the railway, like the blue-pencilings of fate, is
eloquent. It seems to trace out the dream of the Kaiser from Shantung
into the promising Provinces of Shansi and Honan. Small wonder, then,
that the dream under the Germanic crown is the marvel of poets and
prophets.

THE FINANCIAL CRISIS IN NIPPON ITS CAUSE.

•Jit is reported that the amount of silk which is in the warehouses in
Yokohama is over 800,000 bales, about 40,000,000 of yen in value.
In the city of Kobe, there are great quantities of goods, cotton yarns,
marine products, and other miscellaneous goods which are intended for
the Chinese market and are accumulating themselves in store-houses.
The total value of merchandise so stored at Kobe is estimated at 20,000,-
000 to 30,000,000 yen. Since the first of this year we are seeing
excess of imports utterly out of proportion with exports. The excess of
imports up to the early part of February amounted to 30,000,000 yen.
That there is an excess of 30,000,000 yen in forty days is unusual,
to say the least. In the history of our foreign trade, it has no parallel.
tflThe cause of failure of cotton-yarn brokers of late is largely due to
the accumulation of goods without outlet. The same cause explains the
closing down of a number of banks in Hachiwoji, which is in the heart
of the silk producing districts. To the same cause is traceable the
depressing and sad record of the stock market. In short, the lack of
demand abroad for our goods, the absence of healthy outlet for our out-

THE FAR EAST 445

put, are the reasons which are bringing about the financial distress to the
country. flMany things led to the accumulation of a large quantity of
goods in the ware-houses without their finding proper outlet.. Here are two
important causes: The financial panic in New York and other cities
of the United States is one. It brought about the cessation of export-
ation of our goods to that country. The other is the fall of silver in
London market. This affected the Chinese market radically. ^[In
addition to these two external causes, one might find another and per-
haps die most serious of all reasons in the tremendous rise in the cost
of production and manufacture. The rise of prices of necessary com-
modities of life is to be marked all over the world; nowhere quite as
radically, perhaps, as in Nippon, however. And the sudden rise in the
standard of life accompanying the ever increasing expense cf living,
brought about the high price in production. In the particular case of
Nippon, there were two things that contributed to the raising of prices
of commodities; First, in the extraordinary increase in convertible
notes, and second, in the increased taxation. Financiers are calling at-
tention especially to one fact, that the issue of the notes did not increase
through the progress of the Russo-Nippon War, as so many expected to
see; but, in the days following the victorious campaign, we saw a
tremendous increase in the issuance of convertible notes. The amount
of issue of the convertible notes at the close of September, 1905, com-
pared to the amount issued up to the close of February, 1904, shows
the increase of about 20,000,000 yen. After the close of the war to
the present day, we have seen the increase of about 50,000,000 to 60,-
000,000 yen, which in comparison is very great. It is chiefly due to
the excess of governmental enterprises, and in order to cover such ex-
penditure, the government relied upon the issuance of the notes. This
resulted, as we have said, in the increase of living expenses, and natu-
rally brought about the rise in the cost of production. <][The fiction of
looking upon the Asiatic labor as cheap labor is at best a fool's paradise;
moreover it has proved itself unexpectedly short lived owing to the
sudden disturbance of economic conditions in the East. Under such
circumstances, nobody will be surprised to see the organization of
labor unions after the worshipful and adorable pattern of the American
labor unions, and even in the new Nippon, capital may go with its back-
bone broken, dragging its humiliation on bended knees through the mire.
The new order of things which came with the introduction of civiliza-
tion is playing many freakish tricks with the people of the East, and
here is one which is at once funny, and very sad.
RUSSIA IS STILL IN MANCHURIA.

€|To those students of newspaper reports, the report of the concession
just signed between the East China Railway (Russian) and Kiron

a

446 THEFAREAST

administrative office (Chinese) may come as a neat surprise. The
world somehow has taken into its head the idea that Russia was com-
pletely out of Manchuria. It is wrong, — worse than wrong. Two-
thirds of Manchuria is still under the Russian domination. According
to the reports of the Pekin representative of the Tokyo Asahi, the East
China Railway Company is to have' concessions from China at three
points. At Shitohotse, at Kaulingtse, and at Ichimenha, China is to
allow the East China Railway Company sufficient space for the estab-
lishment of timber yards. The company agrees to turn over one-third
of the timber cut, to the administrative office (Chinese) of Kirin. The
Kirin administrative office is to issue permit every year, in August, and
the company is to agree to fell timber in over one-third the number of
localities specified in the permit. The company agrees to pay to the
Chinese government 1 ]/4 kopecks for every 2 feet and 2 inches in
length and 1 J4 inches in thickness of timber that is felled. This rate
of payment is to continue for five years, at the end of which time, it is
to be revised by joint convention. The principal timber for fuel purposes
is limited to 200,000 trees, for railway supplies is limited to 800,000
trees, and for building purposes 200,000 trees. ffThese agreements are
in fact, a modification of the mining agreement of the last year. The
agreement covering concessions along the Amur is to be made on similar
basis.

THE RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION DISPUTE IN MANCHURIA.

•IThe "teapot-tempest" over the proposed construction of the Hsimintun-
Fakumen Railway which is to run parallel to the South Manchurian
Railway under the Nippon administration, threatens to cover the large
world as a curl of smoke from a magic vase the pages of the Arabian
tales of the blessed memory. Of course the Chinese do not pretend
to ignore either the treaty which they entered into in 1905 wherein she
pledged not to construct a competing line, or that this proposed line will
run parallel to the South Manchurian Railway. Their contention is
that the proposed line, being thirty miles distant from the South Man-
churian, will not compete with it. When a man or a nation — especially
a newspaper reporter — wishes to make a small thing big, there is a
magic way — that is, to put in a good deal of words. The chip-on-the-
shoulder game over the railway situation ought to be placed beyond
the pale of wordy war. If anyone wishes particularly to know whether
the proposed line would effect the business of the Nippon line let him
see what the Kwan-wai line is doing to the South Manchurian. The
Kwan-wai line is over thirty miles away from the Nippon line, and
here are the facts: — Of late the Kwan-wai line adopted the policy of
carrying on an active war of competition with the South Manchurian

VIEWS OF CHANGCHUN.
1. — Mahometan Temple at Changchun, Manchuria.
2. — Star Tower, east of the Changchun wall.
3. — Temple of the Elders to the south of the wall.
4. — Beans at the Kwangchentse Railway Station.

Courtesy of Taiyo, Tokyo.

THE FAR EAST 447

line. It lowered the tariff from Mukden to Inkau; it cut down its
freight rate greatly. The effect of this move on the freight business
between Mukden and Inkau is so apparent that an every-day donkey
hobbling along the highway can hardly fail to read the significance
thereof. As a matter of historic fact, the Kwan-wai line carries two to
three times as much bean and bean cakes between Mukden and Inkau
as the South Manchurian Railway. Here is a rather pointed hint. Let
us suppose that this proposed line were established as proposed; it
would tap the very heart and home of the bean producing center of
Manchuria, Shinmintun and Fakumen, and knowing what the Chinese
policy of to-day is, it is small wonder that the Nippon government,
which seems to have plenty of financial burden and very little money
to throw away, should take a rather grave view, which to some of our
British friends seems to be utterly void of wit or wisdom.

IN MANCHURIA.

^[Nippon had some trouble over the timber concessions along the Yalu,
(To jump on somebody is a novel profession with China, — having been
jumped on for ever so long, she naturally likes the new role and over-
does it, as any other child at a new game.) At the same time, the
practical workings of leveling timber has already been started on the
right bank of the Yalu River. China talks a good deal, but is not
always industrious enough to carry out her threats, unless her protector,
benefactor and inspiration. Kaiser Wilhelm, stands behind her with
something more substantial than polite adjectives. So, after all, the
men who are actually engaged in the timber business in northwestern
Manchuria, are not saying very much. Being of an optimistic tempera-
ment, they even look for the day of a speedy conclusion of the contro-
versy over the Yalu timber between China and Nippon. CflThe fishery
rights of the Nippon people off the literal of Kwantong Province —
of course the Chinese kick against this too, but as in so many other
things, we are doing things while our friends are kicking — have been
recognized, even by the Chinese friends themselves, that is, that por-
tion of the Chinese who are dwellers along the coast of the waters in
which our fishermen are engaged in business. At the present time the
commissioners of China and Nippon are discussing the details to bring
about the conclusion of a treaty covering this phase of controversy.
<|At last China is good enough to tell us just about what she wishes
us not to do in connection with the salt monopoly in Manchuria. We
do a number of wicked things, but we are not exactly idiots. It
would be a happy day for us if the Chinese friends in particular, and
the Western newspapers in general, would give us credit for having
common every-day horse sense to see that the "killing of the goose

448 THEFAREAST

which lays the golden egg" is not the shining acme of commercial
sagacity. Not that we love the Chinese better than ourselves, but we in
our wicked heart, think that since we want so much more from our good
Chinese neighbors, we are particularly anxious to look after his interests.
^Another incident of the above is the postal controversy in Manchuria
between Nippon and China. There may be required a few days more
in the untangling of the wordy knot over the postal dispute, but there
is one beautiful phase to one who talks when you allow him to talk until
he has nothing more to say. He sometimes gets in a mood of hearing
what "you have to say to him. China has reached that stage, and after
having heard us seems to be surprised that we were not trying to do what
China thought we were trying very hard to do, and we are coming very
close to an agreement over this matter. C| As for the dispute of the Kwanto
(Chiengto), it is a matter which involves many things. Naturally, it has
not been decided in the course of one morning. It has been the desire
of the Nippon government that the dispute be settled as quickly as
possible, but at the same time, it is not blind to the fact that the
very nature of the dispute is such that it would take more or less
time. A good deal of historic investigation is required for the right
solution of this question. Moreover, the investigation and surveys on
the actual geographic boundary line is necessary before any perma-
nent step in the solution of this question be taken. <|In northern
Manchuria, as we know, for many years there prevailed an anomalous
state of affairs in connection with the imposition of export duties by China.
Many things entered into Manchuria without even the appearance of
paying a cent of duty. The matter has been discussed for many months
now, and at last, it was reported that in the early part of February China
has opened a custom-house to regulate this matter. Although the estab-
lishment of the custom-house has been delayed beyond all reason, still,
now that China has opened it, right or wrong, we are consoling ourselves
by saying that matters must be much better than heretofore. As for the
Nippon government, it will take in time, sufficient interest in this matter
to see that China discharges her duty in regulating the tariff of her im-
ports into Manchuria through her northern boundary. <JChina, largely
through the Manchurian controversy, is about to acquire new reputation.
She has never been famous for her poets. Her practical good sense has
commanded the respect of the peoples abroad. But all that was of yes-
terday. Listen to her tales of woe, and you will confess that the delec-
table Tartaran of Daudet's pages can hardly hold a candle to her. And
the Chinaman, the sensible, practical, silent actor of our erstwhile im-
agination, stands forth to-day, for all the world, arrayed m all the glory
of the far-sounding and high-shrieking Montana stump orator. Ah well,
we are all getting civilized — even the Chinese.

THE FAR EAST 449

DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPYARDS AND SHIP-BUILDING IN-
DUSTRY OF NIPPON,

BY HIRATA TAKATOK1.
(Continued from May Issue)

'HIP-BUILDING activity in Nippon saw a new dawn at the
close of the Chino-Nippon War. The two docks which the
Mitsubishi Company already had could not keep pace
with the sudden increase of demand on the ship-building
facilities of our country. The Company was compelled to
establish another, the third dock, which by far was the largest they had yet
built. This new dock measured 730 feet in length. With the construction
of the third dry dock, they, at the same time, acquired 5,000 tsubo (one
tsubo equals about four yards square), affording them the space for the con-
struction of a cradle. It had a length of 700 feet by 1 70 feet. Moreover,
the increased activity of their shops emphasized the necessity for the pro-
tection against fire, which was not sufficiently provided for. They met this
lack of fire protection in 1 900 by establishing six reservoirs, with the capacity
of 15,000 tons of water. At the Tategami dock, which has 20,000 tons
per annum capacity for ship-building, they have four cradles, one with a
length of 270 feet; the second, 350 feet; the third, 460 feet, and the fourth,
600 feet, and at the present time they are still enlarging and modifying these
cradles. Moreover, they have increased the numbers to eight, and the largest of
them has the length of 700 feet. It is at this dock that the larger ships of the
Nippon- Yusen Kaisha, on its European service were built, — the Hitachi-
maru, the An>a-maru, the Iyo-maru, the Kaga-maru.

The dock at Akunoura is the oldest of the Mitsubishi docks. The
capacity and scope of this dock, however, is much smaller than those of the
Tategami. This dry dock has a very convenient capacity to construct and
repair such steamers as are usually used on the China and Korean service
by the different steamship companies of Nippon. The machine-shop at this
dock is exceptionally complete, and in perfect working order. It covers a
space of 200 by 1 06 feet. It is fitted with hydraulic lifts, and in the center
of it, it has two electric cranes, with the capacity of 20 and 1 5 tons respect-
ively. On the second story they have two electric cranes, also capable of lifting
a weight of five tons each. It has the facility of casting articles upward to
50,000 tons in weight. This machine-shop has in connection with it a
blacksmith shop, which covers a space of 370 feet by 60, fitted with nine
steam hammers of seven tons and less.

To the casual eye looking upon these workshops at Akunoura, the series
of workshops stretching for 1,250 ken (7,500 feet of water front) have

450 THE FAR EAST

an imposing effect. It appears much bigger than the other docks of the
Mitsubishi Company.

In 1884 — as we have said — the Nagasaki dockyard passed out of the
governmental control. The Mitsubishi interests acquired it. Long before
it had passed into the possession of the Mitsubishi people, however, ship-
building activity of the world had passed out of the wooden-ship age ; in-
deed, it had passed out of the iron age, as far as the material for ship-
building was concerned. It had already entered into the steel construction
period. Still, as late as 1 889, the record of the Mitsubishi Company in the
construction of steel ships, was in its infancy. It was confined to the con-
struction of three small boats for Osaka Shosen Kaisha of 600 tons or less.
They were proud of this record, moreover, which comments eloquently on
the limited scope they enjoyed at the time. But the inevitable tendency of
the world's progress was pushing them ahead. In spite of themselves, in
1894, they undertook the construction of a steel ship of 1,600 tons called
Suma-maru. It was followed by the construction of the Tategami-maru of
1,550 tons. From that time on, the activity of the Mitsubishi Company in
the construction of a larger ship increased steadily, till they succeeded in
building the Hitachi-maru of 6, 1 72 tons and her sister ships. Loss, mone-
tary loss, they have had from time to time, but the amount they lost in money
they gained in the skill of their workmen.

The Mitsubishi Dockyard is under the management of Mr. Shoda
Heigoro. The executive office of the Mitsubishi Company employs about
one hundred men. They employ about one hundred and fifty men in the
offices, among whom are nine foreign experts in an advisory capacity. They
employ 5,000 workmen in their shops.

Here, then, is the dockyard which, as late as in 1 889, had nothing more
to be proud of than a boat of 700 tons. On the 1 4th of September, 1 907,
was launched the first of the three sister ships which it is building for the
Toyo Kisen Kaisha, and the story of this new ship reads as a fairy tale.
It is called, this new ship, T enyo-maru ; 14,000 is its tonnage. From 1898
to 1907, the distance in time is not vast. From Kisogawa-maru of 700 tons
to the Tenyo of 14,00 tons, it is indeed a far cry. But the difference in
tonnage spells but a very small part of the wonder tale which is as true as
the gospel, and much more historic than the story which stretches from a
cradle in Corsica to another island off the African coast called St. Helena.
This new ship is rated by the Lloyd as 100, Al. It has a length of 550
feet, breadth of 63 feet. It displaces 18,725 tons. It has 16,850 horse-
power; speed, 19 knots. It accommodates 252 first-class passengers, 38
second-class, 826 third-class.

I have tarried long over the story of the growth of the Mitsubishi
Dockyard, and for this reason: in it the reader can read the growth of

n IT ' iiii' ■ r~ ' —

THE FAR EAST 451

the ship-building and dockyard enterprises of Nippon, as well as in many
another.

The story of the development and growth of the Imperial Iron Works
has already been touched in two articles which appeared in the April issue
of the Pacific Era. From a purely financial standpoint of view, the Imperial
Iron Works has not been a success. With the launching, however, of the
armoured cruiser Ibuki, it succeeded in translating the dreams of its founders
into an historic and steel-built fact. And no longer shall Nippon be com-
pelled to look over beyond the seas for the construction of a battleship of any
size whatever.

The growth of the ship-building industry in Nippon ought to be read with
particular interest by the people of the United States. Of the many can-
didates all over the world who are struggling for the mastery of the greatest
body of water in the world, these two have the most intimate claim — the United
States and Nippon. With other powers it is a mere bouquet to their am-
bitions, their dreams. With America and with Nippon, it is a matter of
necessity. It may take many years, but in the end the nation that controls
the Pacific shall be the master of a new era. At home in Nippon we sit
up nights, wondering what our American friends are doing in this direction.
Quite the contrary is true of our American friends. The story, I fancy,
of the mercantile marine of Nippon will perhaps be read by a large majority
of Americans as a story of a summer weed, which never fails to take an
easy-going farmer by surprise. If not in the fashion of the summer weed,
then how was this growth in the ship-building industry of Nippon attained?
It is simple, — largely through the government subsidy. The subsidy bill of
1896 gave 12.5 to 30 cents per ton for every 1,000 miles sailed in foreign
commerce, — (and mark you this) — by ships owned exclusively by the people
of Nippon. It, moreover, granted a 'bounty of $6 to $ 1 2 per ton, and also
$5 per indicated horsepower to all the steamers of certain type and speed,
constructed in Nippon.

The best friend of America, and her attitude toward the shipping and
ship-building industry of her home, is compelled to say that the United States
has done its best in handicapping the American shipping and ship-building
interests in its struggle against foreign competition. The worst enemy of the
Nippon government, especially in its attitude toward the shipping and ship-
building interests of Nippon, can never say so unkind a thing as the kindest
word which the best friend of America can say of her shipping and ship-
building enterprises.

I attended the closing session of the Fifty-ninth Congress. There much
was said on the ship-subsidy question.

"It is all very well and heroic, of course, to talk like a prophet in the
face of a storm. But then, you must remember that there are many news-

452 THE FAR EAST

papers, and our clientele at home read newspapers, yellow and otherwise,
and it would never do for them to get an idea that they have sent men to
Washington for nothing better than to throw people's money into the pockets
of Harriman and Hill," — seemed to sum up the conviction of the majority of
gentlemen of the forum. Perhaps it is for the best, certainly this singular blind-
ness on the part of so intelligent and wide-awake a race as the American, is a
great and unexpected favor for the people of Nippon. To the Americans the
warning in the closing paragraphs of the article must sound strange, — doubly
so because they are fond of entertaining the fiction that the Nippon people
are peculiar. They may rip themselves open with the merriest grace in
the world in their proud rite of harakiri, but to give the rival of Nippon a
ghost of a hint of the danger that is threatening the rival is the last, the
most impossible thing for him ever to conceive. Ah, well, both of us have
to leam as we grow and come closer together, — and then, it is written in
the code of the samurai, — "Kick the pillow from under the head of thy
sleeping foe, for thou shalt never strike at thine enemy asleep."

THE FAR EAST

453

ON THE BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1908.

BY BARON MATSUDA.

Being the Speech of the New Financial Minister before the Chamber of Deputies
of the Imperial Diet, on the 23rd of January 1908.

I have the honor of presenting to you, gentlemen, the budget for the
fiscal year, 1 908. The total revenue for the year is estimated at 6 1 6, 1 90,-
987 yen, of which 475,737,999 yen are from the ordinary, and from the
extraordinary revenue, we are to realize the amount of 140,452,988 yen.
The total amount of expenditure for the fiscal year is estimated at 6 1 6, 1 90,-
987 yen, of which the ordinary expenditure amounts to 427,147,840 yen,
and the extraordinary expenditure 189,403,147 yen. Therefore, the
revenue and expenditure are balanced, and the ordinary revenue is in excess
of the ordinary expenditure of the year by over 48,000,000 yen. Comparing
these figures to the ordinary revenues and expenditures of last fiscal year,
the result is highly satisfactory. In the revenue for the year we have counted
some 5,000,000 yen, to be realized from the increased taxation on sake,
sugar and kerosene oil. Outside of the revenues already taken into account,
there is a surplus in the treasury to the amount of over 40,000,000 yen, which
has already been apportioned for different ends. Of this amount, about 15,-
000,000 yen is to be applied to the additional expenditures that arose
in the fiscal year 1907-'08, and the remainder of the sum, amounting to
about 33,000,000 yen, is to be brought over to the fiscal year of 1908, and
to be applied for such additional items of expenditure.

When we compare the revenue for the fiscal year of 1 908, which amounts
to 475,730,000 yen, to the amount mentioned in the budget for the pre-
vious fiscal year, we see the increase of 5 1 ,450,000. This increase is largely
to be accounted for by the general extension of economic activities, the
increase of taxation, the income from the post and telegraphs, and the result
of the railways which were bought from private hands, and increase of the
profits thereon, and the revenues resulting from monopolies and forestry, and
also from the increased taxation which is to be carried out in this fiscal year.
When we compare the extraordinary revenue of State for this fiscal year,
which amounts to 140,450,000 yen to the amount of the last year, there is a
decrease of 51,710,000 yen, and the reason for this decrease is the de-
crease in the surplus to be applied for extraordinary purposes.

The ordinary expenditure for the fiscal year of 1908 amounts to 427,-
1 40,000 yen. Comparing it to the similar item in the budget of the previous
year, we see the increase of about 14,700,000 yen. The chief reason of
this increase is perhaps the chance brought about in making the expenditure
for the maintenance of our army in Manchuria and Korea one of the items
of ordinary expenditure, while it remained until last year as one of the items

454 THE FAR EAST

of extraordinary expenditure. Moreover, owing to the increase of export
business, the amount of repayment of the taxation increases. Also there is
an increase in the interest to be paid on the debentures issued for the purpose
of purchasing railways. Also, perhaps a certain amount of this increase may
be accounted for by reason of the development of forestry, and a number of
enterprises connected with it.

When we compare the extraordinary expenditure stated in the budget
for the fiscal year, which amounts to 189,400,000 yen to the amount speci-
fied in the budget of the previous year, we see a decrease of about 1 4,980,-
000 yen. One of the reasons for the decrease is in connection with the
Otaru Harbor Works. The loan to the Korean government, the increase in
the capitalization for the establishment, expansion and operation of the mint,
the establishment of prisons and schools, the subsidy for mercantile marine
and ship building, the transfer of the capitalization of the Imperial railway,
these items have indeed increased the amount on the one hand, but on the
other the decrease caused by the shifting of the maintenance expenditure of
our army in Manchuria and Korea from the extraordinary expenditure to the
ordinary expenditure, and also the postponement of a number of enterprises
which have already been decided upon and commenced, brought about the
decrease as shown. The more important items in the budget for the year
1 908 may be summarized as follows :

First; As the result of the new treaty agreement with Korea, a certain
amount of fund is deemed necessary to supply the deficit in the Korean finance :
for this purpose about 5,250,000 yen have been allowed in the budget.
Owing to the continued disturbance in many circles of Korea, there is a
necessity for putting in an additional item of expenditure for the maintenance
of armed forces which i may be necessary to be despatched to the scenes of
disturbance for the maintenance of peace and order.

Second; The annual expenditure of about 2,000,000 yen is an item of
extraordinary expenditure to be applied to the improvement of harbors, con-
struction of railways, and improvement of water transportation in Formosa.
But the raising of this fund, and the payment of both capital and interest of
this annual expenditure of 2,000,000 yen, is to be borne by the Formosan
treasury.

Of course, beside these mentioned, there are a number of items of ex-
penditure, the railway construction, harbor works in Hokkaido, and other
new enterprises in different provinces, but these are not important enough to
be individually specified.

The above is an explanation in outline of the budget for the fiscal year
of 1908. I wish to advance a step, and state the cardinal outline of the
financial problems for the same fiscal year, and add a few words on the
policy of the Imperial Government.

THE FAR EAST

455

Now that we have seen already over two years since the restoration of
peace, and now that also the various affairs and activities of the nation have
gradually returned to its peaceful condition, the work of solidifying the foun-
dation of finance, in maintaining a happy balance between the revenue and
expenditure of State, is one of the most important and pressing duties of the
day.

In framing the budget for the fiscal year 1 908, we have placed the great-
est emphasis on the following point. On the one hand, we have endeavored
to inaugurate plans for the increase of revenues, and at the same time, and
on the other hand, we have endeavord to practice about the most rigorous
economy in cutting down the expenditure in everything save in those enter-
prises and work which were imperative, and we have succeeded in modifying
the amount of the annual installment of expenditure which had once been
decided upon.

According to the plans for the increase of our revenue, we have increased
in the sake tax 3 yen per koku (1 koku is about 40 gallons), and the taxa-
tion on sugar was increased by 1 yen to 2 yen and 50 sen per 100 pounds.
Also on kerosene oil, we have placed 1 yen per koku taxation. We are to
raise the price of tobacco by about 30 per cent.

From this additional taxation, after subtracting the expenditure connected
with its collection, we expect to realize about 5,000,000 yen, and the profit
on tobacco is expected to amount to about 6,000,000 yen, about 1 1 ,000,-
000 yen in all. As for the increase of the price of tobacco, it has already
been put into practice.

If I may be permitted to add a remark on the modification of the annual
installment of the expenditure already decided upon, I take pleasure in saying
that we have adopted the policy of decreasing this item of expenditure by
postponing, for the year, all the enterprises which could possibly be post-
poned, especially in connection with the national defence, both in the army
and the navy.

In short, the cardinal feature of the budget for the fiscal year 1908, is
to solidify the foundation of finance by bringing about a stable balance be-
tween the revenue and expenditure of State. Not only does this program
give a sufficient ease and margin in the management of national funds and
administration of national treasury, but this would also place the administra-
tion in a position where it would not feel the imperative necessity of raising
the loan of 500,000,000 yen, which was ordered in 1906 and has never
been floated.

The extraordinary military expenditure and extraordinary finance con-
nected with the war of 1904 and 1905 were brought to the final conclusion
in October, 1907. The entire revenue of this period amounted to 1,720,-
212,256 yen. The total expenditure amounted to 1,508,472,538 yen.

A

456 THE FAR EAST

showing the excess of revenue of 212,739,718 yen. The above amount has
been incorporated into the revenue of the fiscal year, 1907.

The portion of the extraordinary war expenditure which has not yet been
paid, was carried over. It is to be defrayed by annual installments extending
for many years to come; the total amount of such items is 137,243,733 yen.

For the maintenance of the prisoners of war Russia owed us 49,950,440
yen, and the amount that we owed to Russia for the same item amounted to
1,642,955 yen, making the balance due us 47,452,485 yen. The same
amount was received in October, 1907, at London, and was counted among
the revenues of the fiscal year 1907.

In the year 1907, owing to the injuries by flood in different sections of
the country, an expenditure arising from a number of other items not covered
in the budget, were many. Such items of expenditure were expected to be
covered by the amount brought over from the fiscal year 1906. The 6 per
cent war loan, which was for a short period, and which amounted to 22,-
000,000 pounds, was replaced in March, 1907, both in London and Paris,
by 5 per cent government bonds, amounting to 23,000,000 pounds, and the
exchange was successfully and completely concluded.

As for the regulation of the extraordinary and special taxation system,
the Imperial Government has drawn up its first draft, and in April, 1907,
submitted it to a careful and minute scrutiny of the examination board on the
regulation of taxation which it has created for this purpose. In July of the
same year, the Board concluded its work, and the Imperial Government will
present the result of the examination to the present session of the Diet.

The foreign trade for the year 1907 was affected by the financial dis-
turbances in New York, and the fall of silver. These brought about a
stagnation in exports, and owing to this stagnation we have seen the excess of
about 60,000,000 yen of imports over exports. But this excess is largely
due to the importation of such raw materials as cotton and iron, and in some
cases, of machinery. The total amount of the foreign trade, both imports
and exports, amounted to about 926,000,000 yen. Compared to the pre-
vious year, it showed the increase of about 84,000,000 yen.

I believe what has been explained in the above makes clear the consoli-
dation of the financial foundation of the future, and also contributes not a
little to the progress and development of our industries.

I desire that you, gentlemen, after thorough and serious investigation and
discussion, would afford speedy support to these measures.

Just Published

In Korea with Marquis Ito

BY

George Trumbull Ladd, LL. D.

Illustrated. $2.50 net. Post paid, $2.70

THE CONTENTS
Rulers and People
Resources and Finance
Education and the Public Justice
Foreigners and Foreign Relations
Wrongs : Real and Fancied
Missions and Missionaries
July, 1907, and After
The Solution of the Problem
The Invitation
First Glimpses of Korea
Life in Seoul
The Visit to Pyeng-Yang
Chemulpo and other Places
The Departure

Personal Reminiscences and Impressions
The Problem : Historical
The Compact

Undoubtedly the most important work on Korea and Japan, as far as their present relations are
concerned, that has been brought out. Professor Ladd had, through his relations with Marquis lto,
very exceptional facilities for personal observation in Korea, and unprecedented opportunities for
obtaining inside information and accurate knowledge as to the past and present conduct of Japan
and her present intentions. Much hitherto unpublished
material was placed in his hands enabling him to estab-
lish beyond reasonable doubt the truth about certain
matters which he discusses in his book. The book is
partly the account of personal experience described in
a readable and interesting way, and in part a serious first
hand discussion of a weighty political problem, and it is
consequently of interest both to those who want merely
a surface picture of conditions and to those who want to
study the problem seriously. No one can, in the future,
write history of these events or discuss them with author-
ity, without making himself familiar with the views and
conclusions of Prof, Ladd in this book.

'Written with great care. It is one of the most in-
forming books on the East that has yet been published.
-Philadelphia Inquirer.

-Louisville Courier-Journal.

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

f~W i ORKS of unquestioned authority on
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V^^X are the authoritative works of un-
doubted charm on the East; still rarer is an
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tractive an offer as this:

XN KOREA, WITH MARQUIS ITO -
By Prof. George Trumbull Ladd,
. . $2.50(net)

B WAKENING OF CHINA -
By Prof W. A. P. Martin,
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. $3.80 (net)

fi

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UR SPECIAL OFFER
FOR Tr

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>okoro bam

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in tune witlf Sfruttj,
9 3f ip> CM* mill tjeat,
Juen ttjouglf gou bo not jjrag

VOL. I.

JULY, 1908

No. 10.

THE
FAR
EAST

Two Significant
Facts in con-
nection with the
National Elect-
ion in Nippon

Shimada Schuro

Arashiyama, the
Famous Rapids
of the Katsura
River, which
flows past the
city of Kyoto

Adachi Kinnosuke

Autobiography of
Prince Ito Hir-
obumi

Agriculture in Man-
churia

Hirata Nobuo

The* New East in
the.Making

Asada Masuo

W Hat G[aat Quhttatpttg (Jo.

DETROIT, MICH., U. S. A.

THIRTY CENTS THE COPY. THREE DOLLARS THE YEAR.

The Far East

Adachi Kinnosuke,
Proprietor and Editor

JULY, 1908

CONTENTS

JADE SEALS AND DRAGON BOX
IMPERIAL PALACE, MUKDEN

FRONTISPIECE

THE TWO SIGNIFICANT FACTS IN CONNECTION

WITH THE NATIONAL ELECTION IN

NIPPON SHIMADA SABURO

ARASHIYAMA, THE FAMOUS RAPIDS OF
THE KATSURA RIVER, WHICH FLOWS
PAST THE CITY OF KYOTO ADACHI KINNOSUKE

(Illustrated)

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF PRINCE ITO HIROBUMl-V
Being an account of his life told by himself to
and recorded by OHASHI OTOWA

AGRICULTURE IN MANCHURIA
(Illustrated)

MEN FROM NIPPON-The Misunderstood
(Illustrated)

THE NEW EAST IN THE MAKING
The Oriental Colonization Company
The Growth of Nippon Yusen Kaisha
Mr. Roosevelt and the Far East
Improved Express Service on the

Nippon- Korean Line
Count Inoue and Count Matsukata
The Arbitration Treaty between

America and Nippon

HIRATA NOBUO

E. PERCY NOEL

ASADA MASUO

A JAPANESE GARDEN— A STORY ADACHI KINNOSUKE 489
THE TRUTH ABOUT PORT ARTHUR DAVID LAMBUTH 498

OF BOOKS ON THE FAR EAST
"The Truth About Port Arthur,"
"Blue Waters and Green,"
(Illustrated)

DAVID LAMBUTH
ASANO KOJIRO

Copyright, 1908, by The Far East Publishing Co.,

Entered as second-class matter July 9, 1908,
at the post office at Detroit, Mich.

Published Monthly by
The Far East Publishing Co.,

The Addison,

Detroit, Mich., U- S. A.

u

The Far East

Vol. I July 1908. No. 10.

THE TWO SIGNIFICANT FACTS IN CONNECTION WITH
THE NATIONAL ELECTION IN NIPPON.

BY SHIMADA SABURO.

The leader of the opposition party in the Imperial Diet, House of Representatives.

x*4^^^*' HE result of the general election of this year has one story to

M £""*\ tell : — 'how the nation wishes to solve the one thing before it: —

^^ 1 the right solution of the constructive problems after the war.

^^^^r The attitude of the present cabinet and its friends is to

maintain the dignity and prestige of the State, which have

been raised and magnified greatly as a result of the victorious campaign, by

extending our military power. They claim that it is inevitable, and since the

extension of the army and navy is inevitable, the funds to maintain the military

activity of our country must of necessity be raised, and therefore the increase of

taxes is also inevitable.

Those who are opposed to this view have this to say; that at the present
time the attitude of the powers of the world toward the Far East is the
most peaceful we have seen in the past twenty years. It gives all
indications for the peace of the immediate future. This, then, is the one fine
opportunity for us to recoup our national forces, make good the loss which
we suffered in the late war, to re-arrange and adjust our domestic affairs,
strengthen our finance, extend our economic activities, and thus lay the founda-
tion of national power, and thereby permit the people at large to realize the
fruit of peace. All these, they claim, are indeed the right way of laying a
foundation of that strength upon which a nation can rely, in a time of storm
which it may be called upon to face in the future. In short, the former, — the
pro-governmental party, is the party for the increase of taxation. The other
belongs to the party that is opposed to the increase of taxation, and the nation
is called upon to express her wishes and choose between these two opposing
views of the conduct of State affairs.

At the general election which took place in the twenty-fifth year of
Meiji (1892), we saw the country divided into two camps. The one
interpreted the constitution in a narrow and restricted sense, and wished to
perpetuate what might be called the official inertia, inherited from the clan
government of the old regime. The other wished to interpret the constitu-
tion in a broader sense, and essayed to foster the constitutional institution in
a fitting manner. These two camps came into a violent collision, and we
saw a battle royal fought between these two rival camps ; the one carried on

458 THE FAR EAST

their propaganda and activities under the banner of the governmental party,
and the other waged its war under the name of popular rights. It was an
exceedingly vivid drama, their struggle for ascendency. It is a matter to be
regretted that in the heat of their contest there were many incidents which some-
what stained the history of constitutional government in Nippon.

The general election of this year is vastly different in its outer forms, in
its conditions, in its platforms; still, in its spirit, it is not far from the old
contest we have recalled. It is simply a struggle between the official and the
people once more. That the nation does not put its faith in the cabinet is
just the same in this year as it was in 1902. Even from the business men
who have usually kept silent, we are, this year, hearing a great deal. They are
raising their voices in protest against the financial policy of the government.
They have been driven to this by the extreme and cruel taxation system of
the present administration, and in their last extremity, it seems that they have
made up their minds to take an active part in opposing, once for all, the
measures of the present government. These people are taking active interest
in politics this year. Among the most significant movements of this type, we
see that in every city the business circles are taking a decided stand, and carry-
ing on an active campaign of a purely political nature. Beginning with the
city of Tokyo, which is the center of the political activities of the nation, in
almost every province and every city we are told that the business men are
uniting themselves in their protest against the governmental measures in this line.
Since these men are to exercise their elective powers, it would not be surprising
at all if the men elected by these different votes should increase decidedly in
number ; and the party opposed to the increase of taxation may likely find itself
far superior in number to the Seiyu party and those who are friendly to the
scheme of increased taxation. This exercise of elective powers on the part
of the business circles, in opposition to the measures of the administration,
would undoubtedly make one of the cardinal features of this year's general
election. In this one respect it will differ materially from the general election
of 1 892. In the general election of sixteen years ago, the business circles of
the country looked upon the activities and measures of the popular party
as extreme and violent. They did not like them, because they were partial
to a more conservative method. This attitude on the part of the business
men in 1892, brought about the victory for the pro-governmental party.
This year, all is different. Not only are the merchants and manufacturers of
the Empire hostile to the governmental measures, but they are found to-day
at the very forefront of the fighting line, in their war against both the foreign
and the domestic policies of the present administration. They are to be found
in the very heart of the party that is opposed to the increase of taxation. It
goes without saying that their union with the party of the people would add
greatly to the efficiency of the anti-governmental party.

THE FAR EAST

459

At the bottom of all this political movement, there is one simple fact, —
that the present administration has erred in its policies ; it has failed to satisfy
the nation. Its prestige has fallen to the dust, and the industrial and business
circles, which once were wont to look upon the party of the people with
disrespect, who once looked upon the opposition party as ultra-radical, have
now changed their attitude completely. And this is sufficient to show that the
principles advocated by the reformed party are now being generally accepted
among the people as the right policies for the nation. I am one of those who
believe that the opportunity for political reform is to be found in this
year's election, and it should not be difficult for those who are gifted with the
power of reading the signs of the times, to forecast the political changes that
are in the near future.

A representative institution is an institution based on the freedom of dis-
cussion. It is so in name, it is so in fact. The very name "Parliament,"
Which England, the homeland of represetative government gave to its body of
representatives, comes from the French word, parler, which means, to speak.
It is a public body for public discussion. In Nippon we call it Gi-£n>ai, which
is as if we had said that it is the gathering of men for discussion. We call a
man belonging to the body, gi-in, men who discuss. We call the hall Gi-jo — a
place for discussion. The true nature of this representative body is thus
explicitly described in its very name.

To make public the questions of government among die people at large,
to make clear the principles involved in the discussion, to point out the reasons
for contentions, to discuss and criticise from every point different measures,
and by so doing throw light on mooted points in the measures brought before
the people, and by making them clear to the understanding of the people,
ask the people to pass their judgment upon such measures, — such indeed is the
duty of a man who is candidate for the membership of this Imperial Diet.
Once they are elected to the body and seated in the house, they are called
upon to discuss and debate, not only once, but repeatedly, from every angle,
the measures which will be proposed to them for discussion. — They enter the
arena where words are the only weapons. That is, indeed, the very nature of
the representative institution. In the general election of this year, therefore,
it would be very natural that the anti-increase-taxation party should have
taken its first stand against the pro-increase-taxation party by the aggressive
war carried on through discussion. It is noticeable that the pro-governmental
party, those who are in favor of the increase of taxation, have failed to meet
their enemies openly, through discussion in public. In the very city of Tokyo
itself, it is quite noticeable, while the men opposed to the increase of taxation
were carrying on above board, through public discussion, their war against
the increase of taxation, the party that favored the increase of taxation went
about in the dark, avoided as much as they could the open war of discussion

460 THEFAREAST

before the full light of publicity, and thereby adopted methods which might be
called anti-constitutional. They have strained their efforts purely and simpl/
to the gathering of votes ; they have avoided the proper highway through which
all the representative administrations should have traveled in receiving public
condemnation or public approval, and they have given themselves to the secret
measures which are usually the companions and incidents of a despotic state.
This indeed, is one of many incidents, which, in itself not very important, still
comments eloquently enough on the different natures of these two contending
parties. We have noticed that only once did the Seiyu party call a public meet-
ing, at the Hongo theatre. It was meant to be a public gathering, in which they
were to answer some of the charges brought against the governmental measures
for the increase of taxation. But even in this one solitary public gathering, they
did not seem to have come out openly and advocated their policies with one
united voice. This gathering was a distinct failure, as far as reaching the
ears and eyes of the people at large. In this gathering they said nothing which
appealed to the conscience of the people; what they said had no power to
move the people.

And we see even at present, the substantial result of their defeat in this
matter. From the city of Tokyo we elect eleven representatives. Heretofore
there were five men belonging to the Seiyu, and five to the Shimpoto, — the
progressionists that is — and one to the Yuko, but as a result of this year's
election, tlhe anti-increased-Jtaxation party has gained seven, and even two men
who have been affiliated with the Seiyu party, Ema and Inashige, declared
themselves publicly as opposed to the increased taxation, before they went
before the people for re-election. In their case it is very apparent that they
saw the uselessness of applying for re-election on any other ground than that
opposed to the administration policy of increasing taxation. There were two
men, Isobe and Takanashi, who have been considered for many years as the
elder champions in the political world, whose elections were considered above
all questionings. Still, they failed to be re-elected. Even such a man
as Hatoyama, with all his prestige in the political circles, was compelled to
fight so bitter a battle for his re-election as to become a subject of violent
scandal, and is publicly reported to have spent the heaviest election expenditure
in all the country, which shows how difficult and bitter the fight was. In
contrast stands the record of Mr. Zohara, who is known as a man of no
financial means, indeed who is said to be not over supplied with even absolutely
necessary funds. He nevertheless succeeded in receiving the second place, far
ahead of Hatoyama. Again, look at Takaki, who also is notoriously
poor in this world's goods, and moreover 'has disadvantages of a physical
nature, and who has fought single handed almost, against such a candidate as
Mr. Okazaki who commands not only unlimited funds, but has had all the
powerful influences of the Seiyu party, and finally defeated him.

THE FAR EAST

461

In all this I am not trying to minimize die tremendous efforts put forth by
these individual candidates who are successful. What I hold is that their
attitude toward the increase of taxation, met with a ready approval from the
people, and that had a great deal to do in carrying these candidates success-
fully through their fight.

In conclusion, after having reviewed not only the election results of the
city of Tokyo alone, but the reports of a number of outside cities, I think that
the wishes of the people are definitely on the side of the party opposing the
increase of taxation. The people are decidedly against the present admin-
istration, and the principles of the Seiyu party.

ARASHIYAMA, THE FAMOUS RAPIDS OF THE KATSURA
RIVER, WHICH FLOWS PAST THE CITY OF KYOTO.

BY ADACHI KINNOSUKE.

'FLOAT upon the Pacific is a public park. Natives call it
Nippon and the visitors call it Japan. In Nippon there is
one place which sightseers never fail to visit — the rapids of
the Hozu.

The stream is crystal clear; it is mountain born. In the
country of Tamba, down to the point where it reaches the historic castle town
of Kameyama, which the modern geography knows under the revised name of
Kameoka, it homes the noble race of fish called ayu; to translate it "trout"
or "smelt" is to call poetry, prose. It's the fisherman's paradise, the Hozu
in the country of Tamba, translated in the terms of flowing silver and silk.

From Kameyama into the country of Yamashiro for twenty miles
stretches the passional life of the river. For ages without number, from the
primal days of fairy folks even unto the civilized years of ours, the numberless
rocks of the Atago ranges have battled against the stream. And soft, ever
yielding, and laughing its eternal laughs, the Hozu River has always been
and is the conquerer. And to-day it charges into the thick phalanxes of
rocks, cliffs, precipices, shaven bald most of them, and others thickly armored
with mosses, with its merry old time laugh. No mortal, spite of the scientific
lunacy that is abroad throughout the land, has ever counted the number of
the rocks on the channels of the river, or of the whirlpools, of the plumes of
spray of waterfalls, or of the chaldrons, nature made, in which boil, day in
and day out, many seas of emerald and pearl.

'

462 THE FAR EAST

PEARLS OF THE RAPIDS.

But the boatmen of the village of Hozu! Into the purple mists of the
time of the gods they trace the birth date of their village. They are half
priests, and they alone of all the millions of the people of Nippon, who are on
such excellent and familiar terms with water everywhere, dare to guide a bark
or raft down the ten mile stretch of the rapids. Danger is the salt of
human life; fear is the fertilizer of human religions. In the village of Hozu
saints are common, much more common than coin. Their life seems to be as
clean as the ayu of the stream, and ayu, it has been said, sustains its life upon
the life giving essence of clear water. They drink not any intoxicating liquor,
neither do they taste of the flesh of the field nor of any creatures with warm
blood. Chiefly they live upon the products of the soil. They are simple
people ; their prayers are not like unto the pompous drums and the pipings in a
gilded temple; their rites are not as many and puzzling as those of learned
sects in Kyoto. In the following they put their trust: —

If only your heart be one with the way of truth,
Even tho' you pray not, the gods will hear.

In the inviolability of a pure life, in the power of the pure of heart in
persuading the gods to safeguard them from ills, their faith is strong enough
to move something more heartless and heavy than the mountains.

It was a day in the "sari gatsu sakura no saku jibtm," (the third moon,
when the cherry flowers blow,) as the race of flower idolaters would say, that
four of us, members all of one family, met two boatmen from the village of
Hozu and a boat on the river bank. The east was already whitening. Under
the break of day the stream was a loosened girdle of frosted silver, which
seemed to have just dropped from the waist of the hills.

EMBARKING FOR THE JOURNEY.

"How honorably early august presences are!" greeted the priest-boatmen.
One of them was standing at the prow of the boat, the other was at the stern,
and in his hand was a long scull, if one might so call a long pole widening at
the tail of it into a blade not unlike that of an oar; he was the man at the
helm. Of the boat nothing was remarkable; small, without grace, simple
to ruggedness. You can see something like that on any paddy field of the
East, with this difference — the boat upon the Hozu is deeper than the paddy
field "mud boats," as farmers call them. The boatman at the prow was
armed with a bamboo pole — a simple bamboo pole such as you can find by
the thousand in almost every bamboo grove in which all of us had played
through all the days of youth. All the same, no magician's wand ever known
in Arabia or Egypt or India, either to tales or soberer chronicles, can
pretend to be as rich in miracles as that simple pole in the hands of that
simple boatman from the village of Hozu and in the course of a single morning.

_;

DOWN THE HOZU.

THE FAR EAST

463

The flat bottom of the boat was loaded with straw sacks filled with
charcoal — the coal famous for its red golden glow, for its endurance, and
which comes from the earth stoves not far from the boatmen's village, on the
mountain side of the Atago. Neither a cushion nor a chair in the entire boat ;
it had neither a roof to protect men and things from rain nor an awning to
temper the heady heat of the sun.

"Hang the honorable waist upon this sack," my father begged of my
mother, and for himself and my sister also he took the pains to select a couple
of charcoal sacks of as kindly a complexion as he could find. I, who had a
slight suspicion of my humble station in life, stood at the stern with the
helmsman.

"As for the boy," august father deigned to take note of me, "It is well
for him to see how long he could hold his ground upon his legs." And even
the priest boatsmen (not too famous for their frivolity) smiled a smile.
IN THE RAPIDS.

At a sudden turn of the way, the stream changed from silver to snow.
Two very large and sharp shouldered rocks were leading the charges of their
lesser comrades. One from the right and the other from the left. And the
river, which would not listen to their warning "stop," was whipped with the
sound of thunder, into many a column quite as tall as the two captains of the
rock. Here rainbows never die, and the future course of the river is lost
in the fog of purple and amethyst. As the stream ran square into the line of
warriors of the ancient mould, I found it difficult to see how human being or
anything could live; death stared my imagination full in the face. I saw the
spring color die out of the cheeks of my sister; I saw the arms of my mother go
out to die waist of her daughter. As I sunk a limp enough rag at the feet
of my brave helmsman, I noticed that there was a smile on the lips of my
father. I had always known that he was a brave man; never before had I
known how brave. "Stand up!" I heard his voice say in my direction.
"Have you lost your feet already, and where is the nerve of the samurai of
which you are proud?" In Nippon it is in the instinct of a son to obey where
a command comes from the lips of his father. I struggled up.

Then it was that the boat soared; it took an upward course of at least
forty-five degrees ; down went I again. With the humiliation of the body, my
pride had also a healthy fall. Over my father's shoulders, far up in air, I
could see the boatsmen at the prow. And that miracle worker of a bamboo
pole was slanting out from his right side, held by both of his hands, its point
was already piercing into the very vortex of the sugar loaf of spray; I saw
the angle of his elbow limned against the white of the fog. I saw also, before
he disappeared in the mist smoke of the fray, that he punted right and left —
a singular sort of spear practice. And the first miracle of the bamboo pole
passed into history.

3

464 THE FAR EAST

AERIAL NAVIGATION.

We were racing at a break neck speed down a narrow channel where the
water was a stream of cotton. Only the fancy of a very imaginative god of
artists could have chiselled the hewn-rock embroideries which hemmed in the
channel. And how did the boat manage to clear the huge rock, whose shape
was like the back of a monster turtle and against which we ran at the same
time as we flew in the face of Providence? Simply thus: — Th* boat left the
water completely for a few seconds; it was a flying fish and the force with
which the current shot it out of the stream was quite enough to carry it
through the air over the bald head of the turtle-back rock. We hit the
stream on the other side on the shoulder of a waterfall, polished as marble.
And in the catching of that volume of smooth gliding water at the correct
angle and right point as the boat takes water again, depends the death or life
of the boat and all on board. We were now in the Hozu Canyon.

No romances of Dumas pere take a more sudden or dramatic turn than
does the stream of Hozu ; and of these the eyes of the gods and the forbidden
glare of the pine clad rocks are the only spectators most of the time. Before
us rises a piling of rocks. In color it is the mingling of the steel sheen of an
ancient blade with that gray such as you find in the sky when the dusk of
evening begins to fall upon a beautiful day. It rises over one hundred feet
sheer into the pine shadowed air. The waters of the river pause as does a
rushing orderly, who finds himself suddenly in the presence of his lord of the
castle. They swirl awhile in a lordly leisure full of courtesy and dignity.
With a profound bow they melt into the steel gray embrace of the rock.

"That is called the Book Rock," my father said, turning to me, "Here is a
fragment of the library of the gods. You see those books piled high, do you
not? You can see each volume distinctly; even the silken cords that bind the
volumes. They are a trifle bigger than the books you study at school, to be
sure The gods are supposed to be a little larger in head and might than you or
I. In the making of the Atago peak, which you see soaring overhead; in the
making of the Hozu Canyon; in teaching the pines the evergreen constancy
alike through the season of Great Heat and under the white burden of snow
and giving them grace and dignity that shame human weaknesses, the gods
seemed to require a great library or a treasure house of recorded wisdom of the
past to assist them — even those omniscient gods and in those enlightened times
of the gods.

"But the scholars, who respect the gods more than I do, say that these
books, piled high, as you see, before us, are not the repository of knowledge
from which the gods helped themselves. And this is the story they tell: — In
the beginning were the gods whom we mortals might know under the general
name of the Beautiful. To them one day a silver stream from out of a modest
mountain came. And the stream prayed unto them, saying, 'My Lords the

THE FAR EAST

465

Beautiful, I am a rustic, born of a mountain and of country shade, simple,
without the gentle culture of letters or of color. Nevertheless, I dream, O my
lords, and in a dream alone I am sometimes permitted to see a beautiful home.
Last night I dreamed such a dream. It was my friends the Clouds who told
me of you ; they said that you, of all the beings in heaven and earth, can alone
translate dreams into the real. As you see, then, august lords, I have forgot
my humble self so far as to present myself in your presence with the prayer.'

"And the gods smiled upon her.

"By day the sun lighted the toils of the gods in the silence of the Atago
Mountain and by night the stars did not see the gods at rest or asleep. Now,
there was one among the gods who sat always beside a tableland ; in his hand
he held an iron brush, which was many hundred times as large as die largest
spear in your forefather's armory. And the pages upon which he wrote were
of granite, and die story he wrote was the story of the chiselling of the Hozu
Canyon. And piled high before you," concluded my father, "are some of the
volumes of the history of the making of the canyon."

Many a hundred yards about the foot of this granite pile of the books of
the gods we skirted over the emerald stream. At another turn, facing us not
so many hundred feet ahead, was a rock. It was large enough to completely
dam the current. In the days of the gods it must have been perpendicular:
To-day, through the century old hunger of the waters of the river, it was bitten
away at its base. To the eyes at a distance, it had the appearance of the black
upper jaw of a monster as it hung over the river. The current struck it at
right angle — it struck it sharply. The stream, which had neither temper nor
time to take a philosophical turn, rolled back upon itself up along the concave
of the jawlike rock, white, stormy and with a thunder of rage. Our boat was
making a tremendous way straight into the jaw — quite as straight as the cur-
rent, quite as rapidly as the force of the stream.

I heard above the tumult of the foam-whipped waters the voice of my
father. It was calling my name: When I opened my eyes, I was dazed for
a second ; smilingly, he was pointing with his finger at something a little ahead
of us. Our miraculous boat was shooting ahead as an arrow: "Open your
eyes," I heard my father say, "and look at these renge flowers!"

Golden and glistening in the sun and spray, I saw the immense petals of
the renge flowers carved out of sand rocks. You must not hastily get the idea
that those renge flowers in the mid-channel of the Hozu are one of the many
accidents of nature. In recognizing the semblance to a flower you need not in
the least tax your imagination or fancy: They are as real as life. Fully ten
yards in diameter are some of the renge flowers blossoming through both winter
and summer in the silver waters of the Hozu.

A faint scream of delight escaped from my mother's lips. When I turned
my eyes in the direction of my father's finger I saw something that looked very

I

466 THE FAR EAST

much like a mountain slope wrapped in cotton-white clouds. A few minutes
later we were hemmed in between the hillsides ablaze with the famous cherry
flowers of Arashiyama.

We forgot the stream. What a wretched race of ingrates humanity is!
Miles and miles through this enchanted aisle we must have glided.

At last — and so soon ! tea houses, straggling strings of pebbly beach play-
ing at hide and seek with the cherry bushes, and the temple gables peeping
out of the far woods, and the bridge laden with a thousand gay kimono
which for all the world seemed to have stolen out of the sketches of the Uki'yoe
School.

Arashiyama !

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF PRINCE ITO HIROBUMI*

Being an account of his life told by himself to and recorded by
OH ASH I OTOWA.

V.

ON the following day a conference was held in the presence of
the lord of the clan. All agreed that his lordship's taking the
field in person was admirable. So, our lord proceeded to
Ogori. It was the outer defence of the castle town of
Yamaguchi. Inoue was given charge of the defence of Ogori .
Takasugi and myself were to join the men at the fighting front in the direction
of Bakwan . We reached a place called Shimizu on our way to the front. It
was there that we received a message from our lord which recalled us post
haste. When we reached Ogori, we were told that the lord of the clan, as
well as his advisers, had decided to make peace with the foreigner. Inoue,
Takasugi and myself were appointed a commission of three to negotiate the
peace. The consensus of the opinions was not to abandon the anti-foreign
movement entirely. The Choshu men had done everything to carry out the
anti-foreign programme; success had not come to them, therefore their plan,
at this time, was to temporize. That was all. They would have a little
breathing spell of peace . Takasugi did not take kindly to this programme ; he
became excited, in fact. He made no secret of it. He declared himself some-
what after the following fashion :

"It would never do, sir," said he, "to talk of peace at this time. We have
gone too far : Peace might have been voiced with becoming grace and dignity
in the days when the actual war had not yet been. But we have actually com-
menced hostilities ; at the present time we are in the midst of war. Now that

* Translated by Adachi Kinnosuke.
Copyright 1908, by Adachi Kinnosuke.

THE FAR EAST

467

we have commenced, in my humble judgment, our lord should hold to the
course, and carry it to the bitter end."

And here was the retort: — He was asked if he had received the order of
his lord ; he was also asked when he was ready to obey it. Well, if Takasugi
were to say that he declined to obey the order, there was one thing for him
to do, namely — haraltfri. After an interval of reflection, Takasugi agreed to
compromise, and expressed his ideas in less violent and decided terms. The
final outcome of it all was that we decided to negotiate peace. In order to
bring about the peace negotiations, truce was necessary. Through the chief
elders the order of the lord of the clan to cease fighting, was communicated to
the different companies of soldiers at the front. As for us, we lost no time in
paying our visit to the vessels of the foreign fleet. I took the task of visiting
the foreign ships upon myself, and went in a fishing boat. I selected the
biggest of the warships, the "Conqueror," of seventy-two guns, as my first
objective. At the gangway ladder, the guard would not allow me to board it :
he repeated that the flag-ship was "that ship yonder," pointing to the
"Ulysses." So I had the boatman row me to the ship indicated. On reaching
it, I asked if it were the flag-ship. I was told to wait a while. Presently,
Mr. Satow came and said to me, "Ah, Mr. Ito, you are weary of war
already?" I told him very solemnly that I wished to see the Admiral, face to
face, and asked him whether he would be good enough to help me to secure
the interview. Mr. Satow told me that at that time the Admiral was giving
his orders to capture the guns and forts ashore. "Better come in," he said,
"make yourself at home and wait."

I followed him into a cabin. I saw Captain Alexander wounded in the
leg ; he showed me his wound, and told me what mischief our boys were doing.
Soon the Admiral came. I said to him that we would like very much for
him to cease bombardment He very readily consented to do so, and gave
orders to stop firing. The Admiral asked me why the lord of the clan had
not presented himself in person. I said that he was ill, and I had the honor
of serving as his messenger.

A little later, we saw a fishing boat making its laborious way toward the
man-of-war. Aboard was a singular sight . There was a man in full costume
of our ancient court, — high cap and the flowering aprons which were called
eboshi shitatare. Taking a binocular, I saw that it was none other than my
friend Takasugi. He was introduced as Anato Bingo. His get-up was
ludicrous. With all that, very solemnly we declared that we were ready to
open negotiations for peace. The first question asked was whether we possess-
ed the proper credentials. "No," we said, "we do not."

"In that case," said our foreign friends, "it is impossible to negotiate for
peace and stop the war." They insisted that we should accompany the lord
of the clan himself. They gave us a number of counter proposals, one of

468 THEFAREAST

which I remember was the occupation of Hiroshima till the peace negotiations
should have been concluded. But we declined to accept that. We suggested
that we had better report to our lord of the clan their demands and terms of
peace. They wished one of us to remain with them, so Takasugi and my-
self decided to return and report, and left Inoue with our foreign friends.

We arrived at the headquarters at Funagi. From all appearances, it
seemed that we dropped into the midst of a conference . There were fourteen
or fifteen men, all talking at one and the same time. There was something
singular in the atmosphere . Suddenly we saw coming out to us a young man ;
Kubo Magozo was his name. He was a son of our former instructor, and al
the time was serving as an official at Funagi . He came up to us quietly, and
spoke to both Takasugi and myself secretly: "There are men who are plotting
to murder you both," he said. There were a few young blades in the company
which was under the command of Yamada Akiyoshi (who later distinguished
himself as a Minister of State) , and Shinagawa Vajiro. After the defeat at
Kyoto, these men were deadly opposed to any peaceful measures. They
were out and out anti-reform agitators. They took very cheerfully to as-
sassination. These fellows were troublesome. Takasugi said to me, "This
is bad . Here we are, entrusted with an important affair, and before us are a
number of men who are making no secret of their intention of assassinating us.
We find that the government is entirely powerless. This will never do. It would
seem that we are nothing but homeless curs or cattle. I think the best plan
for us is to start right out and away from this chaos."

We acted upon the suggestion at once; we walked about two or three ri
through the night. We found a farmer's hut and sought protection and a
hiding place therein. The young man who communicated to us the report of
assassination gave us all the assistance he possibly could, in order to protect us
and guard our hiding place. Mr. Kubo was very much troubled over the
actual conditions prevailing in the clan of Choshu at the time ; he saw the im-
possibility of doing anything effective under such hopeless conditions, and he
declared that the continuation of such state of things would result in the utter
destruction of Choshu prestige, — in fact, the very existence of the clan.

As soon as the government lost trace of us, it became uneasy and much
concerned. The clan did not lose time in taking steps to call us out of our
hiding place . It recalled Inoue from Shimonoseki. Inoue came back without
loss of time . Through Inoue, not only the clan government, but His Lordship
himself, gave us a solemn pledge that they would hold themselves responsible
for the perfect safety of our persons, and very soon the government took meas-
ures to communiate with us. That was not difficult. Mr. Kubo, who
assisted us in so many things, knew our hiding place very well, therefore Kubo
and Anato, in company with Inoue came to find us, bringing with them the
communication from the lord of the clan. We went back with these men once

i

THE FAR EAST

469

more to Funagi, and once more we started for Bakwan. This time we had in
company eleven men, among whom were the elders of the clan, and at last
succeeded in bringing the peace negotiations to a successful issue.

Somewhat prior to this time the clan of Kagoshima had also gotten into
trouble with foreign powers. They too, had commenced hostile operations
against the foreigners. The cause of the trouble of the Kagoshima clan was
the incident at Namamugi. It was the famous Richardson case — a young
Englishman who tried to ride through the procession of the Lord of Satsuma
and was cut down by one of the retainers. And the foreigners were trying
to fight the Kagoshima in a war of revenge. These two wars, — I mean the
one that we had and the one that was of Kagoshima men, proved to be a
revelation to both of us. They opened our ears and our eyes. While we
were seeing a new light in the south, the national sentiment throughout Nippon
was far from being united. Even at Kyoto, the Imperial Court itself was far
from adopting a stable policy. As for the shogunate, it occupied an anoma-
lous situation of actually having opened the country to foreign intercourse, and
at the same time, in one section, it still advocated the anti-foreign policy. Of
course the different clans throughout the country held to almost as may differ-
ent policies. Under the circumstances, Nippon could not possibly present an
unbroken front against foreign powers. In those days we used to call Kyoto
and the Imperial Court "Kuge," and the Tokugawa party was known as
"Buke," and between these two factions, harmony seemed to be almost hope-
less. The confusion was indeed so great, and the knowledge about us was so
scanty among the foreigners, that they concluded that the entire Nippon advo-
cated the anti-foreign policy, simply because they saw the two clans of Choshu
and Satsuma carry out the vigorous anti-foreign measures. In the midst of
this turmoil, uncertainty and the break-up of all things which had been con-
sidered stable and permanent, came the Restoration.

The Restoration,* in its prime significances, tells a simple and eloquent
story. It means the decay of the shogunate. Perhaps it would be better
to use another word than "decay." Nearly three hundred years of peace,
which the Shogunate permitted itself to enjoy, corrupted the sterling qualities
of the samurai. The shogunate found it difficult to command the respect and
obedience of the three hundred daimyo . It failed to rule them. The outcome

* Says an ancient proverb : "One seeing is better than one hundred hearings". So it was with
Prince Ito. He went abroad and saw. — saw clearly too, that flint rifles and wooden junks
of loose planks can hardly be a foundation upon which to maintain the dignity, prestige and
power of a great state. Especially was this the case when a state was called upon to stand
out into the full light of the Western civilization. He saw also, that theie was a good deal
and there were many things in the life, institutions and organizations of the West which were
lacking in the Far East He saw, in short, the impossibility of the anti-foreign movement.
He came to understand that if Nippon were to remain as a sovereign state, it was imperative
for her to inaugurate a radical renovation and establish her affairs upon an entirely new basis.
The conviction that the unity among the people of Nippon, both high and low, was essential
to enable her to stand shoulder to shoulder with the states of the West, was forced upon him.
Moreover, he saw the pre-eminent necessity of bringing about the restoration of the ad-

470 THE FAR EAST

of it all was the Restoration . The shogun went up to Kyoto ; there also gath-
ered the daimyo. At last came the restoration of actual administration to the
Imperial Court. Meanwhile, the anti-foreign propoganda gave place to the
policy of opening the country to. the foreign intercourse.

AGRICULTURE IN MANCHURIA.

BY HIRATA NOBUO.

'TRETCHING away north of the historic city of Mukden
along the Liao Valley, a traveler may see a velt which may
have equals in the Middle West and in Manitoba, but cer-
tainly no superior anywhere in the agricultural world. The
distribution centre of this favored land, called the Northern
Manchuria, is found in the City of Ohang-Chung-Fu. To the east and to the
southeast it borders upon the territory dominated by Kirin; to the west it
stretches away toward Feng-Tien Province and toward Mongolia; on the
southwest it borders on Feng-Tien Province and the District of Kwan-Tong.

From the hill range which forms the water-shed of Central Manchuria, and
which screens Chang-Chung on the north, springs many a stream which
waters the valley. Chang-Chung is at the converging point to which, and from
which, the three great agricultural districts of Manchuria gather and spread
away — the Kirin, the Fien-Tien and the Mongolian territories. It is situated
in the heart of the valley, famous for its fertility. The streams which irrigate
it are also famous — the Sungari and its tributaries, the Itung and its branches.
In fact it is not far from truth to say that the most fertile province of Manch-

ministrative power to the real sovereign of the empire. So it came to pass that he advocated
the policy of opening wide the country to foreign intercourse, and thus lay the foundation of
a healthy development of Nippon. <J A good story is told of Prince Ito. It was at the time
when he went abroad. A short while prior to the time of starting for England, Prince Ito
and his four friends were in sore need of funds. Mr. Inoue (Count Inoue of the present day),
another Mr. Inoue (Viscount Inoue of the Railway service), Mr. Yamaji (Viscount Yamaji),
and Mr Endo (who later was connected with the mint at Osaka), these four men were to go
abroad by the order of the Lord of the Choshu clan. Now among the four of them, they
had only three hundred yen. That was not enough. At the time. Prince Ito was in Edo.
He was commissioned by his lord of the clan to purchase arms. A large amount of money
was therefore placed at his disposal, which was to be paid him at Edo upon demand. It was
discovered, however, that the arms which he was commissioned to purchase were not to be
found in Yokohama. He was therefore instructed to return to the home clan and bring back
the money. It was just at this juncture that Count Inoue approached him with a tempting
suggestion of accompanying the four young men abroad. Prince Ito, who had 5000 yen of
his master's fund at his command, borrowed the entire amount and applied it to the traveling
expenses of himself and his four friends, with whom he went abroad. Prince Ito started long
before he received permission to use the fund in this novel and somewhat unexpected manner.
He was perfectly willing to answer with his life for this somewhat irregular procedure when
he should return. Upon his return he had a personal interview with his master. Lord Mori of
Choshu, and he made a clean breast to his lord of what he had done with the 5000 yen en-
trusted to him. Lord Mori only laughed, and said, "I am very glad you went," and added
many a word of laudation.

i

j

THE FAR EAST 471

urian fields begins with the South Chang-Chung as a starting point, passes
eastward by Kirin and swings still northeastwardly to Sansei, curving there-
from in the northwesterly direction by way of Petona, and stretches to Ranjo
Patosusu. Of this garden spot of Northern Manchuria, Chang-Chung oc-
cupies the southern corner.

The student of Manchurian resources must of necessity, therefore, take his
first lessons in the examination of the Chang-Chung agriculture. Apart from
scientific investigation of this territory, and purely from an academic point of
view, there are many things that are of value to those who would find in this
district a field of investigation. This question is most interesting, however, to
the technical student of Manchurian agriculture. In fact to those who have
not the technical and highly specialized knowledge of agriculture, the most
important phases of this territory would very likely be overlooked. In a report
made by the Imperial Nippon Consulate at Chang-Chung, the following facts
are brought out:

Manchuria, as everyone knows, has what is known as a continental climate.
It has the extreme heat and the extreme cold. Both spring and autumn are
exceedingly short. In winter the thermometer falls 45° below zero, sometimes
50°, and in the height of summer 120°, 1 30° do not in the least attract even
die passing attention of the native. Moreover, the climate is exceedingly fickle
in its temperament. Within the compass of a single day, one is able to see
the temperature ranging from a violent cold to a degree of mildness that is sur-
prising, and often in midsummer the gale — which the natives call the "Mad
Gale" — sweeps the field and leaves it white with hail, and the thermometer
dropping with a jump. In midwinter it is no uncommon thing to see a frozen
road turn into a muddy slough, through which men and beasts are com-
pelled to wade as through a tropical swamp. And all this change is brought
about by a turn of wind which brings an excessive degree of heat.

It is usually in the middle of March that the farmers take to the clothing
of double thickness, and in May they change it to that of single thickness.
Then comes the rainy season in June and July, and those are the two months
when the heat is violent; all the more so because of the moisture. With the
beginning of August the signs of autumn are apparent. In September it is a
common experience to see fields covered with heavy frost, and early in Octo-
ber snow falls. It is in this month of October that the natives take to the
clpthing wadded with cotton, or to furs. In November and December, and
also in January, they experience the period of severest cold.

According to the statements of the older inhabitants of Manchuria this
territory experiences drought. Once in ten years the coming of the dry season
reduces the agricultural products by 20 per cent to 30 per cent. When it is
excessively dry the loss in agricultural products sometimes amounts to as heavy

1

472 THEFAREAST

as 60 per cent to 70 per cent. Such an excessive season of drought comes but
once in 40 or 50 years. Last year, that is to say in 1907, Manchuria ex-
perienced one of these dry seasons and in the months of May, June and July,
which are the period of growth for agricultural products, the country practic-
ally had no rain whatever. The dryness continued far into August. The
season of harvesting for barley and wheat was long passed, and for the beans
the blossoming season was on. Even then the rain did not come and the farm-
ers were in despair. But happily, on the 5 th of August, there came an entire
and violent change in the climatic conditions of the territory, and the persis-
tent dryness turned into a tremendous downpour. It came, however, too late.
The season for growth was passed, and the rain which thoroughly saturated
the soil, did but little good. It only prevented the utter annihilation of the
crop for the year. The harvest was about half of an ordinary year. The
severest sufferers were barley and wheat, and beans. After that, kaoliang.

The territory suffered this injury largely from the lack of irrigation system,
and the people do not utilize to the full the advantages given by the streams
irrigating the field. There are no reservoirs provided, so once the water falls
in the streams the farmers have no way of securing the amount of water
necessary for their fields. In the years in which the normal conditions prevail,
June and July are the rainy months. It is in these two months that Manchuria
receives the greater percentage of its annual rainfall. An excessive rainfall is
quite as bad as dryness everywhere, but especially so in Manchuria. There
is constant dread on the part of Manchurian farmers of losing their crops in
the mud ; and for this reason the farmers look upon the coming two months with
more trepidation than upon any other season of the year. Next to these two
months, in the month of March, Manchuria usually receives a good deal of its
rainfall. There is a saying among the Chinese farmers that, one downpour
in March is worth one thousand pieces of gold. It is because just about the
close of February it is the custom with Manchurian farmers to finish their
sowing, and the rain coming at that particular time would serve, naturally, an
admirable purpose.

THE SOIL.

The character of the soil of the plain which surrounds the City of Chang-
Chung, especially on the east, west and north, is of pure clay. There is no
mixture of sand whatever. Only in the fields south of Chang-Chung one meets
with the mixture of small quantities of sand in the soil. The clay predominates
in the soil of Chang-Chung to such an extent that in digging three hundred feet,
one meets only about one or two feet of blue-colored strata of sands, and eve»
these it is very rare to meet more than two or three times in the course of a
three hundred foot penetration.

The farmers of this district rarely take the trouble of working the fields
except in the spring season of seed-sowing, and in the harvest season in autumn.

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THE FAR EAST 473

It is almost unknown for the farmers to put in any time in cultivating this soil or
in fertilizing it. Nature is so partial to Manchurian fields, however, that with-
out any human assistance, full and abundant harvests are the boon of the
farmers every year, except in those hapless years in which some extraordinary
natural calamity overtakes them. As far as the eye can reach, the fertile
stretch of this valley billows away to the horizon. Very rarely can one
find any considerable area of swamp or rocky hillsides, which are not arable.
It is the paradise of the agriculturist. Of just such is the dreamland of the
Nippon farmers who terrace the rocky hillsides of the northern part of the
volcanic islands of Hondo.

Throughout this portion of Manchuria there are no paddy-fields whatever.
The lack of irrigation system, the lack of natural supply of water, are account-
able for this. The fields are almost entirely owned by private farmers. There
are very few farms owned by a company or a body of farmers. As for the
governmental land there is absolutely none.

RIGHT OF OWNERSHIP.

The question of ownership of land in China is still mooted. Official China
does not recognize the ownership of Chinese soil by a foreigner. It has been,
however, held by foreign governments — and the Nippon Consulate in Man-
churia among others — that if the subjects of foreign powers do not actually
have the regular right of ownership, they certainly enjoy the right of perpetual
lease. Official China, however, has been doing its utmost to minimize the
effect of this claim by declining to recognize any such right on the part of
the subjects of foreign powers except within the limit of treaty ports, or the
territory named in the treaty as having been leased to a foreign power. As a
matter of fact, however, the Nippon Consulate has purchased the site upon
which it stands in Chang-Chung. Moreover the Russo-Chinese Bank and
Mitsui & Co. and others have purchased real estate within the walls of
Chang-Chung City.

THE FARMING POPULATION.

The local government of China is in such a state of imperfection that it
is exceedingly difficult to find out the exact population anywhere. Chang-
Chung is no exception to the rule. There is a report, more or less credible,
which places the number of houses in Chang-Chung at 50,000, of which about
30,000 belong to the farmers and 20,000 to the merchant class. At the
same time the merchant class utilizes a very much greater number in their
business than do die farmers. For this reason it is safe to conclude that about
fifty per cent of the population of Chang-Chung belongs to the farming class
and the other half to the mercantile pursuits. It may not be far from truth to
place the population of Chang-Chung district at about one million. Although
the farming community within the walled City of Chang-Chung is by no means
large, either from the standpoint of number of people engaged, or in the area

474 THEFAREAST

under cultivation, still as soon as one penetrates into the interior, away from
the city he finds that there are a number of large farmers who have as many
as one hundred people working on one farm. The average number per house
of the farms, therefore, is not far from seventeen.

The character of the Manchurian farmers is varied. There are a number
of large land owners who own several thousand acres of land which they let
out to as many as two to three thousand petty farmers. It is very common for
these great land owners to combine the business of banking as well. In fact
a great accumulation of land by an individual in Manchuria comes from the
fact that a man of wealth, who does a banking business in connection with
his farming, loans money to a number of petty farmers. The poor farmers
procure loans on their lands and at the end of the year, or at the expiration
of the terms, find themselves unable to redeem them so they forfeit the mort-
gaged land. Through this process no small number of bankers have become
extensive land-owners. And the petty farmers who no longer have their own
farms, work upon the rented land.

This condition of things has brought about two classes of farmers. One
works for his own benefit, upon his own land. The other cultivates the soil
not his own at a fixed rental or receives a certain percentage of the yield for
their labor. Among the petty farmers, moreover, who hire themselves out in
this style to cultivate the lands belonging to others, there are two classes. For
one class of them the land owners provide not only the implements of farming,
but also all the animals, such as horses and oxen, which labor upon the field,
and this class of farmers receive forty per cent of the yields, giving to the
land owner sixty per cent. This class of farms is very small in number, how-
ever. The other class, which by far is in the majority, rent the land at a cer-
tain fixed rental, from the landlord, furnishing themselves all the necessary
implements of farming, as well as cattle. This class pays the fixed annual
rental to the landlords, independent of the abundance or scarcity of the harvest.
The rental is paid usually in the form of about two koku (one koku equals
about five bushels) of kaoliang and millet and beans.

As is the case in the farming communities of other countries, the Man-
churian farmers take to stock raising in connection with farming. The live
stock of the Manchurian farmers consists of horses, cows, donkeys, sheep and
pigs, chief of which are pigs. There is scarcely a house in entire Manchuria,
as indeed throughout China, without at least three or four pigs.

This section of Manchuria, fertile as it is, has not been settled long. It
requires, especially in its busy seasons, a large number of outside laborers to
satisfy the demand, agricultural and otherwise. The labor is imported from
such provinces as Shang-tung and Chili. The coolies who are imported from
the southern portion of China, for the purpose of working the Manchurian
fields, are usually dull and inclined to laziness. Still they are exceptionally

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THE FAR EAST 475

strong in physique and show a marvelous degree of endurance. Stupidity has
its virtues. Unlike the brighter coolies of Canton they do not "chase the
clouds" as they say in the East; they are more apt to be contented; more apt
to stay in one place; endure more hardship without complaint, and do not ask
exhorbitant pay for their labor. This spirit of contentment which enables them
to work for ten or fifteen years on a stretch without so much as a hint of com-
plaint, makes them especially suitable and therefore valuable for the Martchu-
rian farmers. Some of them get as high as fifty to sixty sen a day in ad-
dition to die food and lodging.

Chief among the agricultural products of the Chang-Chung district are
barley, wheat, corn, kaoliang, beans, peas, indigo, millet and buckwheat.
Millet and kaoliang and beans by far predominate. The average yield of
kaoliang per year is estimated at eight million koku, which is about forty
million bushels; beans at two hundred thousand koku and millet at two hun-
dred and fifty thousand koku.

The chief agricultural products for export from this district are the kao-
liang, beans and indigo. The wheat which is raised in Manchuria is not suffi-
cient for local consumption. For that reason no small quantity of wheat
and wheat flour is annually imported into this section of Manchuria. Also rice.
The amount of kaoliang exported annually reaches about one hundred and
forty to one hundred and fifty thousand koku. This commodity used to find its
outlet through Inkau. However, since the construction of the railway a large
percentage of it finds its outlet through Tairen. The Manchurian kaoliang
finds its market largely in South China. The amount of beans exported annu-
ally is estimated at one hundred and ten to one hundred and twenty thousand
koku. Like the kaoliang they used to pass out into outside markets through
Inkau, but today Tairen is receiving its share as well as Inkau, in bean business.

Of the wheat flour which is being imported in large quantities into this
section of Manchuria, American flour occupies the place of honor. The flour
from the Harbin mills ranks next to the American.

476 THE FAR EAST

MEN FROM NIPPON.

THE MISUNDERSTOOD.
BY E. PERCY NOEL.

Qnata-wa Nihon-no doko-ni o-sumaideshita-ka?"
A Japanese gentleman, seated in his agreeable home in a fashion-
able section of Manhattan Island, looked at me a moment with
unexpressed surprise for my sudden change from English to
Japanese, then replied, "I lived in Tokyo."
"Excuse me, sir," I persisted in Japanese, "but I addressed you in your
own language; you understood me. May I ask why you replied in English?"
"Pardon me," he returned, this time iii his native Nihon-go, "I spoke
English to you; why should you speak Japanese to me? Is not my English
good? I have been thirty years in America. I have passed the greater part
of my life here, always trying to acquire what is best of America — and some
that is not good. I am an American citizen; a successful American citizen.
Your skilful speaking of Japanese humiliated me. Do you now understand
why?"

After that we spoke in English.

With the exception of the comparatively small minority composed mostly
of the lowest class of Japanese, brought to America chiefly by scheming
American labor contractors, the 100,000 Japanese now thought to be in
America, came with aspirations similar to those of the successful man just
quoted ; those who have not lost their ambition are still striving for all or more
than he has accomplished. Unlike other foreigners who come to resourceful
America, the object of the Japanese is not to dig into our mines of wealth
and carry back treasure to the birth-land; their ardent desire is to rise to the
point of Occidental esteem by the stepping-stones of achievement and success —
in the end for the honor of Dai Nippon. If, while working in the United
States, their thoughts are of Japan, it is but for a patriotic testimony of moral
credit; the material benefit remains in the land of its fulfilment.

The scum class of Japanese imported to America by guarantees of money
beyond their appreciation of possibility, are like other immigrants to America,
— Russians, Swedes, Italians, Hungarians, Greeks, Turks, and all the rest —
in that they have a common object in the accumulation of money to carry back
to the home which they left as one of the very poor. But there is a distinctive
difference marking this Japanese scum class, incorrectly called "coolie." They
are brighter, quicker, hardier ; and they quickly become the best sort of laborers
obtainable. They invariably remain close to the Pacific coast so that they

* Copyright 1908, by E. Percy Noel.

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THE FAR EAST 477

may readily return to Nippon. But for reasons that are not far to seek, the
Imperial Government, if tolerant of this immigration process, yet frowns on it ;
and the Japanese in America who see below the surface believe that the day
is not far off when it will be rigidly controlled, if not suppressed.

It is notable in this instance that Japan has set an example, which any
inspector at Ellis Island can show you might profitably be followed by some
European nations, in the adoption of stringent measures against the exportation
of vice. A case in point occurred at the time of the Saint Louis world's
fair, when a number of third-rate geisha were temporarily engaged for the
theatre of "Fair Japan on the Pike;" not only was the geisha manager re-
quired to swear on his honor that each and every one of the girls would be
returned to Tokyo at the expiration of their theatrical contract, and that they
would be guarded like prisoners during their stay in America, but also he was
required to deposit a bond of several thousand dollars for each geisha, as a
guarantee of his good faith.

But for the representative class of Japanese who make their goal America :
merchants, farmers, artists, miners, chemists, students they come. And is it
any wonder, that with 2,000 years of dai-myo discipline and ethics behind
him, and Sei sin itto nani goto-ka narazaran (Where there's a will there's a
way) ever uppermost in his mind, the success of the Japanese in America is
general? The Oriental Yankees have made dollars where Americans were
making cents, to use an old hyperbole; as a matter of fact, they often estimate
profits on a basis of 200 per cent gross. Their agriculturists have worked
wonders with our soil; their writers have added to our literature; their artists
have broadened our art; and their scientists have given us compounds, now
indispensable. And always they have succeeded with the unobtrusive dignity
of their kind that every day commands greater respect from thinking Americans.

Of course there are failures. The Japanese youth, if better disciplined
than the American youth, is not infallible. The boys and men in domestic
service — reputed for their education — are, in general, norokura-musco: the
youths who have not proved themselves worthy of the relatives of friends who
made it possible for them to come. When they left Nippon money had been
provided for their living until they should be able to earn it for themselves ; or,
in case they never should succeed, to take them back to the home-land.
Perhaps they were careless with the funds; wandered from the straight way
of self-control ; and eventually found the house worker's task an easy one, with
sufficient money for spending. The servile character of their duties altered
their standards; now they are satisfied.

Some fifty years ago the man who for a few sen worked all day in the
wet rice fields of Japan, lived in a higher social plane than the contemporary
merchant of his land. To-day the merchant is differendy regarded in Nippon,
but, although a wonderful transition has been accomplished since Perry brought
the Island Empire into contact with the world, mercantile pursuits have not

478 THE FAR EAST

quite lost their stigma ; hence, America. To the same cause may be attributed
the superior numbers of Japanese who come to the United States, either to
take up for the first time, or to continue under the most gratifying conditions,
the pursuits of merchants. This two-fold phase — for it can readily be seen
that our national mercantile opportunity appeals equally to the gentleman and
the lowest merchant — accounts for the varied opinion of Japanese mercantile
honor, formed by the American business men who deal with them. Further-
more, it explains any lack of business system evident according to our stand-
ards; for, it must be remembered, many Japanese engaged in large business
here are merchants newly-born with not even half a century of mercantile
principles behind them. Under the circumstances, their honest successes,
visible in any city of size from the Pacific to the Atlantic, are all the more
worthy of respect.

Extravagant though it may seem, the farmers from Nippon who have tried
their hands with the soil of our country, have in a short time succeeded more
substantially than our average native soil-tiller ever dreamed of. But farming
and fishing have for more than 2,000 years been the chief occupations of the
isle of Yamato. The results obtained by the exercise of confident initiative,
combined with their inherited knowledge have enabled the Japanese in America
not only to produce what has never grown here before, but also to obtain
important results from soil which had long been considered worthless. As a
natural consequence, farmers and ranchmen are anxious to secure at least one
Japanese farmer for the benefit of his particular knowledge, in the development
or improvement of their properties.

It was several years ago that S. Uchida, an important Japanese foreign
ambassador, then New York consul, conceived the idea that rice would grow
about as well in certain parts of Texas, as in Japan; accordingly, he investi-
gated, secured an appropriation from his government for the development of
his plans; and, in short order, possibilities were realized. Several Japanese
secured lands near Houston, which they successfully converted into rice fields.
Now there are more than twenty such plantations in Texas, owned by Japanese.
Some of the fields are owned by Japanese companies, others by individuals;
taken altogether, they embrace several thousand acres. The production is
large and the rice of a superior quality. The extent of the activity remains in
the vicinity of Houston and Dallas, embracing such places as, Fannet, Web-
ster, Deepwater, Selden, Erin, Jeannetta, Oldin, Garwood, Raywood, Pales-
tine and League City.

A score or more of Japanese have availed themselves of the land recently
opened for cultivation by a Florida railroad, and with the aid of farm-
workers from their own country are raising pineapples and many kinds of
vegetables on farms which before were only fields of waste and water. One
of the largest of these pineapple groves consists of about forty acres of land.
At this point the name of the post-office has been changed from Wyman to

.£.

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THE FAR EAST

479

Yamato since the Japanese company took possession. It is in the vicinity of
the Everglade, south of Palm Beach.

Not far from the city of New York, at Bedford, Long Island, there are
1 50 acres of land under cultivation by the son of a Japanese nobleman. Here
Y. Sekini, Whose father was one of the Imperial Huntsmen, has brought from
his home-land a number of orchard workers, and has devoted practically all of
of his property to peach trees. Throughout the country there are Japanese
engaged in green-house keeping, who specialize in chrysanthemums and lilies.

Perhaps because in Japan manufactures are chiefly hand industries, the
Japanese here have not generally taken up any large manufacturing business ;
such articles as bamboo furniture, artificial flowers, carbon paper and a few
patent medicines are made, which generally sell well. Sensibly, they have not
endeavored much to push into the over-crowded professions. Among the
four or five thousand Japanese estimated to be in New York, there are but
four lawyers, a half-dozen doctors, and two dentists. One of the lawyers
practices with a prominent American firm of attorneys, but in the mam these
professional men have only their own countrymen for clientele.

Although the object of the sons of Nippon is work and achievement, they
do not readily forget their athletic sports. With American tennis, and bowling,
they mingle Japanese jiu-jitsu, and* fyen-jitsu. The character of the former
is too familiar to warrant a word about it here, other than this, that the
number of Japanese who know the great wonder-working secrets of the
art are few, and they guard the secrets, inherited from generation to generation,
more zealously than their lives. An attempt was made several years ago to
popularize the sport of k^n-jitsu in America, but with little success. This exer-
cise, which is the Japanese two-hand sword-play, requires, or develops, much
physical stamina. Doubled-handed foils of split bamboo are used; and the
combatants wear heavily-padded armor. The manual of the art is much more
formal and more interesting than that of European fencing; one of the best
blows is delivered on the top of the head ; the most effective, on the wind-pipe.
The fencers name their points as they make them, and challenge each other,
in a way that makes the bout very interesting to watch — and hear.

In all of our great cities there are Japanese organizations and clubs,
chiefly social, but often with an added interest of a commercial nature. The
organizations of New York afford a good idea of what may be found in other
cities, in proportion to the Japanese population.

The Nippon Club, which was organized in March, 1905, is quartered
in a spacious converted residence, just off Central Park, West, in Eighty-
Fifth Street, its twenty charter members include the heads of the most pro-
minent Japanese firms in New York. Carrying out the custom of Japanese
business houses, to treat their employees as members of a family, — incidentally,
they seldom receive any wages — the following article is embodied in the
constitution: Any Japanese, serving in the Nerv York offices of the corpora-

430 THE FAR EAST

lion, firms or individuals, who signed the agreement mentioned in the preamble
of this constitution, shall be exempt from payment of an admission fee in case
he be elected a member of this club. There are now more than one hundred
members, and the list includes the most important Japanese in the eastern part
of the United States.

Lindsay Russell, believing that there should be an organization in New
York to bear the same relation to the Japanese that the Pilgrim Society of
London does to Americans, organized the Japan Society of New York, May
17, 1907; shortly afterward the society gave its first luncheon to General
Kuroki, then visiting America. Following this first and sucessful function, in
which the Japan Society showed promise of becoming an important factor in
the cordial feeling between the two countries, other opportunities have been
turned to good account.

Jacob H. Schiff and E. H. Harriman acted as the most important patrons
in the movement for the formation of this society. Which has for its object the
bringing together of public men of Japan and the United States with a view
to producing literature and public opinion. Until his recall to Tokyo, Viscount
S. Aoki, Japanese Ambassador to the United States, was the honorary presi-
dent. Admiral George Dewey, General Frederick Dent Grant, Dr. Jokichi
Takamine, and Jacob H. Schiff are die honorary vice-presidents; the honor-
ary secretaries are K. Fukui and Samuel T. Dutton. John H . Finlay is the
active president; Lindsay Russell, vice-president; E. S. A. de Lima, secretary;
Isaac N. Seligman and Yeijoro Ono, treasurers. There are now some two
hundred and twenty-five members, of whom about one-ninth are Japanese.

Dr. Jokichi Takamine, several times a millionaire, appears by general
consent to stand first among the Japanese who have settled in America. He
deserves the position, if not for the fact that he successfully established and
carried out a manufacturing business here, certainly because he has added to
the scientific knowledge of the world and brought honor to Dai Nippon. He
is president of die Nippon Club. He maintains a town house in New York,
and in Sullivan County, of the same state, has a country house of Japanese
architecture ; a part of the latter was presented to him by the Emperor. Mrs.
Takamine was Miss Caroline Hitch, daughter of Colonel E. V. Hitch, who
fought for the South in the War of the Rebellion.

Born in 1852, at Kanazatea, Kaga Province, under the Feudal Gov-
ernment, he was at die age of twelve, sent to Nagasaki to study, by order of
Provincial authority. In 1875 he began to study applied chemistry in the
engineering department of Tokyo University, graduating three years later;
the year following he was sent to England to study by Government order. In
1881 he returned to Japan by way of America, became an engineer in the
Department of Agriculture and Commerce, and engaged in investigations of
chemical technology, especially in regard to sake brewing and indigo manu-
facturing. In 1884 he was appointed representative to the New Orleans

THE FAR EAST 481

world's fair, and while in America made a study of artificial fertilizing; he
returned to Japan with a fertilizer which he at once began to manufacture, and
for five years devoted himself to that industry successfully.

In 1890 he began to utilize an idea to introduce salje brewing methods
into the United States. After successful experiments, the Takamine Ferment
Company resulted. The rice-brew method was so successful that the malt
makers began to fear for their business; a contract with the Whiskey Trust
was soon a source of trouble; and eventually the ferment company was aban-
doned, but not until after a good harvest of money. From that time on
Dr. Takamine's efforts were devoted to medical science, eventually for its
great benefit.

Dr. Takamine discovered what is now known as laka-diastase, Which is
extensively used for anylaceuos dyspepsia. His discovery, however, of ad-
renalin is one of the most important of modern times, which has only been
equalled by the discovery of a remedy for diptheria by Dr. Kitazato. Ad-
renalin has a marvelous power over the blood vessels and is indispensable for
the performance of surgical operations. Dr. Takamine is now experimenting
in his New York laboratory, and expects to make another important addition
to science.

Y. Muria, who is the manager of Morimura Brothers, one of the largest
wholesale houses of New York dealing in Japanese ware, is one of the several
unadvertised Japanese millionaries in the United States. He has a beautiful
semi-country home at Riverside, Connecticut, where he lives with his American
wife; the house is American in architecture and furnishings. Besides his con-
nection with the New York firm, he is largely interested in the importation
of raw silk, and in the cotton-spinning industry of his native land. He first
came to New York about twenty-four years ago, and shortly afterward began
an important business on a small scale.

Takenosuke Furuya, who is the American representative of the Japan
Central Tea Association, came to the United States in 1888. He began his
studies in the Ann Arbor High School; continued diem in Adrian College;
then worked his way through the Law School of Michigan University, which
gave him his degree in 1892. He was born in Ibarkari Province in 1867,
and received his Japanese education in Tokyo. After leaving the Michigan
Law School he practiced for two years in Chicago, but when the world's
fair opened in that city in 1 894, he assumed the duties of commissioner for the
Japan Central Tea Traders Association. This association was established in
1884, under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture and Com-
merce of Japan. Mr. Furuya has represented this association since the
Chicago exposition. He also represents in New York, the Japan Tea Ex-
porting Company, of Kobe; the Japan Tea Firing Company of Yokohama;
and the 7Vyo Tea Trading Company, of Shizuoka, as the head of the house

482 THEFAREAST

of T. Furuya & Company. He is one of the charter members of the Nippon
Club.

Among the artists in America is T. M. Kawabe, who has an important
studio in New York. He has made his forte interior decorating and has
under him four Japanese artists and several carpenters. The way in which he
has welded the interior art of Japan with that of America is admirably illus-
trated by the Japanese tea room of the Auditorium Annex, Chicago. This,
and other examples of his work, such as the Japanese room of Dr. Takamine's
town house, have received the highest commendation of American critics. The
kakemono effects in panels, and other paintings utilized, are executed by Mr.
Kawabe himself.

After graduating from the Bi-Jilsu Kakko, which is the £co/e des Beaux
Arts of Tokyo, he remained in the capital three years. He first came to
America as one of the commissioners to the Chicago exposition; after a few
years in Chicago he went to New York and associated himself with a well-
known Fifth Avenue decorator. The patronage of his part of the business
increased so rapidly that he was soon able to establish his own studios.

Observant travelers in Japan notice that much of the quaint beauty of the
Island Empire is being defaced, if not obliterated, by the introduction of things
European. The policy of the government to absorb and, as much as possible,
to inculcate western arts has produced contradictory results; in some cases
Nippon has profited, in others she has lost. When in 1897 it was decreed
that the New Art School, in Ueno, Tokyo, should henceforth teach European
rather than Japanese art principles, the director of the school resigned. Gather-
ing about him thirty-nine of the foremost masters of the old school, including
Hashimoto, Kanzan, Taikan, Kozan and more equally famous, he formed the
Nippon Bijusuin — the Hall of Fine Arts. His action and subsequent success-
ful endeavor to save pure Japanese art has won for him the title of the
William Morris of his country, with his school the Merton Abbey. His name
is Kakasu Okokura. At present he is in Boston, cataloging and classifying
one of the most complete collections of Japanese and Chinese art in the world,
preparatory to installing it in the new Boston Museum of Fine Arts, when it
shall be completed next April ( 1 909) .

Although Mr. Okokura has been but a short time in America — coming
here in 1904 to fill the post of adviser to the Department of Japanese and
Chinese Art at the Boston Museum — he has already published three important
books in English, The Book of Tea, The Awakening of Japan, and The
Ideals of the East; besides, he has delivered many lectures in Boston that have
been widely reported. In Japan, as well as in other countries, he is recognized
as the foremost authority on oriental archeology and art. He believes in the
preservation of all that is best in the Japanese arts of drawing, lacquer and
metal work, bronze casting and porcelain making, and in improving, where
possible, by a knowledge of Western methods. When lecturing at the

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THE FAR EAST

483

museum, and when on the streets, he wears the Japanese costume; it is a part
of his artistic religion — to save Japan.

When a young man he was in 1 886 appointed a member of the imperial
art commission, sent to foreign countries to obtain ideas for the establishment
of a school of art in the Japanese capital. The year following he became the
director of the New Art School. He completed the classification of the art
treasures of Nippon; penetrated the caves of Ajanta, in India; studied the
ancient things of Southern China; and, in fact, left no stone of the Orient
unturned in his research, before coming to America.

So one might continue, filling many pages, to tell of the men from Nippon,
who, often misunderstood, and never wholly comprehended, have accom-
plished important results under conditions that are the very reverse of those
that they knew in youth. Generally one quality marks their efforts, a good-
natured persistency in every circumstance. But something deeper underlies
their work that gives it a tone that may not be adversely criticised; it is the
thought — "We are the Japanese in America. Our country is judged by us."
And, though they have made their interests America's, they love and honor
"blest Yamato's isle."

"If one should ask you concerning the heart of the true Japanese, point
to the wild cherry flower, glowing in the sun."*

Shikis'hima-no
Yamato gokoro-wo
Hito towaba

Asahi-ni niwou
Yamazakuia kana !

484 THEFAREAST

THE NEW EAST IN THE MAKING.

BY ASADA MASUO.

THE ORIENTAL COLONIZATION COMPANY.

©

Y far the most important organization for the development of
Korea is the Oriental Colonization Company.

The Company is to have a capitalization of ten million
yen, and has the authority of issuing bonds to an amount not
exceeding one hundred million yen, — ten times the capitalization.
The president of the company is to be a Nipponese. There are to be two
vice-presidents — one of them is to be a Korean and the other of Nippon.
The president of the company is to be appointed by the Nippon govern-
ment. Of the managers, secretaries and assistants, it is provided that at
least two-thirds of the number are to be Nipponese. The scope of the
activity of the company is extensive. Principally it devotes itself to agric-
ulture and colonization. It is to engage in the buying, selling and renting
of real estate in connection with its agricultural and colonization enter-
prises. It is to establish and maintain buildings, engage in the purchase
and sale and rental of such structures. It is to engage in the work of
getting colonists and in the distribution of them throughout different sections
of Korea. It is also to engage in the supply of seeds, fertilizers and other
materials necessary for agricultural and industrial activities connected with
its colonization enterprises, such as machinery, boats, wagons, cattle,
material for building and so on. It is to engage also in the purchase,
sale, transportation and storage of such materials and wares as are re-
quired by the farmers of Korea, and the Nippon immigrants in Korea.
It is also to deal in the handling of marine products, in mining, in manu-
facturing and in other branches of industrial activity which may be either
essential or helpful in the development of its colonization works. <JThe
company is to receive a government subsidy to the amount of three
hundred thousand yen annually, for the period of eight years, beginning
with the day upon which the establishment of the company will bt
recorded. *ITo develop the resources of the Korean peninsula by
cultivating her soils, opening her mines and planting colonies, is the aim
and end of this company. It is meant, incidentally, that the company
should exert its influence in bringing about a closer relationship between
Korea and Nippon, and develop the commercial intercourse between the two
peoples. tJBut why should the government of Nippon enter into the
establishment of such a heavily subsidized company? Why not leave
it to the individual enterprise of its citizens? For many reasons. Indi-
vidual enterprises have been tried with indifferent successes. The question
is whether the enterprise is of sufficiently serious magnitude. It is not diffi-

.*

-

I

i

THE FAR EAST

485

cult to answer this quesion. Nippon wishes to control Korea. Nothing
is more important than to develop her resources. We know the reason
of the failure of individual enterprises in this line. It is the lack of capital.
What prevents the Nippon government from establishing a company of suffi-
cient magnitude and capitalization? If the work is important, the ample
capitalization of the company is certainly important. If the work must be
done, the organization of an effective organ to carry it out is also important.
The individual efforts have succeeded in a measure. It wishes to complete
the success, — hence the organization of this heavily subsidized company.
CflSome people have suggested the organization of a banking system to
finance private enterprises, but this establishment of banking system is not
a whit easier work than the establishment and organization of just such a
company as the Oriental Colonization Company. <JThe stocks of the
company will likely be issued in the denomination which is most populaT
in Nippon — that of 50 yen face value — one-fourth of the total capitaliza-
tion of ten million, in other words two and one^half millions will be paid
in at the time of the organization of the company. According to the
statement made by Mr. Nagashima, a special commissioner appointed by
the government, to explain the organization to the Imperial Diet, 1 ,650,-
000 yen is to be applied to the purchase of lands; 300,000 yen is to
be applied to the purchase of farms; 1 50,000 yen is to be applied to the
purchase of undeveloped land: 75,000 yen is to be applied for the ex-
penses of surveying and construction of works. 70,000 yen is to be
applied to the buildings in connection with the company's own business;
50,000 yen for the purchase of machinery; 50,000 yen for the expendi-
ture of establishing the business; 750,000 yen is to be applied for loans,
300,000 yen is to be laid aside for the funds to carry on the business.

THE GROWTH OF NIPPON YUSEN KAISHA.

<fln the City of Kobe, at the Kawasaki Dockyard, was launched a steam-
ship called Mishima-maru. It is a sister ship of the Hirano-maru which
was built and laundhed at the Mitsubishi Dockyard, toward the close
of last year. They are the two of the six newer vessels for which the
Yusen Kaisha placed the order for construction. Each one of these
ships displaces 15,800 tons. It has a speed of sixteen knots per hour.
The aggregate tonnage of 52,000, of the newest type of ocean liners,
will be placed at the command of the Yusen Kaisha in a very near
future. €|These six new vessels are to be placed on the European
service of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha. At the present time they have
six vessels on its European line, of six thousand tons each. The six new
ships which are in course of construction now, are to replace these old
vessels and the six vessels which will be replaced by the new vessels will be

486 THE FAR EAST

utilized on an irregular service, either on the Atlantic or on the coast-
wise trade at home.

MR. ROOSEVELT AND THE FAR EAST.

<JIn an editorial, April 23rd, 1908, the Yoruzu-choho says: IJThe
center of the world's diplomacy is not in St. Petersburg. Neither is it
in London, Berlin, nor yet Pekin or Tokyo. It is in the City of Wash-
ington, in the United States of North America, and the diplomacy of
Washington is within the palm of the master of the White House, Theo-
dore Roosevelt. The aggressiveness of Mr. Roosevelt, as well as his
ability, stands out strikingly all the more by comparison with the activity
of Kaiser Wilhelm. Standing as the Kaiser does, in the center of the
European stage, all alone, he appears lonely. He seems to stand in a
gray shadow of one who has either too great work to do, or has finished
the things that he has mapped out to accomplish. Not so with Mr.
Roosevelt. At Portsmouth, and at The Hague, the aggresive diplomacy
of America was too apparent for comment. Not only that — of late the
American diplomacy has played a star role in the Far East. It has
monopolized the center of the stage. <JWe have beard of the "open
door" policy. It came from the United States. It was not given to the
world through accident neither was it born because of the international
efforts to bring about what is called the balance of power. All the more
significant is this fact when one sees calmly that the "open door" policy
was brought about with as much solicitude on the part of Nippon as of
die United States. At present Nippon finds herself in a singular position.
She is the subject of international suspicion. Her position is much like
that of Russia before the war. Everybody looks at her askance. Every
power suspects her of entertaining wild and adventurous ambition. The
"open door" policy which in former years was the publicly declared policy
of Nippon, as well as that of the United States, seems to stand today
before the world as the doctrine almost monopolized by the United
States. The Chinese who boycotted the American goods yesterday are
turning against us now. Why this singular somersault on the part of
the Chinamen? It is nothing but a natural result of this singular attitude
of the powers toward Nippon. It is the result of America receiving all
the credit for the "open door" policy Which was fostered and fathered
by Nippon as much as by the United States. Even in this one matter of
having completely transferred the ill feeling of our Chinese friends upon
us, it speaks very well for the ability, and the foresight of the American
diplomacy in the East. <|The able and aggressive diplomacy of America
is apparent in everything. Take the question of the administration of
Manchuria — take the question of the visit of the American squadron to
the Far East. <JWe shall not enter into a discussion of the aims and

THE FAR EAST

487

ends of these methods. It suffices us to note here, that in everything
American diplomacy has taken a dignified and thoroughly commanding
position, and in the command of situations and in carrying out a certain
diplomatic programme at the right time, it has been most happy. This
diplomacy Which might be styled the "Rooseveltian" diplomacy, has on
one hand protected the American interests in the extreme East with ample
ability, and on the other hand it has done much in the command of the
Pacific. The calm and comprehensive manner in Which these diplomatic
efforts of die United States have been carried out in the Far East is a
matter that is beyond even the comprehension of an ordinary statesman.
And that is not all — Mr. Roosevelt has inaugurated the titanic work of
digging the Panama Canal. He is turning his attention of late to the
up-building of the great American Navy. In all these, and in many
another undertaking, the scope and power of his personality commands
respect.

IMPROVED EXPRESS SERVICE ON THE NIPPON-KOREAN LINE.

•JSince the first of April, 1 908, the through express service on the Seoul-
Fusan and Seoul-Wiji Railways is much improved. The through service
saves the passenger from the annoying delay of two nights which he used
to spend at Seoul and Pingyang, under the former management. More-
over, the connection between Shimonoseki and Fusan has been improved.
The steamship service between Shimonoseki and Fusan has been increased
in number of sailings, and it has been so arranged that the steamers
make a direct and immediate connection with the railway at Fusan. This
new arrangement which went into effect on the first of April, 1 908, saves
about twenty hours. The Wiji faces the port of Antung, across the Yalu,
therefore the passengers can cross the river when they arrive at Wiji, and
there board the Antung and Mukden train. This connects die Korean
service direct with the South Manchurian system of Nippon, as well as
with the Russian railway in Northern Manchuria. This through service
on the Korean Railway affords an excellent accommodation for the trav-
eler to make his way either to Peking and the cities in Northern and
Southern China, as well as for those who would take the Trans-Siberian
Railway for Europe through Korea. As this accommodation would
naturally bring an increased patronage from travelers, the Railway Depart-
ment of the Residency General in Korea is straining its effort to meet
such demands, and the improvements in different departments of the
management of the railway service is daily improving under its efforts.
fJUnder this new management, the steamer leaves Shimonoseki at 7:50
A. M., arrives at Fusan at 6:50 P. M. The train then leaves Fusan at
8 P. M. by way of Seoul, and arrives at Wiji at 10:20 P. M. of the
following day. <JOn its return trip the train leaves Wiji at 7: A. M.,

488 THEFAREAST

amves at Fusan at 9:20 A. M. of the following day, and the steamer
leaves Fusan for Shimonoseki at 10:50 A. M., arriving at Shimonoseki
by 9:30 P.M.

COUNT INOUE AND COUNT MATSUKATA.

tjln the early days of May, 1908, the national gathering of the Nippon
bankers was held in the City of Osaka. The one great theme of discussion
was the financial condition of the country, and the plan of solving financial
problems confronting the nation. Naturally the question of proper adjust-
ment of national debt, claimed the prime attention of the meeting. Count
Inoue, about a month previous to the gathering of the bankers at Osaka,
summoned the cabinet officers of the government, at his own house, and
discussed the economic and financial conditions of the country and the
difficult situations which the country was facing at the time, and told them
pointedly that the most effective way of relieving the strained condition of
Nippon finance at present, was to pay back at once a comparatively
large portion of national debt, and thus bring about relief to the panicky
financial market of our country. He emphasized this refunding of national
debts as one and the only effective means to save the financial Nippon.
Now Count Matsukata comes back from the bankers' meeting at Osaka
and states his views on the most effective means of bringing relief to the
financial circles of the country. His views coincide almost perfectly with
those of Count Inoue. He, too, has summoned the members of the cabinet
and told them the present necessity on the part of the government of
paying back a large portion of national debt.

THE ARBITRATION TREATY BETWEEN AMERICA AND NIPPON.

£}On the 5th of May, 1908, in the City of Washington, Mr. Root,
representing the United States, and Baron Takahira, ambassador of
Nippon, placed their seals on an arbitration treaty. Some three years ago
the treaty was broached for the first time, but circumstances prevented an
immediate ratification of such treaty, and it has been postponed until
this year.

THE FAR EAST 489

A JAPANESE GARDEN.*

BY ADACHI KINNOSUKE.

XRIAJNO Kane — from a bell tower — sent a shower of silver
melody across the eventide. Dusk flew out of the skirts of the
weeping willows. The mist-veiled cedar groves, the bamboo
back doors of the shoya's (burgomaster's) house, and the
love dream of cherry blossoms were altogether enough to
make the figures of a mathematician spell out a poem.

Cottages with thatched caps had more kinfolks at Kameyama than any
other type of architecture. But this story is concerned with just one of them.
Age and rain had made quite an impression on the wheat-straw roof of the
cottage, but mosses patched it over with velvet. The pillars were very far from
being steady, and the worms must have thought it quite fashionable to make
their summer homes therein. A thread of pale thin smoke — a stream of
curled pathos — issued from its square opening, at once a chimney and a
window. One side of the cottage was screened off with shoji. Age had
painted it, so that imagination could come along and color it with either a
ruddy claret or an ashy coffee tint as she might choose; and something over
and above mere age seemed to have treated it with a certain unkindness that
made it yawn at places. "Ears in the wall," is an old Japanese saying. The
proverb might have added, "A shoji is many mouthed." From these mouths
a voice stole out. It was rather sweet, not lacking in the persuasive ring — a
gift of a short yet uneventful life, let us say. The voice said :

"Don't! Dearest, don't look that way. Don't you see how happy I
am?"

And what sceptic could doubt that smile of hers?

"What's the matter, dear? Look straight at me. . . . Now tell
me, husband, what makes you think that I care anything about my old home,
mother, or the pretty things? Look here, dearest" (he who peeped into the
miserable room just then could have seen a dear tableau), "haven't I got
you? Poor? Nonsense!"

And the smile with which she punctuated her sentence ! Upon such, a man
looks, and farewell freedom! — a slave straightway and forever more.

"I am a cursed fool," said the man, and followed it with something far
stronger. He was silent up to that time, and his eyes were fixed on — why,
all sinners look in the same direction, as all the world knows.

A silence.

"But I can't understand it," he went on.

Beneath his crossed arms his breast rose and fell; not to calm music,
however. The keen intensity of his gaze was piercing, and none would

* Copyright 1900, by Adachi Kinnosuke.

490 THE FAR EAST

hesitate to say that it could penetrate through miles of night. But where or
what was he looking at? — none could say.

Then he told his wife his life-story — not the first time, of course — how
he had dreamed of an ideal garden; how he had been trained since ten
years of age, under Shyungaku, Kosetsu, Meisei, and others; how he had
learned to dwarf trees and "hang hypocrisy over baby cascades" (as he
called it) ; how he had fled into the mountain because he was tired of such
tricks ; how he had met a hermit there ; and how the prophet of the mountain
had wedded him to Nature. Then he, with a deal of emphasis, told her how
he had met her by the cascade over the Kasuga shrine; how she had caused
him to fall and break the vow which he had made to the hermit to love aught
but Nature; how he was proud of his fall — as all the foolish would have
said. He concluded:

"The garden is idealized here, within me — the rocks, streams, plants,
and a site ; and it will be realized. Look here, wife, as long as genius hides
in this breast and my heart is not ashes, the day must come — yes, it must.
On that day my ancestors may smile on me. And my posterity may bless
me for fortune and a name."

The woman listened to this discourse, and looked in much the same
way as flowers do when the sun is jovial and the morning sky a great big
open smile. Then she turned her beaming face full upon Kojiro. "And if
you succeed, will you forsake me?" she said. Taking her in his arms, he
said, "What, forsake this witch? That can never be."

The slow undulations of a distant bell went around the low eaves of
the cottage, and the sleepy moon reposed quietly in the graceful branch of the
kikyo tree in the yard.

Kojiro came home in the evening, as was his wont, threw out a handful
of copper coins, and said that that was all he could make that day, and,
"Here goes another day!" His little wife caressed him tenderly and en-
couraged him. But, poor thing ! she herself had enough to do to dry her own
tears. Surely they were at the very bottom of misfortune. Why does not
the waned moon wax? But the fact is, Fortune is seldom hitched to the heel
of catastrophe. She is a little too proud, moreover, to sell her smiles to
court sorrow. Kojiro sat down like a millstone. Heaven help him! his heart
was heavy. He did not care a whit for himself — six years of hermit life
had served him well — but for that delicate bud, his wife!

O-sono sat at the opposite side of the habachi from her husband. The
wreaths of steam rose from the kettle — the only light-hearted thing in the
whole room. O-sono watched them. "How well they caricature our poverty
— coming out and vanishing away," thought she. Kojiro was a stone image

THE FAR EAST

491

all the while ; solemn — and everybody knows nothing is so much out of place
as solemnity in a rural cottage.

Over across the green meadow they saw the elder of the village, the
venerable shoya, coming. The snow of sixty winters weighed his frame and
made a walking picture of humility out of him. His hands were clasped be-
hind him, and he was guided and followed, almost at the same time, by his
fat, white dog. O-sono saw him coming, rose from her seat with alacrity,
and covered the simple supper with what seemed like a piece of linen. She
went to the closet, took out a cushion, and, spreading it on the floor, awaited
the approaching elder with the best holiday apparel at her command — her
sunniest smiles. After the tremendous showers of polite Japanese bows,
"hais" and "heis," the shoya stated in his official manner the mission that
brought him there, and, after exchanging compliments in the most extravagant
style, according to the fashion of the day, left the house with a slight frown
upon his wrinkled brow, followed by his faithful dog. The wife raised her
eyes with a tremour on her lips. Her gaze met that of her husband.

"I can't understand this," said he, quietly.

The) following morning the sun found the gardener dressed in his
cleanest garments. The shoya came for him, and they started together to-
ward the capital of die empire.

That which the shoya brought to their humble house the day before
was a summons from the Lord Chancellor of the palace.

Fifty miles of rocks, dust and mountain! At best a serious undertaking
in those days, and what was left of Kojiro came home, as the twilight was
feeling her way, staggering back tipsy-fashion, under pines and cedars. Fa-
tigued and somewhat pale, O-sono was prepared for all this, but there was
something more in Kojiro's expression. And when she asked him what
saddened him so, Kojiro took out two packages of gold, and said that they
were the very worms that were gnawing his marrow. She snatched the pack-
ages off the ground and said: "What do you mean, my dear husband? What,
the money ! What a timely shower ! Does this trouble you ? But, my husband,
where did you get it?"

The gardener folded his wife in his arms. And the tenderness — ah,
don't tell me that man is a brute! Many failings in his heart, doubtless, but
a big slice of heaven also. He answered the awe-stricken, question-pregnant
eyes of his pretty wife:

"Be patient, Sono, and listen to me. We reached the palace, and as we
prostrated ourselves the Lord Chancellor entered, a middle-aged man, kindly
of face and fine-voiced. He asked me if I were the peerless gardener of the

492 THE FAR EAST

empire by the name of Kojiro. Fear made me speechless, and yet somehow I
answered that while my name was indeed Kojiro, I was a mere plantsman
and very far from being anything like a superior gardener, and that it must
have been through a great mistake that I had been thus summoned to the
palace of the Mikado. To which he kindly answered that I need not be
over-modest; that His Majesty had already learned of my genius. 'Winds
that blow are not all unkindly, my garden-maker,* he said. The emperor
was quite displeased, so he told me, to find that turnips and radishes had
claimed a genius of such rare order so long; and that the time of my appear-
ance was ripe, but not too late. The palace had looked upon an uncompleted
garden on the south side for three generations. 'The resources of three moun-
tains, plants, from wheresoever they grow; the force of a thousand select
masons and gardeners, and the royal treasury are all at your command. The
reward will be according to the merit of your work. No genius ever lacked
rank or wealth in the palace of the emperor. As an immediate relief, accept
these packages with my compliments!' Then he turned to the s/ioya and
ordered him to bring me to the palace on the first of the next month. With
that we were dismissed straightway."

O-sono's eyes, her lips, her cheeks, they were as clear as the bubbles of a
sunlit rill. The little speech of Kojiro was a knell to him; but to her a
gospel. She stormed, and charmingly ; in this, man never can hope to imitate
woman. To suspend her over that most awful of chasms, anxiety, and scare
the life out of her in such a merciless way — why, cruelty is no word for it!
Her peroration was telling; she would nevermore love him, she said, if he
were to behave as wretchedly as he had done again (the use of the threat, by
the bye, is becoming, since the day of Kojiro, as common among the Nippon
women as human nature), and it left him as utterly helpless as a butterfly
drunk with the dreams of flowers.

If the flickering pith-wick of the seed-oil lamp had an ear, there is no
telling how many secrets it might have heard that night. With that judicious
scrutiny O-sono cross-questioned Kojiro about the tear (for an unfortunate drop
became over-emotional and dewed the cheek of Kojiro). But, poor Kojiro!
the way he abused himself was sinful.\ He cursed his doltishness, the day
of his birth, and many other things without the slightest show of mercy, but
never to his satisfaction. He begged his wife's pardon. It was a black lie,
so he confessed; all that he had told her that night was a cursed falsehood,
not a bit of truth in the whole thing. Oh, of course, what he had said of
the little training he had received was true, but he was a common plantsman,
nothing more. He had told her those things just to lighten the despair-
plagued heart of his young wife, and for no other end. The trouble came, he
frankly admitted, from his extravagant and seriously criminal laudation of

THE FAR EAST

493

himself, and now, as the matter had gone so far, he wanted her to do what she
pleased with him. "Wife, for heaven's sake, fly from me. Leave this
wretched rascal, leave me and fly for your life; look here!" (Then the strong
young man melted somehow, and clasped his hands in the attitude of prayer;
his mother had taught him how to do that when he was two years of age) .

And then his wife's answer! — contradicting everything he had said,
assuring him that Kameyama was not the only place that the sun shone upon.
They could escape the wrath of the Mikado as easily as they had that of
their parents, if he had enough daring about him.

By the time that watchful lamp fainted in the night, Kojiro was soothed
as by magic. Happy dreams and glorious visions hugged him about.

Kyoto is the historic capital of old Nippon. For her flowers and fair
women her name is famous, for her poets and artists also. A quaint lover
of die old sepultured himself in one of the palace archives, not many years
ago. When he came out he said that he had found a curious document.
Many scholars became interested in that old manuscript. But, as it hap-
pens, this story is more interested in it than any of them. "My Life" is the
tide of the volume. The name of the author is also traceable with a little
help of imagination. It reads "Kojiro." The record is full of exclamation
points and very few periods. That is because complete sentences are not
many. Here is a sample page:

"July 2, xiii. of Tempei.

"A violent knock awoke me. 'O-sono!* I cried. I looked around.
O-sono was gone and the gold with her. A man kicked open the door and
came in; it was the shoya. Only one path was open to me. I leapt to the
ground, seized a k^ma, and attempted hara-kiri. In the name of the state
and of His Majesty, the shoya ordered me to stop. My hands were paralyzed,
blood streamed from my eyes, every particle of strength forsook me; in the
bright morning all was night with me.

"The shoya exclaimed at the top of his voice, 'Look, look, look!'
Waking from my stupefaction, I looked, and saw on the paper shade of
the lamp, thinly traced with charcoal, the handwriting of my wife, 'Good-by ;
I take this gold as the price of all the sufferings you have caused me since
we ran away together.' The inscription was superfluous; I understood all
before I saw it. Sorrow, disgrace, soul-skkening mortification, death! Ah,
how faint a shadow of the real do these words caricature! I prayed that I
might die; but there I was, after having suffered ten thousand deaths already.
No place in which to live, no means to take my life.

"I had sinned; Gods, but do I justly deserve all this?"

494 THE FAR EAST

The shoya took charge of Kojiro, imprisoned him in his go-down, and
placed three strong men at the door. The old man was not meddlesome by
nature; but he appreciated the situation. Meanwhile Kojiro sat in the dusk
(for the guards had persuaded the sun to be ashamed of this wretch of a
gardener) . He was a perfect interrogation point. He could not understand.
Who was he? An insignificant plantsman who had spun his life thread by
stealing the light of day. His wife had thrown him away and kept her old
shoes. How came it that this man could be selected out of so many of his
professional brothers to wear the crown of royal recognition and bleed under
the thorn of irony?

"Oh, can't you help me?" he cried, knocking at his own breast. But
his heart stood still; then, affrighted, it bounded with violent throbs. His
head ached in response to that appeal for help! the tears that boiled in his
swollen eyes helped little to enthrone genius within a common hand. Oh,
for that power that calls forth immortality out of mortality, a god out of
mere man! What could be done? Through whose lips could he send in his
resignation to this gracious call from the sovereign? That body of his, scarce
five feet seven, was there no place in this world to put it? Was O-sono the
rust that ate up the steel of his manhood? She was hateful, yes; but far
more contemptible than she, was he himself. Dark, dark! But Remorse felt
that it might be made still darker; so she flooded it with the ink which some
of the angels had used to write a very black record. And the thought, "Had
I been true to my vows, faithful to the hermit?" flashed lightning over his
purgatory and left it darker than ever.

"Here it is, my life. Take it, gods! take it Buddhas, and ye ghosts! I
fling it away willingly. No, you do not accept it, this cursed black pollution !
But, oh, pity me, I cannot die. I cannot pray; you have all forsaken me.
Have I not suffered? Am I not punished?"

The groan was dismal; but the tears of blood which Remorse strained
from him, and the crimson stream torn with his own teeth from his lips,
painted in a sinister color, the hell within his soul.

For a couple of hours he was a ghastly sight, lying on the floor without
the slightest sign of life. But life wandered back. It was always night in
the go-down, so it did not make any difference whether the day waxed or
waned. But just at that time the sun was dying outside, and creation was
falling asleep on the hill-tops. Kojiro sat still; the temple bells tolled out mid-
night ; then it was that a voice woke many a confidential echo from the corners
of the go-down. Kojiro was thinking in a whisper:

"Trying to murder myself because a woman deceived me? — and I call
myself a man? Die? Why not die in the effort of realising the garden?

THE FAR EAST

495

Try — try — try! My best, that's nothing, I know; the best a man can do is
not much. But — but — if indeed I realise the garden of my dreams, no one
will think it a garden at all. It may be monstrous, outrageously common, in
other eyes. No matter. Surely some chisel must have cut the valley of
Katsura River, the rocks of Atago Mountain. True, they do not bear the
names of men. But man! why cannot he walk in the footsteps of a god?
Cannot the finite ever leap the barrier? At least I would find this out, yes,
before I die."

Something brought lightning into his eyes

With the morning, came the shoya. He unlocked the door and asked
Kojiro to step into the kaS° standing ready outside. They started, and at
the end of their journey the gates of Shikibu palace stood open-armed.
******

One thousand picked workmen, when they form a single machine con-
trolled by a single brain, work out a wonder. Kojiro gathered many un-
nama'ble things. "Great heavens!" was all the shoya could say when he in-
spected them, and the Lord Chancellor's "Korc iva shitari!" meant the same
thing. This done, the gardener walled up the site so that no eyes could peep
in or look over ; and as for the birds, they tell no secrets. The thousand men
worked for about two months; then seven hundred and twenty-three of the
number came out. No one knew why. And the only thing that they said was
that they could not take a certain oath. At the end of another month a hund-
red and fifty-one more men were ejected. Fifty-three men besides Kojiro
remained within the wall at the close of the year.

The summer passed; the autumn grew ruddy with ripe fruits, and drop-
ped them. And every morning the chorus of many voices rose and echoed
back and forth among the stars flickering in the light of dawn. Winter froze
the playful graces of the rills; her successor pitched her tent of purple mists
in the melting shades of mountain woods and along the laughing meadow
streams ; summer taught her winged tribe the music not altogether of earth ; the
moon hung pensive in the autumnal skies; and all these blended in one circle,
exemplifying Time's relation to its mother, Eternity; and yet no thoughtful
bee ever freighted its wings with the least bit of news from within the walls
of the industrial hermitage. The sky, too, was very faithful, and no mirages
ever loomed up to satisfy the curious of earth. Not even the Mikado was ad-
mitted. Three years passed thus. Meanwhile all the workmen came out,
and Kojiro was left the sole sovereign of his own realm. Three and forty
of his men had been carried out to be placed under the sod and the stone.
® * * * * v

The Lord Chancellor was in the habit of riding around the palace in per-
son. One afternoon his advance guard arrested a "singular thing" on the north

496 THE FAR EAST

side of the walled garden. The "singular thing" looked like a man, but more
like a beast. The attendant of the chancellor cried, "Down!" as he led the
thing into the presence of his master. But it stood erect. Its huge, heavy,
tangled mass of hair mimicked very successfully a monsoon in a willow forest.
The daring beard filled up the holes and ditches in the face which pain,
anxiety and intense excitement had dug, and clothed the breast otherwise
naked. A ghost of a garment clung to the waist, like the picture of a faith-
ful, tender wife, maltreated, torn, soiled, despised. The chancellor met the
eyes of the savage for full ten minutes and, "How now, Kojiro?"
The man fell down upon his face.

His Majesty was rather patient, for a royal person, I mean. But when
the Lord Chancellor reported the completion of the garden, his majesty made
an impression upon his minister. In after days, the minister translated the im-
pression into words, "Just like a fox with his tail on fire!"

They placed the marble dais off the south corridor of the palace. The
dais was partly within die wall of the garden, crowning its terrace ; technically
speaking, it was at the station-point of the perspective. White and purple
draped the opening in the wall. When the curtain parted, Kojiro was seen
prostrated upon the marble step. A prolonged, vacant stare! — His Majesty,
open-mouthed, sprang a step or two forward, his hands thrown behind him,
his brow stormy. Wonder came and wiped away all traces of culture, dignity,
self-possession. And the most wonderful and the most unaccountable of all
was that the chancellor did not note any change in the royal person. Remem-
ber, too, that never before had a smile or a frown appeared or disappeared
on the emperor's face, unnoted by the minister. And, what is more,, the entire
court ignored the extraordinary movements of its sovereign — the court which
never was known to miss a single quiver of the royal lips, a shade in the royal
eyes. What was the matter? One ample cause for all these things — the
garden !

The rocks! as common a thing as earth and water, why should they en-
slave the eyes of the Son of Heaven? His Majesty (and the whole court, for
that matter) looked long at them. Did they really see how Kojiro had em-
braced, caressed, warmed, wooed, slept by and upon them night after night,
I wonder? As for the rocks, they appeared natural, and unnatural also.
To ape Nature to perfection was but a phase of Kojiro's ambition. The
perfect expression of Nature plus Kojiro — nothing more, nothing less, was
the ideal of the gardener. The result was that the rocks fought ; they frowned
formidable anathemas, tessellated patience, preached faithfulness, prophesied
eternity. No flower, not even a tuft of ran, not one. Streams encircled the
garden, but they seemed mad. They bit the rocks, and their teeth flew like

THE FAR EAST

497

snow. Their laughter, like the fingers of a fairy, went pecking over the lute
strings of the human heart. They sobbed, too, and the souls of the be-
holders hugged that sorrow as a mother presses her babe. And the dews that
beaded the eyelashes of the emperor were his own heart made liquid. Dead
trees were not despised there ; yes, there were a number of them. Icho, gitman,
cedar, pine, oak, hugged each other in shocking promiscuousness. The gar-
dener had failed to civilize their savage passions with a lesson in modesty; a
patch of an African jungle was the result. Yes, it was that, but it was also
the condensed essence of suggestion. A magic touch of perspectography,
and His Majesty, the great Ten Shi, was the fool of an illusion. The garden
hurled him into a cyclone of dreams. His soul tripped over the paths
whereupon a mountain goat would never risk his hoofs, and wandered lost
amid the steeps of the Kiso and the Ransan ranges.

At the royal feet was Kojiro, prostrated. Slight tremours passed over
him; but none regarded him.

His Majesty snatched the purple robe from the hands of his retainers.
That was the first thing he did after waking from his trance.

"Rise, Kojiro!" exclaimed the royal voice.

No response.

"Rise; receive the favour of thy sovereign!" The royal hands held out
the robe of rank to the gardener, an unheard-of honor.

But no response.

The chancellor lifted up the prostrate man. The warmth of life was
fast passing from die frame of Kojiro into the marble step.

498 THE FAR EAST

OF BOOKS ON THE FAR EAST.

"THE TRUTH ABOUT PORT ARTHUR"*
BY DAVID LAMBUTH.

^^^^^^HE Truth about Port Arthur — now that is a very large story.
m C"\ P°rt Arthur was really a big place, and a great many things
m_ J happened there, and the truth about them all has many sides.

^^^^^ What is more, M. Nojine makes a brave draft upon our

faith when he asks us to believe all of this particular truth of
his. Russia procrastinated fatally in that last hour before the conflict came;
her administration was viciously inefficient; too many of her officials were
but the toys of favoritism in high places; graft was rampant — all that we
know. It is an old story. But the depth of inefficiency which M. Nojine
insists upon uncovering before our eyes is difficult to look upon without
dizziness. And yet, this book, translated out of the Russian, is, point for
point, almost co-incident with the indictment brought against General Stoessel
and his colleagues in that court where they were not only tried but condemned.

All the world stood about open mouthed and cried out for shame upon
Russian ingratitude. These men, said the world, had held out bravely against
overwhelming odds, and their surrender had long before been prepared for
by the veniality of those above them. That is the way of all the world. It
jumps at conclusions. Let it but read the indictment of M. Nojine, and if
it would not then gladly cheer on the procession that should escort Stoessel
and his colleagues to the gallows — nothing less — I do not know its ways.
Art, they say, is the infecting others with the emotions of the artist. Then
M. Nojine is an artist, for he raises one's blood to boiling temperature even
in winter weather. Read him for yourself and see.

Listen to his account of the procrastination at the fortress, the fortress
that was the Peter's key to the Heaven of the East. War? Oh no, by
no means! Nobody believed in war. In Manchuria, at Port Arthur, in
Seoul, even after diplomatic relations had been broken off, who said war?
The Japanese would never fight their serene master — Russia. Anyway, grant-
ing that they were so foolish, they should be soundly Whipped, like the children
they were, in Korea's back yard. Why the Japanese would run away if a
Russian looked at them. The Japanese were ants. So said the Russians.
AH the world looked on and held its breath. All the world had begun to
learn that these things the Russians were saying were not strictly true. All
the world shaded its eyes with its hand, and looked toward the horizon, and
saw a war cloud very black and sweeping forward with ominous rapidity.

* "The Truth About Port Arthur", by E. K. Nojine.
E. P. Dutton & Co., New York.

■--

THE FAR EAST

499

But the Russians saw only sunshine and laughed. So the fortifications were
not rushed at Port Arthur. Much dirt lay undigged, and the spades were
in the storehouses at Dalny. Guns lay about unmounted. Bomb-proofs had
not been built. The ammunition was ill assorted; too much of one sort, too
little of another. But why not? There was to be no war. And this was
but the day before the Japanese attacked the Russian cruisers at Chemulpo.

There were stores of provisions at Port Arthur and there were many herds
of cattle grazing upon the treeless hills of the Liaotung, but, of course, there
could be no possible use for these. And then the two Russian ships went
to their doom out of Chemulpo, and Japanese armies landed in Korea, and
long lines of sturdy little men from Nippon streamed northward toward the
Yalu, and there they met that 'Bear that walks like a man,' and that Bear
growled, and howled, and limped, and shambled back, and the Sun flag
pursued him, and Manchuria began to stretch before the rays of that war flag.
And all this while Port Arthur was feverishly throwing up advance fortifi-
cations and provisioning itself? Think you so? By no means. Port Arthur
laughed and said the Japanese would never reach Liaotung, and Port Arthur
dug a few trenches and mounted a few guns and smoked and drank vodka,
and the Chinese herdsmen busily drove their cattle from the treeless hills
and out of reach of the devouring garrison, and Chinese traders bought tinned
goods in Port Arthur and shipped them over-sea unmolested. Of what use
provisions to Port Arthur? And we have M. Nojine's word for all this, for
he was war correspondent in the fortress, and he had eyes and he saw with
them to good effect.

In April came General Smirnoff from Russia to be Commandant of the
Fortress, and he was a man and a fighter. Then spades were set to work
in good earnest, and bomb-proofs were built, and guns were emplaced — but
as to provisions what could he do? Stoessel was Officer Commanding the
District, and the ranking officer, and Liaotung with its treeless hills and
cattle was subject to him, and we must remember that Stoessel said Port
Arthur would never be besieged. Smirnoff might beg and storm, but pro-
visions still went out of Arthur, and steamers with milk and flour that came
to port were sent away to sell their goods elsewhere.

Then came May, all too soon, and calculations went wrong, for, rub
their eyes as they might, still there were the Japanese, very real Japanese,
at the back door of the peninsular. Then there was fever and haste. Men
were entrained and sent off, and then brought back, entrained a second time,
and a second time brought back. Port Arthur, you see, loved confusion.
A single regiment was left to hold the most important natural barrier to the
peninsular, the little strip at Kinchou that binds it to the mainland. But
what could a single regiment do against an army, and without anything but
a few hastily thrown up trenches? You must remember that Arthur was
not to be attacked. So the thin Russian lines were flung back shattered to

500 THE FAR EAST

Green Hills, and from that to Wolf's Hills, both splendid lines of protection
stretching well across the peninsular and capable of being formidably fortified,
but it was too late, Arthur was not to be attacked and nothing had been
done. By the 30th. July, little was held outside the fortress but the vital
hills of Ta-ku-shan and Sia-gu-shan, but by the 8th. August these also
were abandoned, and the enemy fortified them, and the beginning of the end
was at hand, for they commanded the town and, worse still, the military road
communicating between the forts of the defense. Why hadn't they been
included in the fortress? Well, it was this way. You see the plans for
that wonderful fortress had been drawn in Russia by engineers who had not
seen the ground, and they had inadvertently failed to notice that these hills
commanded the place — as also in the case of 203 Metre Hill — and nobody
had seen fit to correct the mistake, for you must remember Arthur was not to
be attacked, and When Smirnoff arrived there was neither time nor material
for the work.

So August 8th. saw the fortress strictly invested, and now began the
strangest part of this strange fiasco. After Kinchou, Kuropatkin had ordered
Stoessel to turn his command over to Smirnoff and to leave the peninsular,
but Stoessel had failed to do so. He remained, against orders, and interfer-
ed with the Commandant of the Fortress at every point, refusing compliance
with his requests and even contradicting his orders, to say nothing of the
dissension stirred in the garrison by such a state of things. It became in-
tolerable, and Smirnoff sent to Kuropatkin asking that Stoessel be removed.
Kuropatkin again ordered that this be done; and most incredible of all, that
brave soldier Stoessel heroically destroyed the messages to himself and
Smirnoff, which had fallen into his hands. The incubus was not to be shaken
off. This preposterous conduct, unbelievable were it not so palpably proven,
M. Nojine thus accounts for: the disgrace of Kinchou, thought Stoessel, could
only be forgotten by subsequent success at Arthur; to leave at once would be
disgrace, to stay might be to share in the glory of a heroic defense — a defense
which he expected to last only till relief should come from Kuropatkin, anyway.

So day after day and week after week, Stoessel issued orders over the
head of Smirnoff and reversed his decisions and cultivated dissention and
disrespect. According to the military law Smirnoff was now supreme in
command. Stoessel's district had all been given to the enemy, and in the
fortress proper, Smirnoff, as Commandant, was ranking officer. But what
was that to Stoessel? and the old conflict went on as before. With the
enemy pounding at all their front, scaling deadly slopes, and attacking with
almost superhuman bravery ; with the army of Japan clutching at a treacherous
foothold on the very ramparts, clinging in desperation to the fortress walls
themselves — with this before them, the two heads within Arthur snarled and
bit at each other. Then General Kondratenko was killed. He had been in

h

THE FAR EAST

501

command of the land defenses, and under Smirnoff, had been the very soul
of the splendid bravery of that Russian line that so many times had hurled
the men of Nippon from its crumbling ramparts. Squarely in the face of
Smirnoff's demands, Stoessel put the inefficient and cowardly Fock in Kon-
dratenko's place and the end was begun. Refusal to fortify in time lost 203
Metre Hill, and from that hill the navy was destroyed. Fock abandoned
fort Chi-kuan-shan flatly in the face of Smirnoff's orders; then he gave up
Erh-lung-shan. Fortification No. 3 and Eagle's Nest fell, and without the
knowledge of General Smirnoff, Commandant of the Fortress, and Officer
in Command, on January 2nd. the impregnable Arthur was surrendered to
the Japanese by Stoessel and Fock. This is the heroic story of the defense.
All the world wonders no longer at the fate which waited for Stoessel. All
the world wishes it had been more than mere imprisonment.

To be sure, the end could not have been averted. Kuropatkin never
arrived to relieve them. Nogi would have hammered at the gates till they fell
in, but at what a cost! No victorious army from Arthur would have swelled
the troops of Nippon before Liao-Yang ; perhaps the battle of Tsushima might
have been fought in the Gulf of Pechili and the outcome not so disasterous for
the Andrew flag. Who knows? Remember that the troops in Arthur had
to be put on half rations even before the Japanese closed in about the town,
and for months they fought with insufficient food. Remember that all the
advance lines of defense which might have kept the enemy back for weeks,
if not months, were merely given up, and that every movement of troops that
Smirnoff directed, Stoessel weakened by delay and opposition. At the sur-
render half the men had scurvy, yet there were enough horses in the town to
have prevented almost all of this, but Stoessel would not allow them to be
killed. Even at the very last, weakened by cowardly surrender of important
forts, Smirnoff insisted that Arthur could hold out three weeks certainly.

There is the picture, and it is a terrible one. Overdrawn? Yes, quite
probably, but substantially true, for all these facts were presented at the trial
of Stoessel and the court decided that they were real. No more harrowing
account of Russian inefficiency, favoritism, and graft has been given us. On
the other hand, there are few witnesses more potent to the dogged bravery
of the Russian rank and file, to the splendid heroism and ability of some of
its officers. The remarkable thing in this story is not that Arthur should
have fallen, that was inevitable from the beginning; it is rather that it
should have held out so long against such incredible odds, a death-loving
enemy before its gates and a demon of contention and unprovision within.
Men capable of such perseverence are yet to be reckoned with in the Far
East. "The Truth about Port Arthur" is a human document of the realistic
school. It shrinks from none of the horrors and it paints a terrible picture of

502 THE FAR EAST

human faults, but it offers a no less vivid display of what great things mere
man can do, though even the heavens seem to turn against him. And that
is so of most Truth — as all the world knows.

* * * * * *

"blue waters and green."*
asano kojiro.

In one of the closing pages of "Blue Waters and Green" — a charming
title by the bye, for a collection of impressions on the Far East — the author,
Mr. F. Dumont Smith, puts the result of his trip in one sentence: "It has
exactly doubled my knowledge of the world" he says. From San Francisco
to Honolulu, thence to Yokohama, Kobe, Nagasaki down to Manila, then
turning back. Hong Kong, Canton, Macao, Shanghai, and once more to the
ports and cities of Nippon — Kyoto, Lake Biwa, up the Tokadio by rail,
Yokohama, Tokyo and Nikko.

He has seen the aquarium at Waikiki. He takes pleasure in recalling the
feats of Molly Bush, who swam through a sea where no boat could live.
He made his acquaintance with a Yokohama tea house. A soft voiced
wonderland ! He found, however, the Yokohama tailor still more wonderful.
He has steamed through the famous Inland Sea of Nippon, saw the mar-
velous cheer amid the women coolies coaling the ships at Nagasaki. He
has had the great good fortune of shaking the typhoon by the tail. He saw
with what abiding and ample stamp Mr. William H. Taft impressed his
personality upon the life and politics of Manila; listened to many a good story
of the virile virtues of the Igorrotes ; saw the funeral of American trade at
Hong Kong, and saw also, the one conspicuous exception to the rule, the
aggressive workings of the Standard Oil. He had the misfortune of seeing
his adored American ladies reduced to a wet-rag slave by "Dementia Shop-
piana" at the sight of the Canton shops. "You can tell from the wildness
of her eye, the way her lips mutter calculations reducing Mexican dollars
to gold. She is unconscious of the flight of time. Life and death, home,
friends, even her personal appearance, are forgotten in Frenzied Finance, and
the Devil of the Bargain Counter possesses her wholly," these are his very
words. He has visited the famous gambling temple at Macao; there gam-
bled away $1.80 Mexican and would have his readers understand that he
paid that amount in all the dignified calm of a generous philosopher, as the
fee for the great sight he saw He has seen the varied life of Shanghai, where
the West meets the East. He has seen the workings of the American con-
sular service in the Far East. He was told that it was improving rapidly —
"May be it is; I am glad I did not have to do with it before it improved"

* "Blue Waters and Green", by F. Dumont Smith.
Crane & Company, Topeka, Kans.

SHINTO TEMPLE, NIKKO.

WATER CLOCK, CANTON.

THE FAR EAST

503

he says. He made 'his acquaintance with the Japanese custom house of-
ficials, and recalled, with bitterness, the useless cruelty heaped upon the help-
less dumb animals called "tourists" by the sultans of American custom
house service. He saw the city of Osaka, paying the black penalty for be-
coming civilized, — with its child labor, with its ungainly smoke-stacks inking
the skies for the space of a Sabbath day's journey. He has tasted the
sweetness of Nippon politeness, and that too served by the race of hotel ser-
vants and he appreciated it all the more vastly, as "an American citizen ac-
customed to being bullied by the head-waiter, ignored by the clerk and snub-
bed by everyone about the hotel." He lost his heart to the quaint and old-
fashioned charms of the City of Kyoto. He feasted his eyes on the glory
of Nikko. He passed through the babel of strange tongues, heard many
a good story quite as amazing and fascinating as the lands and the peoples
he saw, but always, through it all, above it all, every day, every hour he dug
up some new discoveries which either scandalized him or made him laugh.
They were strange enough, not altogether Oriental: They were about a
certain American lady. "If I overlook a bet," he comments "on the table
in this matter of sight seeing it will not be her fault. It is queer, a little
fragile woman that can't sweep a floor without breaking down will take a
big husky man and wear him to a frazzel when it comes to 'seeing things.'
F. has priced everything in China so far, and if she thought she had over-
looked a piece of a jade or a dress pattern she would start over again."

And this book before us is no record of the trip at all.

Ah well, at his unguarded moments Mr. Smith falls by the wayside and
writes like another globe-trotter, but rarely. The charm of the book is not
the things that the author tells you. As in all great romances, it is in the
telling. Mr Smith is irresistible whenever he lets himself loose upon us in his
vernacular — not English, mind you, but the pure unadulterated American —
the Middle- West American. For example: "Certainly I deserved a mar-
tyr's crown. If, when I reach the Pearly Gates, St. Peter shall ask me
what conspicuous thing I have done to deserve admittance, I shall promptly
answer, 'I shopped all day in Canton, without cursing once.' That ought
to get me in."

Moreover, Mr Smith is an acute analyst. The economic and political
conditions of the East are dealt with in the book with a thoroughness and abil-
ity which are entirely unexpected on the part of so facile a student as would
do the whole Far East within a space of a few months. To be sure — for
all things human have their limitations, — Mr. Smith sometimes permits him-
self to swallow bodily the things that the race of the hoary jokers of the Far
East, who never did know that they ever joked, (they who are known as
the "old-timers and residents" in the Far East) have told him, and makes wild
statements in the most hackneyed style, as this for example: "When the Amer-
ican Republic is but a name, when Macauley's New Zealander is sitting on

t

504 THE FAR EAST

London Bridge and viewing the ruins of St. Paul's, the way of the East will
be the same." He also repeats the very poor and thread-bare yam of finding
Chinese cashiers in Nippon banks, which is fiction pure and simple, and also
permits himself to say things about the women of Nippon which would have
been much truer, had he said them not at all.

Withal, the book enjoys the distinction of being surprisingly original in
the field in which it is most difficult to be original at all.

Moreover, the book has been happy enough to have the virtue which
covers multitudes of sins in the writing world — it is readable, it is entertain-
ing.

Since "Blue Waters and Green" teaches you so many things, entertains
you so much, you indeed must be unreasonable, and ridiculous to either whine
against it, or (and which is worse) consign it to the dust of indifference.

Just Published

In Korea with Marquis Ito

BY

George Trumbull Ladd, LL. D.

Illustrated. $2.50 net. Post paid, $2.70

THE CONTENTS
Rulers and People
Resources and Finance
Education and the Public Justice
Foreigners and Foreign Relations
Wrongs : Real and Fancied
Missions and Missionaries
July, 1907, and After
The Solution of the Problem
The Invitation
First Glimpses of Korea
Life in Seoul
The Visit to Pyeng-Yang
Chemulpo and other Places
The Departure

Personal Reminiscences and Impressions
The Problem : Historical
The Compact

Undoubtedly the most important work on Korea and Japan, as far as their present relations are
concerned, that has been brought out. Professor Ladd had, through his relations with Marquis lto,
very exceptional facilities for personal observation in Korea, and unprecedented opportunities for
obtaining inside information and accurate knowledge as to the past and present conduct of Japan
and her present intentions. Much hitherto unpublished
material was placed in his hands enabling him to estab-
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partly the account of personal experience described in
a readable and interesting way, and in part a serious first
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write history of these events or discuss them with author-
ity, without making himself familiar with the views and
conclusions of Prof, Ladd in this book.

"Written. with great care. It is one of the most in-
forming books on the East that has yet been published.
—Philadelphia Inquirer.

The ex-King and present King of Ka

"It cannot fail to be of interest"

— Louisville Courier-Journal.

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

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Publishers, Topeka, Kansas

j^^^O THOSE who wish to own works of
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VOL. I.

AUGUST, 1908

No. 11.

THE
FAR
EAST

DETROIT, MICH., U. S. A.

rHIRTY CENTS THE COPY. THREE DOIAARS THE YEAR.

Autobiography of
Prince Ito Hir-
obumi

Viscount Ka'neko
on the Grand Ex-
position of Nip-
pon, 1 91 2.

|\\; /;".:• ".

A Kindergarten
Class in Nip-

'•■■"■• '^S\'k\

ponese.

Maisui Nana

■

Notes on the Picto-j

rial Art of Nippon

Hara Taro

|;,\- '-,;-".

The New East in
the Making

Atada Masuo

r

The Far East

Adachi Kmnosuke,
Proprietor and Editor

AUGUST, 1908

CONTENTS

THE THRONE, IMPERIAL PALACE, MUKDEN

FRONTISPIECE

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF PRINCE iTO HIROMBUMI— VI.
Being an account of his life as told by himself to

and recorded by AHASHI ATOWA 505

(Illustrated)

COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY OF OUR COUNTRY, AND
THE GRAND EXPOSITION OF NIPPON

(Illustrated) VISCOUNT KANEKO 513

Director-General of the Grand
Exposition of Nippon

PICTORIAL ART OF NIPPON: NOTES ON

MARUYAMA SCHOOL. MINAMOTO OKYO,

THE FOUNDER— PART I. HARA TARO 516

THE AGRICULTURAL AND COMMERCIAL

INTERESTS OF CENTRAL NIPPON BARON MATSUOKA 521

Minister of Agriculture
and Commerce

A RECENT INVASION OF THE ORIENT

THOMAS D. KNIGHT 525

One of the members of the
Taft Party to the Orient

A KINDERGARTEN CLASS IN NIPPONESE MATSUI HANA 532

SANGATUS SAKURANO SAKUJIBUN

A Love Story of Nippon ADACHI KINNOSUKE 535

THE NEW EAST IN THE MAKING ASADA MASUO 544

(Illustrated)
On the Seto Wares

The Russian Attempts at the Command of

the Waterway Transportation between

Europe and the Far East
The Overflow of the Han River in Central

China
The Expansion of the Mercantile Marine

of China
Russian Navy in the Far East
The Workings of the South ManchUrian

Railway

OF BOOKS ON THE FAR EAST ASINO KOJIRO 550

"The Tragedy of Russia in Pacific Asia"

(Illustrated) FREDERICK McCORMICK

Copyright, 1908, by The Far East Publishing Co.,

Entered as second-class matter July 9, 1908,
at the post office at Detroit, Mich.

Published Monthly by

The Far East Publishing Co.,

The Addison, Detroit, Mich., U. S. A.

THRONE. IMPERIAL PALACE, MUKDEN

The Far East

Vol. 1 August 1908. No. 11,

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF PRINCE ITO HIROBUMI *

Being an account of his life as told by himself to and recorded by
OHASHI OTOWA.

VI.

XT was after Kido (Count Kido of the later years, perhaps the
greatest constructive genius, especially in state finance, the new
Nippon has produced) returned to Choshu, Sakamoto Ryuma
(one of the famous young patriots of the day) came to Choshu.
He brought with him letters from Saigo. He advanced the
eminent advantage of alliance between Choshu and Satsuma — it was an im-
perative necessity, he insisted. He visited Kido and asked him what he
thought of the alliance. Kido told him that he and Inoue and myself would
at once favor such an understanding. Still an alliance cannot be brought
about without securing the co-operation of many other men of Choshu. The
prevailing opinion of the clan of Choshu, as a matter of fact, looked upon
Satsuma as an historic enemy of the reigning house of the Choshu clan, and
the majority of the clansmen held, therefore, that they would under no circum-
stances ally themselves with Satsuma. Moreover the men of Choshu, after
their defeat at the City of Kyoto, were excited and there was small hope of
negotiating a proposal like this. If such a program be worked at all with
the Choshu men, however, the essential step was to introduce the idea
through the gentlest methods at first and create a popular favor for such an
alliance by a wise and gradual propoganda. It was eminently unwise and
impossible to take the men of Kihei-tai into confidence in this matter. They
were mostly young radicals.

Letters of Saigo and his colleagues which expressed a kindly consideration
for the co-operation of the two clans of Choshu and Satsuma showed
sufficient indication of what Satsuma men were doing and what they were
thinking of. Here was an opportunity for Choshu; we could avail ourselves
of it and attain the one great and imperative aim of our endeavor — namely,
the reorganization of our clan army. The first step in the reorganization of
our army was the adoption of weapons of the western pattern. We could
perhaps purchase a few thousand rifles at Nagasaki any time, but there was
one difficulty — how were we to ship the rifles from Nagasaki to Choshu? If
the Satsuma men, however, were willing to help us in this matter it would solve
the difficulty. Satsuma men enjoyed a reputation among us as truthful and

* Translated by Adachi Kinnosuke.
Copyright 1908, by Adachi Kinnosuke.

506 THE FAR EAST

worthy of confidence. Evidently the right solution of this important question
of arming our forces with the right weapon was to take advantage of the
overtures made by the Satsuma leaders and enlist their assistance in this
matter. Therefore we decided to pay a visit to our Satsuma friends. Now
Prince Sanjo was at Dadaifu : the men of Satsuma were serving as his per-
sonal guard of honor; it was to that place, therefore, that we made our way.
We talked the matter over with Prince Sanjo himself and then we met the
Satsuma men. After our conference with them the Satsuma friends gave us a
guard who escorted us to Nagasaki. At Nagasaki was Mr. Komatsu. He
took every opportunity to show his sincere interest and faith in us and did
everything to assist us, and after our mission was over he sent us back to
Choshu by a ship called the Chocho Maru.

While at Dadaifu we met Shiotaki and his friends. There was also
Kusumoto Bunsuke. At Nagasaki, we bought rifles and also a ship. The
name of the ship was the Etchu Maru. The captain of the ship was a man
of Tosa who answered to the name of Umieda. He was one of the disciples
of Katsu, and we sailed our ship under the flag of Satsuma. There was a
certain difficulty in the course of negotiation for the purchase of this ship. It
was objected to on the ground that the purchase was irregular; that it should
go through the hands of the officers of Mitajiri Naval Station (in Choshu),
but we persisted in ignoring such contention and asserted that this matter was
thoroughly approved by Kido and ourselves, and Kido had the entire stage
to himself at Yamaguchi {the capital of Choshu) after his return.

It was about this time I believe also that a naval officer called Admiral
King paid a visit to our lord of Choshu. Admiral King came to Mitajiri.
He was the commander of the oriental fleet. He was cruising in the Nippon
and China seas. At first he came to Bakwan and he was invited to Mitajiri.
Our lord of the clan took a special trip to Mitajiri, and I remember, he and
the British officer were photographed together. Our clan was on friendly
terms with the British. The British were not at all friendly to the shogunate
and naturally sided with our movements. At the time of the Restoration,
therefore, the British were always on the side of the imperialists and assisted
their work materially. As for France she appeared to side with the shogunate
at that time.

It was the third year of Keio ( 1 867) while Shogun Keiki was in Kyoto,
I was ordered to pay a visit to the City of Kyoto in order to ascertain the
situation at the capital city. On my way I touched at Satsuma. At that
time I saw Saigo and a number of other Satsuma men, and we discussed
policies of state. We agreed from first to last in our support of the open-
country policy. A little later, on the occasion of the memorial of Goto
Shojiro of Tosa, I went to Nagasaki. There, too, I met a number of Sat-

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THEFAREAST 507

suma men as well as the men of Tosa. There were a few among the ultra-
radicals who opposed Goto, I remember.

I also recall at that time a rather amusing incident in connection with a
naturalized citizen. He was an Irishman. His name, I believe, was Pound,
and we gave him a Japanese name of Omoi Tetsunosuke {which being inter-
preted means "heavy iron') which we thought came as near as possible to
his original name. Takasugi and myself introduced him, and since he
wished to be naturalized we gave him this Japanese name. At Nagasaki we
put him in our costume. Our original idea was to get him to teach English
to some of our men, but he was very troublesome. He was drunk all the
time; and exceedingly violent in his actions when drunk. We stood his out-
rages as far as we could and actually at one time we decided to cut him dowa
but he succeeded in effecting his escape.

To return to my visit to Nagasaki, it was there that I met the British
admiral. I was invited to go aboard his ship. I wished to avail myself of
this opportunity of going aboard a British ship and learning something of the
naval life and also the English. I wished, however, to return home first and
receive the permission for a somewhat extended cruise aboard the British ship
which I did, and after boarding her we sailed among the islands off the
Korean coast and returned to Hyogo. I was treated as a guest aboard the
British ship with all imaginable courtesies. At Kobe ( which is a city situated
next to Hyogo)! found an American physician called Dr. Baker. I had
seen him before at Nagasaki and I had talked with him about my cherished
project of establishing an English school, and so when I saw him at Kobe I
invited him to go home with me. My idea was, at that time, to establish the
school at Mitajiri. That was the close of the year.

Up to the time of the Restoration, when things were changed with one
sudden shock, we had been known by different names. Kido had answered
to the name of Katsura Shogoro, and Murata Zoroku had been known as
Omura Masujiro, and I had answered to the name of Hayashi Uichi. In
the first year of Meiji ( 1 868), I was summoned by the government under the
name of Ito Shunsuke; that name remained with me.

At the time of the Restoration, and through the days when the battle of
Fushimi was in progress, I was back in my native province. Sometime prior
to this, I entered into a contract with an American to teach in my proposed
school. I accompanied him down to the city of Yamaguchi. There we
opened a school and after having opened it, in company with the American,
I once again took my trip to Kobe. It was on the 1 1 th day of the first
moon of the first year of Meiji ( 1 868) . When I entered the city of Kdbe,
I was surprised at the violent excitement and disturbance in which I found
the city. It seemed to me as if Kobe was entirely within the military pos-
session of foreign troops. I secured an interview with Sir Parks, who was

508 THEFAREAST

the British Minister, and later I made my way to Osaka. In the City of
Osaka a definite plan was finally decided upon, for the public announcement
of the Restoration. Prince Higashikuze was appointed as an Imperial Am-
bassador, to be sent to Kobe to announce to the ministers of foreign powers
the news of the restoration of governmental power to the Emperor and the
change of administration. In this manner the new government was recognized.
As soon as the new administration came to power, we held to the opinion that
the Imperial government should at once take over the management of foreign
affairs under its own control. Kido sided with us from the very beginning,
and supported our views strongly. His contention was that the policy of
exclusion was no longer possible, neither was it profitable. The strong tend-
ency of the time was, in short, for the policy of opening the country to inter-
national intercourse. To be sure, there were a few men, such as Oraku
Gentaro, who persisted in advocating the jo-i doctrines of "sweeping away
the barbarians." The Clan of Choshu, meanwhile, was absolutely in oppo-
sition to the shogunate. Mr. Katsu (Count Katsu of the later day) went to
Choshu as an accredited representative of the shogunate, but the clansmen of
Choshu took it into their heads that Mr. Katsu visited them simply on his own
initiative and at his own pleasure. For that reason they did not accord him
the attention due to the representative of the shogunate. It was certain, how-
ever, that the very dream of making peace with the shogunate never entered
into the heads of the Choshu men. We held to the opinion that the actual
administrative power of the government functions, ought to be restored to the
Imperial Court. The men of Choshu began to accuse us of disloyalty to our
clan and to its lord. The Choshu men contended that Ito is trying his ut-
most to destroy the prestige and position of his own clan and his own lord.
They argued that it was not well for them to allow Ito to go abroad in the
imperial city of Kyoto. Ito should never be allowed to go under the guise of
a representative of the Choshu clan. They sent us, therefore, such men as
Mihori Kosuke to take proper measures against us in Kyoto.

Kido and Hirosawa were opposed to my retirement at heart but in outward
appearances they betrayed nothing of the kind. They went to see Prince
Sanjo and Prince Iwakura. It was not their pleasure to bury me away com-
pletely, and at the time, Prince Iwakura begged us to bear along with the
situation. The time was, — so Prince Iwakura told us — when there was a
bully who broke into his house, called him a traitor and threatened to assassin-
ate him; that such annoyances were common with men who would do a great
thing. And so it came to pass that I neither retired nor abandoned the active
struggle. There were incidents in those days which brought me some dis-
agreeable experience. Once I served as a personal guide to the late Lord
Gentoku. I was mounted and led the way in front of his lordship who also
was mounted. A short time later, a friend of mine cautioned me against

.

THE FAR EAST 509

showing myself in public in such manner, — that is to say, showing myself on
horseback in front of the lord of the clan himself. I was told that I was
running the risk of being assassinated, because my action was taken as an insult
toward my own lord. At the time I held out by declaring that I had longed
for the coming of just such a day as this; I was utterly indifferent to life or
death; I made boast of my recklessness. But as the clamor became louder
and louder against my action, I, in the end, presented my resignation. In
answer to my resignation, I received a long official communication saying
that my resignation would be accepted under the circumstances; but that I
should devote himself to the foreign or diplomatic affairs. I was told also
that the government had just appointed a young man by the name of Mutsu
Tsugamaru as the Governor of Kobe, and that it expected me to guard and
guide him. I was given an office of the Counsellor in the Prefecture of
Hyogo. In the spring of the following year I was summoned to Tokyo.

Those were the days when the institutions and offices of the new govern-
ment were yet to be organized and systematized. I was serving in the capacity
of an officer on foreign affairs. After the passage of one or two months,
governmental organization was straightway put in order. To me, was given
at that time the rank of the third class of Chokunin, and office of the coun-
sellor to the government. I was also appointed as an advisor on the Board
of Foreign Affairs. I also combined the office of a judge of the city of
Osaka; a special commissioner for the administration of the foreigners in the
city of Kobe.

In May of that year, the Prefecture of Hyogo was established and I was
appointed its governor. I was then one of the principal advocates of nulli-
fying the old clans. The men who advocated this measure of abolishing the
clan system were not popular. Neither the Imperial Court nor the different
clans all over the Empire, had the slightest idea at this time of abolishing clan
system. The samurai were still clinging to the idea of receiving their heredi-
tary revenue of 500,000 koku, and a million koku, as they used to do. I
broached this matter to Kido, discussed it with him; and I had the pleasure
of seeing Kido agree with and support me very enthusiastically. It gave me
courage. I brought the matter to the attention of the clans of Satsuma and
Choshu. After that I approached the clans of Tosa and Hizen. As for
the two princes, Sanjo and Iwakura, they were thoroughly in accord with us
from the start. This was the measure which won for me their regard and
favor. Those were the days of great things and pregnant events were pass-
ing into history in great numbers. Even the events which transpired in the
first year of Meiji alone were astonishingly many and big. The questions of
prime importance with the new government were two: — foreign affairs and
finance. I was appointed to be one of the officers of the Finance Depart-
ment. My chief at the time was Date Muneshiro. This year saw the more

310 THE FAR EAST

perfect organization of governmental departments. By the Imperial rescript,
the Department of Finance and Department of Foreign Affairs, and so on,
were established, and the different ministers and secretaries of the depart-
ments were appointed. Okuma (Count Okuma of later days) was appointed
the Chief Secretary of Finance Department, and I was appointed as the Assist-
ant Secretary, and we devoted our efforts to the disposition of counterfeit coins
and paper money. In those days, I worked almost entirely in connection
with Okuma. We studied the methods and means for the prevention of de-
preciation of paper money; we also examined into the work of railway con-
struction.

In the second year of Meiji, Okuma, and myself perfected a plan for the
construction of the railway between Yokohama and Tokyo. The construction
of this railway opened the very hornet's nest of discussion and bitter fight.
With all that, we carried out the program, against all opposition. In order to
investigate into this enterprise, and many other affairs in connection with the
railway, I took a trip abroad. I went to America, and I was allowed to
study the workings of the Treasury Department of America for about half a
year. I was in company at that time with such men as Fukuchi Genichiro
and Yoshida Jiro, and Yoshikawa Kensei, and at the office of the Treasury
Department at Washington we studied the taxation and currency system of the
United States, its revenues, budgets, the regulation of her national banks, the
management of the financial department, the mint, customs, and many other
things.

Incidentally we studied the constitution of the United States, and for the
first time, began to understand the financial and economic systems of the West.
After coming home, I went to Osaka and devoted myself to the establish-
ment and opening of the mint. I made an exhaustive report on the monetary
system of the United States to our Department of Finance, and advocated
from beginning to end, the necessity of adopting the gold standard. But
somehow, my contention for the adoption of the gold standard went for
naught. I put myself, however, on record that the very first principle that I
advocated in connection with the finance of our country was the adoption of
gold standard. At first I managed to coin gold coins, and after that we
coined trade silver of the value of one yen. I followed the American system
in this, I found the subsidiary coins in America were silver also, and the sub-
sidiary coins were coined largely for convenience. Later it came to pass that
we in Nippon began to use silver almost exclusively, and so we continued for
some time and with another turn, we adopted the gold standard.

There was about this time a radical change in the personnel of the govern-
ment; Okubo became Minister of Finance, and Inoue became the First
Secretary of the Department of Finance, and I was appointed the head of
the taxation bureau, and combined the office of the Chief of the Mint. This

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THE FAR EAST 511

had an appearance of having been degraded to a minor office. At the same
time I found I was obliged to work a good deal at Osaka, and while I was
occupied with the business there, I drew up the first draft of the regulations
and rules of the Finance Department. It was no small undertaking. I even
went into such details as to call in a paper manufacturer and discuss with
him the shape and character of the parchment to be used by the Department
of Finance. At this time there was a move of issuing bank notes after the
American pattern and Okuma, who was still in the Department of Finance,
took charge of that department. For the disposition of paper currency, we
decided to establish national banks. We also arranged for the issuance of
government bonds.

While in America I saw Nakajima Nobuyuki who came by way of
Europe. I left the work of investigation of the government bonds in his
hands.

When Goto Shojiro was appointed as the Chief Secretary to the Depart-
ment of Public Works, he told me that he knew nothing about such matters
and wished me to take the office in his place. In this manner I received the
appointment to the first Secretaryship of the Department of Public Works
While these things were transpiring Prince Iwakura was appointed at the
head of a mission to be despatched to Europe. He told me that if I con-
sented to accompany him to Europe, he would accept the appointment with
pleasure but in case I declined to do so, he was in an embarrassing position.
I readily accepted the invitation to accompany him, and at the time it was
suggested that it would be well for both Kido and Okubo to make an
acquaintance with Europe. It was therefore decided that the mission should
be composed of Prince Iwakura, Kido, Okubo, Yamaguchi Hanzo, all accom-
panied by secretaries, and the mission was to make a tour of investigation
through every state of Europe. We started on our trip the winter of the
fourth year of Meiji. We spent the entire year of the fifth of Meiji ( 1 872)
abroad, and returned home in September, the sixth of Meiji.

Kido and myself, as I have said, received instructions at the same school ;
naturally our relations were intimate. But for a time our friendship suffered
a little through a singular misunderstanding. It arose in course of this
European mission. The reason for it all was something like this : Kido and
Okubo were exceedingly important personages in Nippon at the time. Of
course, for the pillar and support of the State were Saigo and a few others,
but from the standpoint of administrative talent, Saigo was not of the ablest
Now, I went to America in company with Okubo. We were commissioned
to broach the subject of the revision of treaties to the different powers to which
we were accredited, but without going any farther than the United States,
we found that we did not have sufficient powers invested in us to discuss with
the representatives of the different governments the question of the revision of

512 THE FAR EAST

treaties, and in order to receive ample powers to negotiate such revisions, I
returned home. At the time, Okuma and Inoue were shouldering the most
important functions of the government in the absence of the eminent men of
the embassy. Yamagata {the present field-marshal) and Saigo were also at
home. When I mentioned the reason why I returned home, both Okuma
and Inoue said to me: "If Kido and Okubo were to stay abroad, it is very
difficult to conduct die domestic affairs properly, and for that reason we wish
you would arrange matters in such a way as to persuade Kido and Okubo to
return home as quickly as possible. As for the European tour, we hope you
would undertake it, and facilitate a speedy return of Kido and Okubo."

Someone, we could not find who, began to scatter the rumor that Inoue
and Okuma were scheming to get Kido and Okubo back home as quickly
as possible. Now, this rumor did not please Kido at all. He took offense
on the ground that a few of his subordinates at home took it into their heads to
dictate his movements. So when I took the second trip to America, and from
America passed into Europe and met Kido, I noticed at once the entirely
different attitude on the part of Kido toward us. I could not account for it.
I could not understand; but I did not pay any attention to this matter in the
least.

One day, it was in the city of London, Kido, Okubo and Yamaguchi were
dining together. I was put in charge of the secretaries, whose duty was to
prepare reports to the home government. One of the paragraphs of the report
prepared at the time ran something like this: "As for the time of our em-
bassy's return it will be some time past the summer of the fifth of Meiji."
We presented this report for signature. Kido glanced over this passage, then
threw back his head, and with a mounting color remarked: "Who can tell
when we shall return to Nippon? There is no necessity of stating the time.
And why should the secretaries get together and try to dictate our move-
ments?" That was the first hint I had as to the reason of Kido's displeasure
toward us. There was another singular thing in connection with this. The
remark made by Okuma and Inoue to me on my return to Nippon was, by
no means, meant to curtail the time of Kido's and Okubo's visit to Europe
from any hostile motive. Inoue and Okuma made the remark solely because
they were solicitous of the difficult situation of the domestic affairs, and be-
cause they felt sorely the need of the presence and assistance of these two
great men. We were innocent of the vile efforts of an unknown party who
evidently gave Kido an entirely wrong construction of this matter. I remarked
to Kido that it is likely that he and Okubo will be recalled by an Imperial
order, and made the matter worse. Naturally Kido was exceedingly angry.
After passing through France, Belgium, Holland, we reached Germany,
and there we found Aoki-Shuzo and Shiagawa Yajiro. They said to us :

f

OFFICFRS OF ADMINISTRATION BUREAU, THE GRAND EXPOSITION OF NIPPON, 1912

In front row, reading from right to left; Mr. Beppu, head of the Department of Gen-
eral affairs; Mr. Yamawaki, head of the Department of Exhibits; Mr. Okamoto, head of
the Department of Administration; Mr. Mizugami, an Administrator. — In the back row,
Mr. Sakai, head of the Department of Publicity; Mr. Akada, head of the Department of
•Construction; Mr. Toyohara, head of the Department of Secretaries; Mr. Kato, an Ad-
ministrator.

THE FAR EAST 513

"We don't think that you are getting along very well with Kido. Let us
smooth this matter over between you." I did not accept their invitation. I
said to them: "As for my relations with Kido, you need not be troubled about
them." And while we were staying at Berlin, we received an Imperial com-
mand for Kido and Okubo to return home. Okubo at once complied with
the command. As for Kido, he separated himself from the Embassy and
visited Russia and Italy, and after that, returned home. I remained in the
company of Prince Iwakura and Yamaguchi Hanzo. I think Kido returned
home in April or May of the sixth of Meiji, and we returned in September of
the same year.

COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY OF OUR COUNTRY, AND THE
GRAND EXPOSITION OF NIPPON OF 1912.

BY VISCOUNT KANEKO.

Director-General of the Grand Exposition of Nippon.

V^to^^ HERE are few ways which can better promote the expansion
m (T*\ and development of natural productive industries, and ad-
m 1 vance culture and knowledge of man, than the establishment

^^B^^ and conduct of an international fair. The necessity of an
industrial exposition is in this, that one should have a general
survey of the industrial activities of the first powers of the world, so that
he may be able to adopt the excellences of other countries in order to im-
prove the short comings of one's own country. Since the Restoration
we have seen some forty-one years, within which period our national prestige
arose through the conduct of the China-Nippon and Russo-Nippon Wars.
We have already joined the household of first powers of the world,
but in the development of our productive interests, it must be conceded that
we are far from attaining the position that we should attain. This is the time
in which we should attempt and plan effectively the great development of our
productive industries. The Grand Exposition of Nippon, which is to be
opened in 1912, is in name national. In fact, it is an international exposi-
tion. One can very easily see the advantage accruing from the establishment
of a world's fair by simply reviewing the advantages which England received
through its international exposition of 1 850. At that time there was a con-
viction prevalent throughout England which looked upon their own products
and manufacturers as the best in the world. In spite of this conviction, they
were compelled to see that the articles produced by Italy, Germany, Holland
and France were largely superior to their own. This international fair held in
London marked a distinct period. It was the beginning of a new era; it
aroused the British from their dream of self-content. They at once saw

514 THE FAR EAST

their shortcomings, and lost no time in establishing industrial museums. The
result of all this could be seen in an eloquent fact that since those days the
British manufacturers have been studiously examining into the exhibits of other
countries and their manufactures, until today it is no vain boast that the
British manufacturers rank at the very top in the world's products in several
lines. This then, is one of the first practical lessons which the different
powers of the world saw as the result of an international fair.

The principal articles which the management of the Grand Exposition of
Nippon requests the exhibitors to produce at the exposition, are those which
have vital bearing on agriculture, education, machinery, branches of manu-
facturing industry. Besides these four general types of exhibits, the different
powers of the world are requested to build their own buildings in which they
are perfectly at liberty to exhibit anything they choose, — their agricultural
products, marine products, etc. Still the plan of our exhibition is to en-
courage exhibits along the four specified lines. The indications from the
different countries of the world are good in this line. They seem to welcome
the suggestion of the management of the exposition with open candor and pleas-
ure.

The first to express its satisfaction in the program of the management was
the Mexican government. Next to that, we received very hearty co-operation
from New Zealand, New South Wales, the United States of America.
Especially in the case of the United States, the President in his special
message to Congress, expressed his desire that the United States should take
advantage of this opportunity to enhance and strengthen the unbroken friend-
liness of fifty years which the two countries have maintained. He has taken
the trouble of explaining in detail and with enthusiasm the reasons why they
should co-operate very heartily with the conduct of the exposition. As the
result of it all, at first the House of Representatives passed on the appropria-
tion of $350,000. The Senate hinted its desire of increasing the amount to
$500,000 and in turn the House of Representatives wished to increase the
amount to $700,000. There was an indication of ever increasing interest
in both houses, and at the time of my departure from Tokyo I had not been
advised as to the definite amount of appropriation, but even as I was attend-
ing the meeting of your Association, I was notified of the receipt of tele-
graphic advice from the American Ambassador, stating that the American
Government had decided on the appropriation of $1,500,000 for the Grand
Exposition of Nippon.

From this one can easily see the extent of American interest in our Ex-
position. The largest amount which the United States has ever appropriated
for the purpose of international expositions abroad was for the Paris expo-
sition of 1900. The amount appropriated was $650,000, and now for

THE FAR EAST 515

the exposition to be held in our country, America has appropriated an
amount that is unprecedented.

As for England, although she has not taken any decisive measures for
the exposition, still I have all reason to believe that the exposition, will be re-
ceived by the British friends with equal sympathy and enthusiasm as were ex-
hibited by the United States. I also believe that Germany and France and
other European states would do their utmost in their efforts.

As for the conduct of an international exposition, it is becoming more and
more difficult with every year. The scope of an international exposition has
been enlarged from year to year. There is a tendency now among the lead-
ing powers of the world that tends to emphasize the quality and the
order, and the value of actual achievements, rather than in the vastness of an
exposition. In this respect, our country should be congratulated in arriving
at the most opportune time. It has been the custom with all the exhibitions
held in Nippon that the number of articles exhibited are exceedingly small,
and the number of exhibitors comparatively large. This is a mistake.
There are two central ideas upon which Germany acts in connection with all
her expositions. First, they ask their exhibitors to put special emphasis on
articles especially suitable for foreign trade. Second, the exhibitors of
Germany are very careful in exhibiting only those articles which are im-
portant enough to increase the reputation of Germany, and they do not
permit themselves to exhibit any articles which are not likely to enhance the
already enviable name of Germany, as a manufacturing country.

It would be well for us, in connection with our Exposition of 1912, to
follow this excellent German example.

Sometimes in our country, people have made it a custom to manufacture
special articles for the special purpose of exhibiting at the fair. That is
wrong. The articles which our people would exhibit at the fair should be of
that type which show the resources of Nippon to the foreigner, and for that
purpose they should exhibit such articles as would answer the foreign demands,
and if possible the articles which have an almost unlimited capacity in sup-
plying such demands. It has been thought best, also, that the exhibits should
be presented from an association, or a body of merchants, rather than from
individuals, and for that reason, at different points, different organizations
of exhibitors have been established to systematize and arrange their respective
articles of exhibits. It is also important that a very careful examination be
made of such articles as are to be exhibited at the exposition, before hand.
This would do much to improve the character of the exhibits..

516 THE FAR EAST

PICTORIAL ART OF NIPPON: NOTES ON MARUYAMA
SCHOOL. MINAMOTO OKYO, THE FOUNDER.

BY HARA TARO.
PAPER I.

OKYO was born, they say, far from cities, in the lyric quiet of
Tamba Country in the sixteenth year of the gracious Period
of Kyoho, that is to say, in 173), A. D. The birth of
Daijo Temple of Kameizan, dates somewhat earlier than that
— in the reign of Emperor Shomu, in the seventeenth year
of Temp'yo Period — 745, A. D. It is, therefore, nearly ten centuries older
than the birth date of perhaps the greatest realist Nippon has yet produced.
And the Temple is in Fragrance-Abiding- Village (call it, Kasumimura, if
you perfer its Nipponese name; they call it Morimura also) in the County
of Migumi, which by interpretation, means Beauty-Embracing in the Country
of Tajima. It commands the Nippon Sea, the mistress of as picturesque a
bit of geography as the sun knows. It was founded by the famous saint,
Gyoki by name.

All the same they call it Okyo's own Temple.

The reason of it all is something like this :

There was a priest, very ambitious, and gifted above the common run
of saints, and who, therefore, naturally had a dream. Thoughtful Buddahs
put him at the head of Daijo Temple. That was not so many years before
the budding days of Okyo's art To see a beautiful temple rise from the
simple bosom of farm lands, in praise of his Lord Buddha, into the high sky
and toward the full moon, the rounded and chaste symbol of Buddha-truth, —
that was his dream. Everywhere he went, therefore, the priest took his pious,
patient thought to the gathering of every bamboo stick that might be astray
on the roadside without a master — he would weave them into a skeleton of
the temple walls — of every piece of vagabond rag which he transformed into
the under dressing of a screen. Not always do the ambitious and the worthy
reap the harvest of their toil on earth. When the worthy priest joined his
holy master on the Veranda of the Lotus, his dream had not been translated
into wood and clay. Happily, however, the same dream entered into the
heart of his successor. His name was Mitsueishonin. The present Temple
Daijo is his work.

When young, Mitsueishonin frequented Maruyama in the flower capital
of Kyoto. In Maruyama dwelt an artist, a painter, poor as if he had just
been fished out of a flood. The half starved painter at the time, was totter-
ing under the decidedly unprofitable nom de p'mceau of Okyo. Because the

THE FAR EAST 517

artist was rich in colors and loved the graces of mountain and water, of the
cock and the crane, and because also he was quite gifted to tell the human
eye his exceeding love of them in terms of the beautiful, the young priest
Mitsueishonin asked the artist to join his leisure hours more than once.

One day there was a half born smile on the lips of the young priest from
Tajima. Presently he said to Okyo:

"Master, tell me, is there a wish in your heart more precious :"

And the words rose to Okyo's lips, quickly as a flash and a lightening
was in his eyes:

"Wishes! I am rich in them. But I have sunk lower than the bottom
of my purse. Today I am about to discover the bottom to the bottomless
dark called despair."

The priest laughed. So trifling, so frivolous a matter as the lack of gold —
why should it rob the young days, so bright and so rich in promise, of Okyo?

"A little piece of gold — surely the request you make of Buddha is politely
humble."

"If I had but three £n>amme (thirty pounds) of silver I would go down
to Yedo," Okyo made answer seriously, "and the under-heaven will know the
name of Okyo before a dozen seasons shall have come and gone."

The gravity of Okyo's despair and the humorously small cause thereof,
amused the priest. Straightway the three fcivamme of silver changed hands.
Straightway Okyo sped down to Yedo. Three years passed. And the
name of Okyo, as he had confidently said, went abroad throughout the land
of Nippon.

His name made, Okyo came back to Maruyama. He had not forgot
the priest of Tajima. This time he was not lacking in money; also he was
rich in pupils. Among them he choose a favored few, — Minamoto Ki,
Goshun and Shurei among others and with them he made his thanksgiving
pilgrimage to the Daijo Temple of Kameizan. I do not know the days nor
the hours Okyo and his friends spent in the temple. Always they coaxed
their brushes into magic wands; always they mixed their colors into miracles.
I know when they departed, every wall, every fusuma, every byobu that was
in the temple had upon it that beautiful touch of the eternal called art with
which time has no quarrel.

Will you follow me through the rooms ?

It is certainly a poor guide who does not take you to the real thing. But
the best is the most that is required of a mortal, is it not? So your imagination
(I pray that it is gifted exceeding rich) must see what my pen is too short,
too ill manned to paint, as we pass from room to room through the temple.

I. The Room of Mountain and Water. It is also called the Room
of the Great Dais. Minamoto Okyo (to write the famous name in full)
painted it It is the room of thirty-five mats. The wall is of rusty russet.

518 THE FAR EAST

Upon it, and also upon the gold ground of the fusuma. Okyo painted the
streams and pure-washed mountains. Standing in the middle of the room
if you fail to feel, on a summer day, the cool of that unstained breaths of
the gods that come to you sighing through the pine needles, or if, on a winter
day, feel that holy quietude that washes the vulgar out of a human soul,
that turns a courtier into a monk, then I fear there must be something decidedly
wrong about your charming self. On the wall that commands the platform
or toko hang the triple kakemono °f dragons.

II. The Room of Banana. They call it the Room of Kwakushigi also.
Okyo's work, on eight fusuma. Rich in colors, the picture of children with
their beloved Kwakushigi, who with the full weight of snow, Age had heaped
upon his beard, stands on the other end of life's bridge, is altogether very com-
pelling. So true is the picture to the things that are, that it has given birth
to a legend. On day, they say, a certain simple man of the field came to
the temple; very politely the head priest, who, above all, was no respector of
persons, was showing him and his friends through the temple. The simple
man marvelled much. Not exactly did he question the honesty of the good
priest's words; at the same time he found it impossible not to be a trifle
sceptical. Those children, could it be possible that they are actually upon
fusuma, a mere work of brush, a trick of colors upon credulous eyes? When,
for a moment, the back of the priest was turned upon him, he stretched out his
finger. His finger did not happen to be quite as clean as the heart of the
Buddha. So it has remained there upon the beautiful fusuma, that soiled
finger print of the farmer ever since the birthday of the legend, — a stained
warning to the sceptical. And you can see it till this day.

III. The Room of the Peacock. Sixteen fusuma — all golden and all
the work of Okyo. Upon the blinding background Okyo painted two pine
trees, male and female. And in this royal surrounding he placed a pair of
peacocks. One has a grave doubt whether a king — I do not care how great
and rich in power he be — could cram under a crown one-tenth of the imperial
airs and splendor which Okyo painted into the heavenward carriage of
peacocks. Everybody who looks upon the picture wonders and sighs. You
can hardly tame it, comprehend it all. Therefore it is something more than
beautiful. It borders upon the sublime. It inspires within you the sentiment
of adoration. However (unlike so many things sublime) it does not frighten
you.

IV. The Room of Bamboos. Also the work of Okyo. It is the
living room of the priest in charge. The constancy of the bamboo that does
not change color through fickle seasons ; its yielding tenacity never allows itself
to forget the coming of spring when it will raise its head aloft again over the

THEFAREAST 519

death of snow and winter; its mendicant-like purity of grace; they are all
there. Charming companions of an out-of-the World.

V. The Room of Agriculture. Upon sixteen fusuma in this room
Goshun painted the history of rice — from the sowing and planting in the
paddy field to the harvest and the gathering. With that weakness (who
knows that it is not a species of vanity; do you?) of the master for the simple
Goshun chose a very humble subject. Mark you, however, there is nothing
vulgar about it — the theme is clean. And the master shows how the simple
transforms into the great.

V . The Room of Bald Mountains. By Goshun also, upon sixteen
fusuma.

VII. The Room of Ambassadors. Sixteen fusuma in all. It is the
work of YamamotO Shurei and Kameoka Kirei. Both of them are the
favored pupils of Okyo. On one side you see the warrior messenger coming
into a king's castle; on the other the queen is granting an audience to the
ladies of the embassy.

VIII. The Room of Pups. Upon the eight fusuma Yamamoto Shurei
painted all the sportive graces of pups and placed them at the foot of a plum
tree.

IX. The Room of Carps. Minamoto Ozui, the son of Okyo, painted
the carp ascending a fall. You ought to see the life that is in the dancing
fish. It is very ungracious and altogether ungrateful to pass it by with a
stingy adjective, "noble." After seeing the picture you would agree with
me in this. Over the toko is a pair of kakemono. Upon them are also
carps. One of them is famous throughout Nippon.

X. The Room of Wisteria. Minamoto Teisho painted this narrow
and long room behind the main room.

XI. The Room of Kamo or Wild Ducks on the second story is the
work of Minamoto Ki. He has mastered the art of his master Okyo even to
the smallest detail — so thoroughly that a painstaking and exacting crictic of
many years study and experience can not tell his work from that of Okyo.

XII. The Room of Sennin — a Tace of scholarly and miracle-working
sages who dwelt in the far-away mountains, half mendicant, half Gods. It
is the work Settei.

XIII. The Room of Monkeys. Those eight fusuma upon which
Nagasawa Rosetsu gave color to the thousand poses and a hundred move-
ments of monkeys are considered to be one of the greatest works of this
master. This means a great deal.

It was in the middle years of Horeki (1751-1763, A. D.), in the
healthy days with Okyo when his purse had not been hunchbacked from a

520 THE FAR EAST

golden burden. At the time, Okyo was in Kyoto, and from his humble
studio all shaded with the modesty of a great man, he was sending forth his
beautiful children of the brush into the world to earn for him a few cups of
rice. They were sadly lacking in business ability, those pictures of the
master, but the gods blessed him with a saving sense called humor. And
gratefully, he took the rare and irregular visits of scanty rice cups with a
deal of cheer and that superb heroism which is peculiar to a man who knows
that he is born to be a master of the future. Well, naturally Okyo was
grateful for any work, however humble, that would cheat his stomach for a
while. Now there was a man — so a tale runs — a man of market on
Shijo-dori whose name was Nakajima Kambei, and who was an enterprising
merchant in as much as he purchased a stereoscope from the Dutch for the
entertainment of Kyoto streets. Now the instrument had twenty pictures
which were printed from copper plates made somewhere in Europe in the
dark age of her art. Kambei wished to have a number of copies of his
foreign prints made. Okyo happened to be the artist to whom the job was
given. Kambei was delighted with Okyo's work and so also was the public.
And these are critics who forget themselves to the extent: — "The inevitable
conclusion worthy of all good men's faith, is, therefore, that Okyo received
all his secrets, his mastery of perspective, fore-shortening and all the rest of
the methods of his nature-copy school from the Dutch prints which he copied."
Now, unquestionably, the story of Nakajima Kambei is historic; his
Dutch prints far from myrrh; and the incident cited here is worthy of your
faith much more than a general run of a historic novel of this our critical
day. In fact, the copies of Okyo were engraved on copper by Matsuda
Gengen, and a large number of sheets were printed from his plates and
distributed. One of them, to my own knowledge, is in the possession of
Bei-sen, a Kyoto artist, whose works are very much in favor today alike
with the Emperor and the newspaper. And today you can find the far
children of the famous engraver on Higashi Nakadori in Kyoto in the
historic shop which bears the name of its founder — Matsuda Gengen-do. All
this no one has denied. But then, is it not simpler, much simpler to say,
that nature fell in love with the brush of Okyo and so gave her heart to him?
And then to, perhaps Kambei was a shrewd man: being a man of business
acumen, he gave the work to Okyo (not to give Okyo an opportunity to
learn the principles of his nature-copy school but) simply because he was
the only artist in Kyoto who seemed to understand the principles of nature-
copy methods, and therefore could copy the Dutch prints successfully.

THE FAR EAST

521

THE AGRICULTURAL AND COMMERCIAL INTERESTS OF
CENTRAL NIPPON.

BY BARON MATSUOKA

Minister of Agriculture and Commerce.

V^^^^^HE population of our country is increasing at the rate of
m Ct>\ ^aov^ 500,000 per annum. Naturally the amount of rice
m I consumed by us is steadily increasing. Very naturally the

^^^&r importation of rice from abroad is higher every year although
our country is an agricultural state. In the period from 1 868
to 1 903, for example, we saw that in 1 898 our importation of rice amounted
in value to over 21,000,000 yen. The importation of rice reached its
highest point in the period in question in 1 894, when it was valued at 48.-
000,000 yen. In a number of years we imported rice valued at more than
10,000,000 yen. But the years following 1904 show much greater, more
marked increase in the importation of rice. In these years the importation of
rice amounted often to 40,000,000 yen in value. War and an unu-
sually bad crop in some years accounted in a measure for extraordinary excess
of importation of rice, but the chief reason for the excess of importation lies
in the increase of population, and the advance of living in the cities of our
country.

, In the central states and the south, according to statistics, there seems to
be a comparatively large section of our country which is open for the improve-
ment of agricultural methods. To be sure, in this section, especially the
sections near about Kyoto, the provinces of Sesshu, Shiga and Hyogo, we
have succeeded in developing the seri-culture and paper manufacturing in-
dustries to a very great extent. It is a matter of gratification that these
enterprises are energetically and consistently being developed. It is also
gratifying to note that owing to the encouragement given to cattle raising,
many in this section of the country have devoted themselves to the raising of
stock. The territory surrounding the city of Kyoto has been famous
for years for its beef. Of recent years in that section has been established a
stock farm for the improvement of cattle. I hope this enterprise would prove
more than satisfactory to the men who are engaged in it. As for the province
of Hyogo, it has always occupied the first place as a cattle raising province,
and the custom of raising cattle in general among the farmers throughout this
province. It is to be regretted that in the northern provinces of our country,
the cattle raising industry has not claimed sufficient attention and interest.

The exportation of our agricultural and garden products have exceeded
in value 3,000,000 yen per year. As an item of export, oranges and per-
simmons and other fruits produced within the territory of Kyoto and Sesshu

522 THEFAREAST

are exceedingly rich in possibilities. It is highly important therefore, that
the men engaged in the product of such fruits should pay studious at-
tention to the improvement of their products, study carefully into the methods
of preventing damages by worms and other natural causes, and also look
carefully to the methods of packing the fruit for export purposes.

Both Osaka and Kobe are great central markets of marine products.
Still there is room for improvement in the method of transportation of fish,
in its transportation machinery, in the cold storage capacity, and so on. I
hope that the men engaged in this business are far from being satisfied with
the present showing in the command of the fish market.

A word in connection with industrial activities. Owing to the change
and rise in the standard of living, there is an ever increasing demand for a
superior quality of goods, and for the increased quantity of such high grade
articles. The needs of the people are becoming more and more complex, and
they are increasing in number and in every direction. It is quite natural
that this is so. In order to satisfy such demands, it is inevitable that the
industrial enterprises should increase and develop. The articles manufactured
both by hand and by machinery are increasing in number and in kinds;
indeed there seems to be no limit as to the variety of articles that are in
demand. The Germans, for example, pay special attention in applied
sciences; they utilize their scientific knowledge to develop their industrial
activities, especially in chemistry. In this line they seem to shine with no
modest lustre.

It is always true that men are fond of something new. It is in the
nature of man to throw away the crude and ugly in appearance, and take
to the beautiful and well made articles. For that reason the men engaged
in industrial activities must not for one moment be satisfied with their present
achievements. They must improve constantly. Forever they must keep on
studying the new designs of shapes of articles they manufacture. According
to the statement of a number of officials sent to the United States of late to
investigate, it seems that they were very much mortified to see that in the
matter of household goods, our products were far below the standard of ex-
cellency maintained by the manufacturers abroad. Our manufactures were
rough in finish and inferior in design; there was nothing new in our manu-
facture. It is highly important for a man of our industrial circles to bear
this in mind that the struggle of the present time is not purely competition in
prices. The question of the day is not to undersell everyone competing
for the market. The market of to-day is the arena wherein quality, skill and
originality of design are the most highly prized elements of success.

In the oriental commerce of our country, Kyoto, Osaka and Hyogo play
the leading role and all of us feel that there is much to be desired. Of
course the reasons why the activities of the three cities do not cover the"

11 1

THE FAR EAST 523

oriental markets to the complete satisfaction of us all, must be many. The
European and American competition may be one of them, still I think there
are two great reasons in the failure of the three cities in covering the oriental
markets satisfactorily. The first reason is in the cheap articles they sell, and
the other is that the articles are very common in manufacture and design,
and there is nothing original or striking about them. The decisive element
in the conquest of a market, as far as the articles of manufacture is con-
cerned, is in the design. Even where the material used is just as ex-
pensive as the other, even though the wages paid to the artisans are just as
expensive, an article of inferior design, an article which has no distinction of
a striking design cannot hope to hold its own against another which has the
advantage of superior design.

The industrial enterprises depend largely on the conditions and the
stages through which different ideas of a country ungergo, and no one design
can hope to be in favor indefinitely. Those who are struggling for supremacy
in manufacturing enterprises should certainly keep this in mind, and in order
to command the market skillfully, they should bear in mind that the very
life and death of their wares depend on the skilful designing of them. There
are many ways to advance the commercial interests of a country, but there
ought to be a mutual understanding and harmonious working among different
branches of industrial and agricultural activities of a country, so that one
branch may be able to assist the other to advantage.

A matter of prime importance with the commercial activity of our
country is the proper emphasis that is to be placed upon the commercial moral-
ity of our merchants. From the ancient days, the commercial integrity has
not received the proper attention and respect among our merchants. In ex-
treme cases there were men who declared publicly that a certain amount of
misrepresentation is the usual custom with the merchant. Such looseness in
business ethics among our merchants has affected the commercial activity of
our country to a very great extent. The commercial integrity of our country
has a vital bearing upon the prosperity and decay of our national life itself.
As we all know, commerce is one of the principal machines of national
economics, and the habit that some of our merchants have fallen into in look-
upon the commercial honesty as a garb of the dull witted, is one of those
regrettable heritages of the past from which our country has been suffering not
a little. The commercial morality should not be classed with religious
virtues, — perhaps it is not quite as binding and defined in its scope. At the
same time, the commercial honesty must take into consideration these two
principal things ; First ; the carrying out of a contract without error. Second ;
in placing' weight in one's reputation, and in avoiding, intentionally or other-
wise, the inferior quality of goods, and concealing the faults and defects of
commercial wares. It is highly to be regretted that there are a number of our

524 THE FAR EAST

merchants who are but too eager to take advantage of the neglect of others
in protecting trade marks and taking out patents, and in manufacturing arti-
cles which are already covered by patents under a slightly modified guise, and
thereby robbing all the benefits accruing from a new invention on an article of
distinct value which is not protected by patents always. These men try to rob
brother merchants or manufacturers of their legitimate profits. Such ex-
amples have been known in our country, and they seem to be blind to the
larger interests of commercial activity, and are eager always in seizing the
advantage and profits which are in front of their eyes. They are foolish.
The cities of Osaka and Kobe are admitted by all to be the commercial center
of our imperial country. It is here if anywhere, that the merchants should
studiously promote every effort to bring about the high standard of commer-
cial morality.

In the commercial activity of every nation, and in every section of a
country, there is always a period of prosperity, and then also a period of de-
pression. Therefore the merchants who are in the business should take such
matters into consideration. They should not permit themselves to lose their
heart, simply because they are under a cloud for a certain period of time,
or they should not stumble and fall at the very first obstacle that may be
placed in their paths. Let them look forward for many years to come ; they
will know through experience, that the period of depression cannot last for-
ever, just as die period of prosperity cannot continue for many consecutive
years. There are men who bemoan the sad fate of our commercial conditions
of the present. Last year there was an enormous excess of importation, and
in the month of April this year, the importation exceeded the exportation to a
very great extent There are too few among these pessimists who take pains
to analyze the trade conditions. Rarely do they examine the different items
of importation which have brought about this excess over which they mourn.
The principal articles of importation which brought about the excess of im-
portation were raw cotton, wool, iron and steel, oil, sugar, machinery, and so
on. Now many of these articles were imported in answer to a demand for
them caused by the fever in increased industrial activities The raw materials
and machinery for the manufacture of them could therefore be very well ex-
plained away on this basis of an increased industrial activity of our country.
This is not a commercial phenomenon we should regret. Of course the ex-
treme excess of importation is to be regretted at all times, but the excess of
importation which we see in our foreign trade is not caused by the importation
of useless articles of luxury. Even the excess of importation in these highly
essential articles such as machinery and raw materials — even they are showing,
since this spring, all the signs of gradual decrease. Since the year 1898,
except perhaps 1906, we have never seen our export exceeding our imports,
and over this situation we have heard from many people, both among the ofB-

THOMAS D. KNIGHT
A member of the Taft Party to the Orient

THE FAR EAST 525

cials as well as among merchants, all sorts of pessimistic forcasts, still we have
seen a tremendous expansion of our country in its productive power, and we
have seen little fruit of all the sad prophecies which have been uttered over the
unusual and unfavorable condition and aspects of our foreign trade. Said
Confucius many years ago, "The superior man does not forget danger, either
in the time of peace, or in time of difficulty. Through the rise and fall in
life he does not forget the time of disorder, and for this reason he possesses
himself in ease, and maintains a nation." In other words, men who are
mindful of disaster and of defeat, are usually among those who escape such
disaster. Our nation should, by all means, increase her productive power, and
to bring that about, should expand her export trade. Within, she ought to
foster her industries, and thus satisfy the domestic demands, and for that
reason the useless excess of import over export is a matter against which we
should take serious precaution. Commerce is, after all, like war. The secret
of commercial success is in knowing one's own self, and also knowing the
opponent's power. It is highly important that the merchant should study as
well as he is able, and mark himself thoroughly acquainted with the condition of
foreign affairs, the customs of foreign countries, and the likes and dislikes of
foreign markets.

A RECENT INVASION OF THE ORIENT.

BY THOMAS D. KNIGHT

One of the members of the Taft Party to the Orient and the
Republican Candidate for Gouverneur of Illinois

gT the invitation of Judge Paul W. Limebarger, a former office
associate of mine, who had been spending his vacation in
Chicago and was about to return to his court in the Philip-
pines and who kindly secured a stateroom for me, I left
Chicago with my wife and son June 27th, and traveling via
the Canadian Rockies and the Portland Fair arrived in San Francisco in time
to join him and sail July 8th.

Secretary Taft and Miss Roosevelt, together with their party consisting
of a number of United States senators, congressmen and their wives, and
others, were bound for Manila by the same steamer for the purpose of study-
ing conditions in the Philippines and incidently to visit Hawaii, Japan and
China, and were destined to receive a welcome wherever they went such as had
never been given in the Orient.

And so it came about that one cloudless summer afternoon we stood
on the deck of the giant Pacific Mail steamer Manchuria gazing at the fast

526 THE FAR EAST

receding Golden Gate, the sea gulls circling about us and a myriad of flying-
fish scurrying from our pathway, while away to the west stretched a seemingly
limitless waste of waters. A facetious congressman stood near by me and
remarked, "You remember what Bill Nye said of Shakespeare, that as a
writer he stood well. That's about the way the Pacific ocean impresses me.
As a body of water it stands well."

We had said "Good bye" to America. We had seen the last flutter of
handkerchiefs waved by thousands of men and women who had come to the
docks to catch a last glimpse of the President's daughter and the Secretary
of War. Even the escort steamers with their booming guns and tooting
whistles had turned back. For days we were to see no land or sail. But
there was no occasion to be lonesome, for on this great ocean greyhound, one
of the largest in the world, was as jolly a crowd as ever were gathered to-
gether.

A canvas swimming tank was erected on deck, and many a jolly swim
we had, and many a frolic, splashing and diving for money thrown in fun to
the swimmers and afterward turned over to the Chinese attendant. Easily
the leader of the fun was Miss Alice herself, who is an expert both in diving
for coins and swimming. She usually had her plunge before breakfast in
the morning and was ready for another turn before supper. Parenthetically,
I remark that it was a shame that the newspapers should have made so much
of her harmless little prank of diving into the tank the afternoon before we
reached Manila. But I suppose one of the penalties of occupying a con-
spicious position is the possibility of every little act being exaggerated and
distorted.

Almost every evening we had a dance on deck, and one evening a sheet
pillow case party, and one evening after leaving Japan and while proceeding
down the east coast of Formosa, a kimono party in which the Secretary of
War and the grave and reverend senators, appeared in Japanese clothes look-
ing like the worst lot of misfits imaginable.

The sheet and pillow case party was a huge success. About the only
way one could guess die identity of anyone was by his size, and of course it
didn't take a Sherlock Holmes to pick out the three-hundred pound frame of
the Secretary of War. And one evening we had a breach of promise trial.
The culprit was Senator Warren of Wyoming, an ideal personage for such a
part, for he was die most popular widower on board, the recipient of many
a languishing glance from more than one battery of eyes, owned by widows
and eligible maidens. The jury was composed partly of ladies, one of whom
was Miss Alice, and in spite of its august composition, I shall always consider
its verdict a potent argument against putting women on juries, at least in cases
of that character, for it found in favor of the more or less fair plaintiff and
mulcted poor (?) Warren in damages to the tune of $10,000,000 and
sentenced him to six months in the society of the jilted one. Judge Taft,

THE FAR EAST 527

Judge McCall of the Supreme Bench of New York and Judge Linebarger
composed the court, sitting en banc. Burr Mcintosh was the sheriff, and if
anything the joshing the Senator from Wyoming received was worse then the
verdict.

Mr. Taft is a big man, physically and mentally, and there isn't an ounce
of him that isn't saturated with kindliness, honesty and energy. He carries
an enormous load of responsibility and does a prodigious amount of work.
I am inclined to think that it is possible he undertakes too much for any one
man, but the future will demonstrate whether or not this is true.

Miss Alice is a delightful girl, very natural and not a bit spoiled. It
used to be said of her father before he became president and the American
people really knew him, that he was liable to act upon impulses. Perhaps
this criticism was just, but his impulses were all good, and fortunately his
country and the world has been getting the benefit of them. Miss Roosevelt
has inherited many things from her father and could hardly be other than
impulsive, but every impulsive thing she did only made her more of a favorite
with those who came in daily contact with her. Had she been distant, re-
served and haughty, her exalted position might easily have accounted for it.
That she was none of these, but a natural, delightful girl, reflects the greatest
credit upon her disposition and bringing up. While much of the public at-
tention paid her was due to her position, yet her attitude was correct and
friendly, her personality so winning, that to a large extent the adulation for
Miss Roosevelt, the President's daughter, was replaced by sincere affection
for Miss Alice, the typical winsome American girl.

At Yokohama, the first port we touched in Japan, a multitude waited
on the pier for her to come down the gang-plank. It was composed of mem-
bers of the royal family, cabinet officials, princes, princesses and other distin-
guished representatives of Japanese civilization. At the foot of the plank
stood the Japanese Secretary of War, to be the first to welcome her to Japan-
ese soil. ,

Flags were flying, rockets exploding and cannons booming. Just then a
slender girl came down the gang-plank, on her arm a huge bouquet of
flowers. Her step was elastic, her air confident and friendly. The
applause told us that it was Miss Alice. Every American was proud of her.
As she approached the Japanese potentate she extended her right hand in
good American fashion for a handshake, and simultaneously down went hk
head in a most profound bow, a kowtow, I believe they call it, with the
result that her hand shot out away over his head. Whether she thought
it funny, I don't know. You couldn't have told by her face; and soon she
disappeared through the multitude with her big bouquet, Mr. Taft and the
distinguished Japs followed in her wake.

The various incidents of the trip of the Taft party have been duly
chronicled in the press. We left them at Manila, saying good bye to many of

528 THE FAR EAST

them late one night in August at Governor Wright's reception. It was a
night to dream about, under a full moon with the southern cross blazing, the
tropical flowers everywhere filling the air with intoxicating odors, the splendid
Filippino orchestra playing two-steps and waltzes to an assemblage of men
and women picturesque to the last degree Here stood an undecorated
American general with that look of absolute confidence which only the
soldiers of a country like ours, knowing no defeat, ever attain, beside perhaps
a Russian admiral, his breast covered with ribbons and decorations, yet
glad to have escaped with his battered cruisers to a neutral port. Near at
hand Aguinaldo himself might be seen chatting with some "little brown
brothers" while from the passing throng of dancers and promenaders might
be called types of the women of all climes, the camelia complexioned blue-
eyed beauties of the North, the brown-eyed and olive-skinned senoritas from
Spain and the slanteyed Chinese or Japanese mestiza and the brown skinned
Filippinos.

The next morning we sailed for Hong Kong. Here we found a British
city of Chinese inhabitants splendidly administered, its architecture English
with a touch of the Orient, its harbor the most beautiful in the world, (the
Bay of Naples and Nagasaki ranking next,) as a port of entry the greatest
in the Orient. Owing to the insufferable heat we left in twenty-four hours
by the steamer Doric for Shanghai, which we discovered to be a wonderfully
picturesque Chinese city, governed by a board of European commissioners.
The streets of Shanghai are full of color: Great gilded signs covered with
Chinese hieroglyphics, bizarre yet artistic, flaunt themselves everywhere, domi*
nating the landscape. Flowers bloom in the greatest profusion in the parks
and along the bund, which is the street lining the water front.

After a brief stay in Shanghai, we crossed the Yellow Sea to Nagasaki
in Japan. The voyage was rendered exciting by our encountering a typhoon
sea. It seems that the typhoon originates in the waters to the west of the
Philippine Islands, moving slowly northward at the rate of about ten miles
an hour with a ■whirling movement. The center of the whirl is calm, and the
velocity of the wind increases toward the periphery. At the circumference
the speed of the wind is frightful. Woe be to the sailing vessel that encounters
one of these storms, and lucky they are to escape, even with the loss of spars
and masts. We saw a number of them, and very much battered they appeared.
While the typhoon moves at the rate of ten miles an hour, the sea is kicked
up by it with the rapidity of thirty miles an hour. I never saw such waves,
and have no immediate desire to see their like again.

Our course led us near the Shushima straights, where a few months ago
occurred the battle of the Sea of Japan. As the captain pointed out the
place where this epoch making event occurred we could observe away off

THE FAR EAST 529

on the horizon the swift Japanese troop ships moving toward Corea, loaded
with men and ammunition for Manchuria battle fields.

In the harbor of Nagazaki we saw the gun boat which picked up the
ill-starred Admiral Rojesvenski immediately after his flag-ship was sunk.

Through the romantic and intensely beautiful Inland Sea we sailed, pass-
ing innumerable islands, terraced, verdent, mountainous, covered with growing
tea and grape hung vines to their very summits. And as we glided on moon-
lit nights, along the liquid pathway, out from the dusk would come the
Japanese fishing boats, like ghosts and again be lost in gloom.

A few days later we were sitting on the porch of the Grand Hotel in
Yokohama. It was a perfect summer evening. The moon was shining over
the Bay, bathing in its pale light the battleships, the great merchantmen,
junks, sampans and all manner of craft.

Between the strains of American airs played by a Japanese orchestra
could be heard the lapping of waves at our feet, waves of the mighty ocean
that at the other side of the world was laving the western coast of America.
A few hundred feet away could be seen the biggest boat in the world, Jim
Hill's giant Minnesota, unloading by electric light her immense cargo of
railroad cars, tobacco, cotton and other staples. Up the street the Japanese
lanterns festooning the tea house of the Hundred and One Steps looked as if
hung in the sky; rickshaws drawn by human horses at a smart trot came and
went up and down the bund, bearing men in White duck suits and gayl'y
attired women. It was all so different, as indeed Japan is all so different
from anything in the world, that it seemed as if we were in fairyland. We
had seen the temples at Nikko and Tokio, the bronze Buddhas at Kamakura
and Nara, we had visited the tea gardens and seen the geisha girls dance;
and we felt as if we really knew something of this land and of its little,
smiling, affable, courteous people, for had we not been three weeks in their
midst? A former Chicagoan who had lived among and done business with
them seven years and who spoke their language after a fashion (for no
foreigner can ever hope to master it) remarked that he understood them a3
little as when he first visited them.

"They don't think as we do and they don't do anything as you would
expect they would," he said. "For instance, in America a judge is supposed
to be chosen from the members of the bar for his experience and fitness; in
Japan a term on the bench is regarded as an apprenticeship for practice at the
bar. The judges are elected by competitive examination from the university
and paid $600 per year. In America it is considered polite for a man to
inquire after the health of his friend's wife. In Japan to do so would be an
insult. An American takes his friends to his home for dinner. A Japanese
gentleman resorts to a tea house with geisha girls to furnish the entertainment.
The American color for mourning is black; the Japanese, white. In

530 THE FAR EAST

America the family mourn when a loved one is killed in battle; in Japan
it rejoices."

Thereupon our friend related die following incident:

"In Tokio the other day I met a Japanese gentleman on the street. He was
dressed in a frock coat, silk hat, white vest and patent leather shoes. I saw
at once that he was attired for some festive occasion, and so asked him what
event he was celebrating. "Didn't you hear?" he replied. "I have juit
received word of the death of my oldest son at Port Arthur, and am giving
a garden party at the Imperial Hotel, and I want you to attend." I went
over for a little while, and found a number of gentlemen all attired like my
friend, drinking bumpers of champagne and clinking glasses amid a chorus of
"Ban zais." Upon inquiry I found that each guest had also lost a son. I
asked one who did not appear so hilarious as the others the cause of his lack
of exuberance, and he replied that his boy had only died in the hospital.

"This is the spirit that animates this doll-like looking race of people,
a race which from appearance alone would be the last you would select for
valor in war. But when you stop to consider that the daily ration of a
soldier is a pound of rice, that with seven pounds of rice he is supplied with a
week's provisions, which he carries in his knapsack, and therefore can subsist
without a commissariat for that length of time, that in endurance he k at least
the equal of any soldier in the world, that he can shoot as straight and is
proud to die, you have one secret of the triumph of Japan and the humila-
tion of Russia."

Subsequent investigation convinced me of the correctness of my friend's
observations. Indeed, one could write a book about the surprises an occi-
dental meets in that beautiful land. My article is already too long, but I
will record one or two before closing.

The policeman on the crossing is a nobleman. He is of die Samurai,
or knighthood, class. The only higher class is the Shogunate, of which the
Mikado is chief. No one really needs a guide in Japan. You can get all
the information you want from the "copper." He will buy your railroad
ticket for you, tell you when your train leaves, for he speaks English, and
probably French; he will bargain with the rickshaw man for you, and would
be highly insulted if you offered him a tip. ,

"Alphonse and Gaston" are outdone every minute by the Jap. His talk
to you, translated, would be somewhat as follows:

"Oh, Magnificent One, deign to cast your glorious orbs on poor little
insignificant me" etc. What he means is: You miserable foreign devil,
I could kick a dozen of you." But after all, it's what he says that counts
for your comfort; not what he thinks. We saw hundreds of Russian prisoners
in the streets of the cities, but heard no insults hurled at them; saw no notice
taken of them by the populace except good natured gazing. The Russian

THE FAR EAST 531

officers were quartered in a temple at Kioto and walked die streets and
visited the bazars unaccompanied and unmolested.

Everybody knows that the Japs are the cleanest people in the world.
When the veterans under Nogi got back to the commissary wagons, after a
week spent in making the greatest forced march in history, when they went
around Kuropatkin's right flank and compelled him to flee from Mukden, the
first thing they asked for was bathtubs. , ,

.There is no illiteracy in Japan. I got into a conversation on the train to
Nikko with two Jap boys, one nineteen years old and the other sixteen.
Each was reading a book; one was Shakespeare in English, the other an
American FouTth Reader in which was described the wonders of the United
States, such as Yellowstone Park, Grand Canon and Niagara Falls. The
Japanese are not a race of gamblers nor drinkers except moderately of a
mild rice wine, nor are they sensual, although to our occidental eyes immoral
(and one could write a book upon their morals or lack of them, perhaps,
and the book, I dare say, could be made interesting enough if one could be
sure of getting it through the mails) ; nor are they intemperate smokers,
although men and women smoke a very mild tobacco in cigarettes and a
tiny pipe; but they are essentially a race of readers, and every spare moment
is spent in learning something.

They lie awake nights thinking what they could do to the United States
in war. They have it all planned out — how they could take the Philippines
over night, wrest Hawaii from us and capture the Panama Canal. The
censor allows the daily press to print these dreams to their heart's content,
and yet I am convinced Japan will never fight us. I do not believe they will
engage in war with any first class power for fifty years. The Japanese
are very poor. The men and women who coal the ships by hand at Naga-
saki are paid ten cents a day, and that is high wages for unskilled labor in
Japan. Expert embroiderers and pottery-makers get 35 cents a day for
work for which we would pay from $4 to $8 a day in Chicago. The
recent war has been a fearful burden upon the Japanese, increasing the per
capita indebtedness from $6 to $27. Modern warfare is costly business,
which Japan fully appreciates. Her ambition is to capture the oriental
market; and this I believe she will do, for she has some wonderful ad-
vantages, such as propinquity, cheap labor and water power, for waterfalls
are tumbling everywhere in Japan. In my judgment all die market we or
Europe can ultimately get in the Orient will be that which Japan is unable
to take care of. Our hope lies alone in her lack of capital, and for awhile
until Manchuria and Korea are developed, her inability to produce raw
materials in large quantities. But she can secure capital from China, and I
believe in time can remedy her lack of raw materials; so, my fellow country-
men, do not allow any visions of future oriental trade to obscure the substan-
tial of our magnificent home market.

532 THE FAR EAST

A KINDERGARTEN CLASS IN NIPPONESE.

MATSUI HANA.

Hal

....Yes.

lie

Dozo

. . Please.

Kudasai Give

Watafyushi ....

( Mr.

Anala ^

San

. J Mrs.
( Miss

Mizuo kudasai

Give me some water

Gozeno kudasai

Give me a meal

O-chao \udasai

Give me some tea

Pano fyudasai

Give me some bread

Gofyigeniva ifyaga

d estiva1}

How are you?

Kon nlchitoa.

Good day

Kon bann>a.

Good evening

O-hayo.

Good morning

Sayonara.

Good bye

No.

As you see, then, I have hung out a few sign boards —
The study of the Nippon language is hard ; for you, more profitless than it
is hard. You, of the West, why should you try to master it? You never can.
What, moreover, is the use of torturing yourself with the most exquisite torment
of which human ingenuity is capable — so politely excruciating is the study of
our language that you would hate yourself even for entertaining a bare
thought of halting a moment, once you are launched in your unfortunate study.
You are going to Nippon? Very good, go, gentlemen — and when there,
speak the English. If you cannot do as much, why, then, don't be modest,
out with your Missouri or Montana American; that will serve you quite as
well. The people of Nippon will understand you — certainly much better
than the best Nipponese spoken by any foreigner.

We, in the use of our tongue, depend so much on euphony. On the part of
a nation whose music has been a silent bat of international mirth, this may
sound a trifle humorous, — to the superior critics of the West. Nevertheless
true. You talk to the Englishman in English; he is delighted. The one
dominant idea that the power of English genius is compelling so remote a race
as the people of Nippon to take up the study of English flatters him; he is
ready to cover a multitude of sins, linguistic, on that consideration. Talk to
the German, to the French in their own tongues, and you will find that both
the German and the French are not a whit less appreciative of their greatness
than the British. Talk to the Nipponese, in Nipponese; all will be different;
not that they would frown, or say "candid" things; they are too polite for
that.

THE FAR EAST 533

All the same they go through a torture indescirible while they are doomed to
listen to the butchery of the language of Yamato. Rhetoric is everything in
the polite speech of the Nipponese; not the grammar. Strictly speaking there
is no such thing as grammar at the present time. To be sure, there are a
number of scholars in the Imperial University of Tokyo and some even out-
side of that scholarly asylum for the strong minded, who are working to
promote the prestige of the imperial land by dignifying its language with a
voluminous book of grammar — to the eternal dismay of the school children,
and to the disgust of those who can tell the difference between a tin horn
tumult and melody. But civilization has its own tax which can never be
denied. Already the effect is visible .

But the kindergarten class I am about to form is to be conducted on the
basis of any other charitable enterprise. Even the few simple sentences at the
head of this article I fancy, will get you by the nap of the neck and make you
pause, turn round and stare, as no polished period in the New Testament (King
James' translation) or a brass band shoutings of Carlyle, or the prudery of
Emersonian sentences ever did. In these break-neck days of business pace,
this simple act of making you stop a moment in spite of yourself, is a distinct
act of virtue, much more valuable than a sermon on the Mount which you
never read now-a-days.

While the study of the Nipponese itself is of little value, it cannot be de-
nied that the study about the language is full of grace.

Years ago, Sir Edwin Arnold came to us haloed with the fame of the au-
thor of the "Light of Asia." It was his first visit to Nippon. The Imperial Uni-
versity honored itself by inviting the distinguished guest to talk to the boys.
The opening remark of his speech was strange ; I was a mere boy, then ; now
it is an ancient history — since then two great wars have been fought in the
Far East, and many suns have been born and buried — still I recall to-day,
as it were a remark of yesterday, what he said. The reason which made him
wish to pay our country a visit, he said, was not the wonder tales told him,
the quaint charms of life so strikingly different from the Western mode of
life; not the works of art which overshadowed the masterpieces of European
art at the great museums of the world; it was not even the peerless beauty
of Mt. Fuji and the scenic wonders of its homeland. No, and you can
hardly guess it. He went on to say: — The chief and the greatest reason
which induced him to take the trip was a little book, a thin little book in the
humblest of covers, without the slightest pretension in its makeup and garb.
One day, in his London office, he found it upon his desk ; it was a grammar —
a Japanese grammar! The novelty of it all, tempted him to open the book.
What he read therein amazed him. There is — so said the grammar — no im-
perative mood in the language of Nippon.

I

/Tf

534 THE FAR EAST

A race of over thirty millions of people ; a nation which has lived long en-
ough to see the cradle and the grave of Greece, of Rome, the Empire of Char-
lemange and Mahomet and Ghenghis Khan, a people who can boast of having
the oldest dynasty existent to-day upon their throne — a race of people, in
short, which has lived through twenty-five centuries, and has not felt the need
of an imperative mood in its speech! To Sir Edwin, this was much more
wonderful than the miracles of a prophet, or a vacant office running after a
politician. It was this, he told us, that he came his far way to see.

Sir Edwin was right in a sense ; we have had no imperative mood — in the
sense of expressing command. Imperative mood expressing entreaty and ex-
hortation, we have always had. "Give me some water" is in the imperative
mood in English. Its Nippon equivalent — "Mizuo k^asat' being literally
interpreted runs, "Some water, deign to lower or bestow."

Language is the garment of national thought. A simple fact that a race can
get along, aye did, as a matter of history get along without feeling the least
inconvenience for five and twenty centuries without an imperative mood of
speech speaks well for its temper. Before the incoming of the Western ideas
levelled us with the civilized, the entire country of Nippon was without the
single statue — save the tombs in the cemetery. But the utter lack of the
imperative mood in our speech was, even at a bargain counter of international
self advertisement, worth all the historic bronzes of Europe. Said Sir Edwin
also: —

Your jinrikisha men and coolies — even at a treaty port such as Yokohama
— speak in a language fit only for the Court of Louis XIV. This also is true,
"Master, honorably deign to mount the car!" they would say. Everywhere
in all ages of the history, there were and are men and women who are
cultured, to the manner born. Can you, however, name many countries where
the gentle culture of civilization has penetrated clean down to the lowest
stratum so that even the puller of carts speaks in the language which would be
perfectly at home in the Court of Louis the Great?

If the language of a race is the garment of its thought, then, like the He-
brews of the days of Isaiah, or the children of the Homeric days, the national
thought of Nippon is clothed — literally clothed in poetry. Take the last expres-
sion I hung out as one of the sign boards at the head of this article ; sayonara.
Translated it is simply good-bye. Now "God be with you" is a gracious^
kindly sentiment. Is it as poetic as "If it must be" which is the literal
translation of "sayonara." At the parting, it has been said, the friendship
comes to flower.

THE FAR EAST

535

SANGATUS SAKURANO SAKUJIBUN.*
A Love Story of Nippon.

BY ADACHI KINNOSUKE.

V^foa^.^ HE beginning of it all was on a dream of a fete day of the
m £"*\ sangatsu sakurano sakujibun. That, as you know, is also the
^^ 1 season when some other kind of flowers open. And it came

^^^l^r to pass in the dovetail work of Providence, there by the shrine
of Ujigami, that they met for the first time, Hosoi Shizuma
and Yone.

They were as young as the year. But those were the days — now so old —
when the hearts of people flowered, like mume, very early in the year. There
was one thing which was not very kindly to them ; for that was the time when
the chonin (man-of-market) was classed, in the contempt of the public, just
above the eta (the pariah) ; and wealth did not serve, as it does to-day, for the
men of lower birth and humbler intellect as their balloon.

An old adage in Nippon: "Mind and money do not go together!"
And Yone — for Fate is ever jealous of the fair — was a daughter of a
chonin.

And Hosoi was a samurai.

And Love — why, he has no caste at all.

And that is just where the trouble came.

II.

At home, when they were back from the fete, Yone's father said to her
mother :

"What a handsome man-of-hue he is getting to be — die young master of
Hosoi, I mean. Almost as fine a fellow as your husband was when you mar-
ried him, wife?"

"Hum!"

A pause — then she said :

It's just that way with that blood-stained family of Hosoi. Their fine
looks are not deeper than their skin, and you would say that they are Buddhas.
But don't talk to me ! Ghouls, demons, that's what they are,
I tell you!"

In order to understand her, you ought to know a few things. About
two generations before this — when samurai used to call their swords "souls" —
Yone's grandfather on her mother's side, touched the sword of Hosoi's ancestor.
The samurai saw that it was intentional. Now, a touch of a chonin was
thought to be the worst stab on the purity of a samurais sword. The samurai

* Copyright 1908, by Adachi Kinnosuke.

536 51 THE FAR EAST

was, perhaps, the most sensitive being under the sky, and he could no more
stand the stain of that type on his sword than a high-spirited woman the loss
of her virtue. The result was that the sword of Hosio's forefather was
washed in blood at once, on the very spot.

They talked some more, the parents of Yone.

Yone listened.

III.

"An impossible case!" mused Hosoi in his study.

"Impossible?" Love has no such word in his vocabulary: so he danced
in Hosoi's eyes and just laughed at him.

As for Yone, she prayed Musubino-Kami in particular, and all the other
eight million gods in general. And why should not all the gods and Buddhas
help her? To be sure, it was no small thing that she was asking of the
divine. Let a man jump over — in those days, I mean — the wall between the
samurai class and chonin! If he succeeds, then let him try next to leap over
the moon ; and I am sure that he will find the latter the easier of the two. But
Yone thought — very properly, too — that the gods and Buddas were made for
that sort of thing.

When, therefore, her faith in the omnipotence of the deities was thoroughly
established in her heart, and the doubt as to the success of her love affair was
a mere cloud of yesterday, there came a pair of large tears into her eyes,
bright and pure as her hope; and a star stealing through the fissure of the
amado fell into them and turned them into wedding jewels.

The night was far advanced.

Through her tears looking at the star — she was sure it was her guardian
star — she smiled, on her lonely bed. Oh, never in all her days had she been
so lonely as on that night. She fell asleep. In her dreams, however, she was
not alone.

IV.

Scarce four months later. By the sea :

"I can but worship you from afar."

"Hush, Yone! My lotus-faced girl is as pure and white and noble as
Fuji-yama. A Buddha should worship her, since she is too good for the
adoration of mortals."

"Oh, no! I dare not ask for too much. Let me see you now and then —
I won't come too close to you. For, do you know, whenever you smile on me
as sweetly as you are doing now, I am afraid that the gods will punish me for
being too happy."

"What nonsense!"

The twilight was falling upon them, and the moon was weaving a curtain
of silver muslin with the sea fog.

THE FAR EAST

537

V.

"Something the matter with her; I'm dead certain of that!" said the
tradesman's worthy wife in one of her prophetic moments.

"But what colour do you make out your fox to be, wife?"

"Love foolishness, my dear!"

"Well, I'll be "

It was very plain to see, and no wonder! She could not hide anything,
the blushing neophyte! She made eyes at the flowers in the garden, without
knowing it ; and a note of a nightingale made her quiver.

There was a terrible confusion in the tradesman's house one night. A fire
broke out not very far from it. The mother sought her daughter in her room.
There was something there that made the mother forget the fire.

The bed was spread on the soft matted floor, to be sure, but it was empty
as a cicada's shell.

Some time afterward:

"Daughter, my daughter, where in the world have you been? You!"
cried her mother, when suddenly she came upon Yone in a dense cloud of
smoke, some distance from the burning house. Yone stammered out that she
had fled at the very first alarm of fire. In her excitement she had forgot to
arouse the house before she left it.

Aye! But there was too little sign of disorder in her toilet and dress. But
a woman! — has she ever forgot her appearance under any circumstances?

VI.

Yone shrieked.

But what really happened to her was that she fell into her mother's arms,
that was all — nothing so terrible in that, surely! But the time and the place
justified her hysteria.

It was after midnight, and she was climbing half way up the bamboo
fence near the back door of her house.

Her parents could get nothing out of Yone. Oh, they punished her,
coaxed her, threatened her, and all that — in vain.

To the great surprise of Yone, her parents allowed her full freedom.
There is something ticklish in that sort of liberty — that is to say, to those who
are world-wise. And Yone, simple as she was, did feel rather uncomfortable.
But what could she do? Youth, poetry, passion were her masters, and they
are the greatest cynics on earth, who laugh at all precautions.

"What must he be thinking of me — of my absence?" was her thought,
her only thought, night and day.

538 THE FAR EAST

VII.

"Doubted? Oh, no! How could I, and live?"

"Oh, my poor, poor lord! Your pain was cruel, so cruel, I know!"

"But what a paradise after the torment!"

The voices were quick, passionate; nevertheless, they were those of de-
votees who worshiped. One might have said that the lovers but articulated the
wild music of their heart-throbs. That was the only thing which Yone's
father, who played a spy on his daughter, could catch distinctly that night.
The rest was the sweet wedding of murmurs, like a concert of sighs.

On his way home, Hosoi did not know that he had an escort. The young
samurai, masked, disappeared through a wicket. His escort remained out in
the night. There where he stood, ten thousand shadows of the universe tumbled
down in a heap about him. He outraged the solemnity, which was neither of
man nor of things, with his' antics. His gestures were monstrous. As for his
facial expressions, they were far more hideous, as ugly as the ugliest children
of imagination, because one could not see them, and had to guess at them.

When you remember what Hosoi's ancestor had done to that of his wife,
do you wonder that the poor man-of-market lost his head when he found that
his daughter's lover was a Hosoi?

VIII.

One corner of the dozo (a thick-walled godown) of the chonin, on the
following day, was turned into a Spanish cloister of the sunless days of the
Inquisition.

Yone's arms were fastened at her back; and the hemp rope had no
heart. It was flung across the horizontal beam over her head, and its free
end was wound about a cylindrical roller turned by a crank.

"Consent, will you?" shrieked her mother, savage as a tigress.

At the obstinate silence of her daughter, she turned the crank. The
girl was suspended in the air, her toes barely touching the earthen floor. The
entire weight of her body, therefore, was on her twisted arms. Oh. they
billowed, twitched, and twisted in the paroxysm of pain, those exquisite lily
arms of hers! There were no tears in her eyes, into which blood rushed in
tongues of fire. There is something of a martyr in every woman. Yone had
a great deal of it. Her black hair fell in a huge, unconfined mass, full of
light, upon her snow-pale face. One might have said that heaven's penman
had spilt some ink on the pale book of death.

Not quite eighteen, with the features which looked like the composite
photograph of poet's dreams — in short, nature's aristocrat! Many (and
surely Hosoi was one of them) who had seen this refined bloom on the
coarse stalk of a tradesman's family, had felt as if they had found a chaste
lily where they had looked for a tadpole.

THE FAR EAST

539

It is true that time and again faint groans escaped her as the rope tightened ;
her features twisted also. But her stoicism was Buddha-like.

"You filthy beast, you! Will you consent — yes or no?" cried her mother,
more furious than ever. "Will you — yes or no? Answer? Why don't you
answer me? You unclean thing!"

The crank turned with a fearful sound, like that of the smashing of bones.

The plan which Yone's mother proposed, and for the execution of which
she demanded the girl's consent, was this:

Yone should keep the appointment on that very night ; allure her lover to
the very verge of the cliff where there was a stool-like rock, and, in the
midst of her love-making, step behind him and lean on his shoulders — a
common attitude with the Japanese lovers — and then suddenly push him
violently down the abyss.

All of a sudden, the girl who had been so stoical and stone-like, gave
way.

She consented.

On the following conditions:

That she should be allowed to leave her lover on the verge of the precipice
or make him walk to it himself; and that her mother, instead of herself, should
push the young man over.

It was her mother, she argued, who should take revenge on the offspring
of the murderer of her grandsire. Was it not cruel enough punishment for

Yone to witness the fearful death of her lover?

It was agreed that Yone should make her lover walk to the edge of the
rock under the pretext of spying a boat, and then her mother should step out
softly from her bidding place in a little cove close to the verge, and dash him
down the chasm.

IX.

The moon was red, and, like a ripe fruit, was falling into the silver plate
of the sea. Hosoi watched it from the shore, by the cove. He was dream-
ing sweetly, just like the moonlit sea at his feet; but his feelings were full of
strange, restless thrills, just like the sea.

He did not wait there very long that night.

"Are moshi!" with which Yone threw herself at his feet and clung to his
sleeves.

No passionate embraces were exchanged — for the hand of culture is very
strong in Japan — even upon the fever heat of love.

"Listen, Yone; to-morrow at the usual hour . . . will that suit
you? I have arranged everything with my old nurse. We will be married
at her house."

"Oh, but "

"Now, Yone, you have promised me never to use that expression."

540 THE FAR EAST

"But what will become of you — you a samurai, and marry a daughter
of a chonin! Think of the anger of your father; your mother would die of
tears!"

"Oh, you have been telling me that for these three months!"

Of course Hosoi was immovable.

The plan which he proposed, and which at last, after many long protests,
she accepted, was this:

They would be married the following night. And then, immediately after
the ceremony, they would leave the town and find a little cozy corner in a
mountain village far away — what a dream of a happy cottage home that
would be for them!

"I will gather all the wild flowers you want, Yone. Ah ! how I will en-
joy chopping wood for our own hearth!" laughed Hosoi.

Their future, to him, was a perfect pastoral.

Then the girl sobbed.

Had Hosoi known how heroically she had forced back those sobs! He
could hardly believe his own ears. He took the drooping face of the girl in
his hands.

"What, tears!"

But he could not imagine the cause of it, unhappy Hosoi.

Silencing his questions. Yone said to him :

"This is our last night at this dear place, our tryst. And then, too, I
am too happy. I can't contain myself. You see I have resisted my weak-
ness for some time. I could not stand the idea that I was to degrade you.
But I feel that I can resist it no longer — forgive me, will you not? I am
ready to do a very great penance for this' Ob, I am too happy: too much
bliss gives me tears!"

And Hosoi, as is so often the case with lovers — supreme egoists that they
are ! — allowed himself to be deceived.

"Let us have the sweetest time here to-night, for we may not come back
to this place again. Come!" she said, and through the dusk looked up to h;s
face.

And the stars fell into her tears.

"Will you do me one sweet deed?"

"What is that, Yone?"

"Call me your own wife — just once."

"My wife? Why, my darling, precious wife! My own!"

"That is the sweetest thing I have ever heard," she murmured softly,
dreamily, as if to herself. Some more tears came into her eyes.

' The hours — so sweet for Hosoi ; very sad for Yone — flew like wings.

"Will you condescend to do me another favor to-night?"

THE FAR EAST

541

"If you but speak, Yone, you may be sure that your lover hears a com-
mand of a queen."

"Condescend, then, to lend me your sword, Hosoi-san — just one of them."

"My sword? What do you mean, Yone? My sword?"

"Yes, your haori (over garment) and mask also."

"Why, of course! But tell me first, will you not, what use you may find
for them! Forgive me for saying so, but there is something strange in your
ways to-night. I can't help but notice it."

She laughed a merry little laugh — that was her only reply. One may
say of it, "What a superhuman heroism!" But really, that is no word for it.
And yet, you hear a man say that a woman is a coward.

After a little while, seeing that her lover was not quite satisfied, she reas-
sured him:

"Oh, nothing — nothing specially!" with that brave mastery over herself
which duped Hosoi completely. "You see, the moon has gone and the roads
are dark to-night. If one should see that I am a samurai, I certainly would be
safer, don't you think?"

"Allow me to accompany you then."

"Oh, no! If ever we were to be found together!"

"But *

"Ah! kochino hito, did you not swear on that very sword of yours that
you would never deny anything to me? And now, at the very first thing I
have ever asked of you "

For a samurai to part with his sword, that certainly was an extraordinary
thing. But was he not ready to die for her any time, and just to satisfy her
whims even? And, after all, is Love ever so happy as when he is called
upon to make some heroic sacrifice?

He consented.

Then she urged him to return ahead of her that night. She wanted to pray
to the gods of the sea by herself, after he was gone. All appeared reasonable
to Hosoi.

Then the farewell.

Her eyes, half closing in transport, as if she were for an instant peeping
into heaven, in spite of the bitter tears which moistened them ; and that smile
of hers that stole over her face — the face which was feeling the last caress of
Hosoi's eyes on this earth.

They say that an atom of pleasure snatched from the very chaos of pain,
like a drop of cold water on the lips of the burning, is the most exquisite. And
the most exquisite pleasure was hers, poor girl !

As for Hosoi, who was as utterly ignorant of the situation as the rock by
his side, he laughed inwardly at the stupidity of the Chinese emperor who had

542 THE FAR EAST

hunted pleasure through the forest of flesh, over the lake of wine, and through
the scented boudoirs of three thousand women.

"Augustly return home, safely!" said the girl.

The young man hesitated a moment, without knowing just why. Yone
was at his feet once more.

There was something in the expression of the girl which was more than
enough to make the reputation of the most ambitious artist.

X.

The ghost-like sea fog dropped a curtain between them.

She confined her huge mass of hair into his mask, and donned his haori.
She threw away her enormous obi (girdle) and gathered her dress with her
under sash. She thrust into this the sword — to die with the "soul" of her be-
loved at her side ! It gave her colourless lips their last smile.

Then she rose.

But she fell again upon the sands where her lover had sat, and caressed
the spot. And, as if she were struck with a bright idea all of a sudden, she
took off the mask and let down her hair and gathered it with her left hand
over her nape. Then she unsheathed the sword with her right, and drew the
razor-like sheen through the dark mass, like a nun shaving her head when she
renounces the world. She dug a little grave in the sandy spot which she had
caressed with her bosom. In it she buried her hair.

Freely, this time, for there was none by her side from whom she should
conceal her emotions, she watered the grave with her silent tears. In order
that, perhaps, the seed which she had buried might spring up, flower, and bear
fruit in a kinder day — in the garden of her lover's memory land.

Failing to find her at his nurse's house, Yone was sure that Hosoi would
come there the very next night — and — "If he would wait for me in vain, and
in my stead find my hair ; if he would hear in the tiding of winds of my death
(she thought)? If he would come to me to join me, would I not welcome
him, oh, with what outbursts of joy ! And will I not make him happy in that
shadow-entangling world, as in this?"

Nevertheless, with that transcendental logic of women :

"May he live long and happily," was her last prayer.

Again she wept over that sacred spot wherein she had buried the glory
of her youth.

She covered her head in the mask again and wandered out of the cove,
almost lifeless, all in a dream. She climbed the steep slant of the rocky
ledge stoopingly, with her hand on the hilt of the sword, so that the end of the
scabbard might protrude from under the over garment and attract her mother's
attention. i i '•■ , ' i iv.; $. "'1

THE FAR EAST 543

As soon as she reached the top of the ledge she made as long strides as
she could. Happily, her height was not much lower than her lover's, and the
stool-shaped rock was within a few paces. She sunk down upon it. She
stared into the abyss below.

A moment.

And she was knocked from behind with such violence that she was
robbed of her breath.

She heard the blood-curdling shriek above her head:

"My family's foe; my daughter's tempter!"

How completely was the mother revenged! — on the verge of the cliff,
smiling hideously over the abysmal grave of that shameless wretch, Hosoi
Shizuma — as she thought.

Before the echoes of her voice woke from the rock walls there came to her,
mingled with the thunders of the waves storming the reefs below, accompained
with the groans, laughters, and melodies of the mysterious, a voice — a human
voice, — a woman's voice!

It said: "Farewell, mother! — Farewell!"

Her own daughter's voice!

She reeled.

Burning from the fire of her emotion and freezing from the ice of dread,
almost at the same time ; there she was, the mother ! What an awful pendulum
swinging over the verge of insanity with heaven and earth in huge eruption
before her eyes !

All at once a sweet, strange thought came to the stricken mother — as it
does so often to a person in a spout of emotional excitement.

The demon of the cliff was playing a trick on her! So she turned to th<j
cove, where she was sure that her daughter was weeping over the sad fate of
her lover.

She called: "Yone! Oh, Yone-ya, Yone-ya, Yone!"

From dim corners somewhere came back to her the reply:

"Yone-ya! Oh, Yone-ya — ya! Yone! Yone — ne — ne!"

Echoes mocked her.

Suddenly her arms shot up, and as suddenly they came to a halt in mid
air. Then not only her arms, but her whole body sunk as in a process of
putrefaction.

Once more — cruel things, these resurrections with the certainty of death
at the end of them!

She flew down the steep slant into the sheltered cove — but an hour ago
Love's sweetest bower!

"My daughter must have fainted there," she thought.

i

■

544 THE FAR EAST

She forgot her atrocious act at the verge of the cliff, and with it the
sweetness of revenge, tasted but for the fraction of a second, and the tragic
cry, "Farwell, mother!" — she forgot all, the hapless woman.

She was there in the empty cove; felt every corner and nook of it with
her outstretched arms, like a miser after a lost coin in a lightless closet.

And then, at last, the recollection of what she had done, seen, heard,
there by the cliff, rushed back into her head —

She was found senseless and was taken home. She was restored, but
neither to her home nor to the world, but to the bosom of the Buddhist temple
and to the hell of remorse.

THE NEW EAST IN THE MAKING.

BY ASADA MASUO.

ON THE SETO WARES:

•JThe story of the Seto kilns harks back to an ancient day, so early have
they produced different wares from the kilns that other wares, such as
Kutani and Banko, Kiomizu, Izumo and Karatsu wares were known
under the general name of Seto wares. They manufactured — the
earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. As for the earthenware, the
Seto kilns manufactured them from the days of the gods. Some seven
hundred years ago, in the days of Emperor Go-Horikawa, there lived a
man in the country of Yamashiro called Kato Kagemasa. He went to
China in the days of Sung, stayed there six years, every day of which he
devoted to the study of keramic art in China. After returning home,
he happened to discover a clay of excellent quality in the village of Seto,
in the country of Owari. He stayed in that place, therefore, and
began the manufacture of pottery. It was from his day that the fame
of the Seto ware went abroad throughout the country. He succeeded
in inventing different styles of keramic wares which were received very
kindly. Later in the Eleventh Moon of the first year, in the reign of
Emperor Go-Fushimi, one of the family of Kato Tamikichi by name,
was deeply impressed with the decline of keramic art of his day. He
made his way down to Kyushu. There he studied the methods of
manufacture of porcelain wares, and coming back to his own kilns at
Seto, began to manufacture porcelain. ^JThe Seto kilns began the
manufacture of export wares for the first time in the second year of
Ansei (1855 A. D.) In the fifth of Meiji (1872) the Secto kilns
began to manufacture wares after the foreign pattern. In the eighth

THE FAR EAST 545

year of Meiji (1875) Mr. Okura Magobei, of Morimura Company
by contract with the Seto kilns, had them manufacture coffee cups
and tea cups after the foreign pattern. Since then the export trade of
the kilns advanced steadily. The following is the statistical report of
the six years, beginning with 1902:

Year Am't of manufacture in yen Am't of export in yen.

1902 1,068,739 641,243

1903 854,991 683,999

1904 933,480 747,588

1905 1,046,091 836,872

1906 1,322,240 1,057,952

1907 1.151,172 920,937
€JOne of the principal foreign customers of the Seto v/are is the United
States. The panic which affected the American market last year had a
direct bearing on the Seto industry. The figures for the last year show a
decline of 137,015 yen from the figure of 1906. Owing to the con-
stant and steady upward tendency of wages to be paid to artisans, and
because of the unfavorable conditions of the foreign markets of today
largely through the demand for cheap wares, the tendency of the Seto
kilns, and practically all of the other kilns throughout the country, is to
emphasize die domestic trade at the expense of the foreign trade.

THE RUSSIAN ATTEMPTS AT THE COMMAND OF THE WATERWAY TRANS-
PORTATION BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE FAR EAST.

<IThe Government of Russia since the conclusion of the War has been
steadily affording many an effective assistance to the steamship lines be-
tween Europe and the Far East. According to a recent report, there are
the following Russian lines operating in the Far East: ^[First, the Rus-
sian Volunteer Fleet; CJ (a) the Vladivostok-Nagasaki-Shanghai line
has at the present time three steamers in commission. One is a leased
steamer from Germany, another from England. €| (b) The Vladiv-
ostok-Tsuruga line has two steamers, one of which is a German steamer
chartered by the Russian. f[(c) Vladivostok-Odessa line. This line
is to make twenty-four sailings in this year, — in other words, it is to afford
one round trip service every month. But this line has not begun its actual
operation as yet. <JSecond, East Asia Steamship Company. <| (a)
Vladivostok-Shanghai line had three vessels in commission at first, but
ore of them has been applied to the irregular line between Kamchatka and
Okhotsk, ^f(c) Vladivostok- Yokohama-Nagasaki line has one steam-
er in commission, *I(c) Vladivostok-Nagasaki-Lampa (?) line. This
is a new line which the company has opened up of late. It is the inten-
tion of the company to extend its Vladivostok and Shanghai sailings, and
in order to supply sufficient facility, which has been crippled in its opera-

546 THE FAR EAST

tion by the extension of the line, two additional ships were put in commis-
sion on the Vladivostok and Shanghai line. It has, at present therefore,
six ships in operation altogether. *I(d) Kamchatka-Okhotsk line (ir-
regular service). At present there is one steamer in commission for this
line, ^(e) Vladivostok-Nagasaki-North China line. At present
this line is not in active operation. ^Third, Russian Steamship Naviga-
tion Company. *I(a) Odessa-Vladivostok line. At first this line was
advertised extensively as the competing line against the Volunteer Fleet,
and in Russia it was reported some time ago that the Company had twelve
vessels in commission for this line. One ship made the sailing some time
ago, but since then nothing more has been heard. <J Fourth, The Far
East Steamship Company. This Company has two steamers in com-
mission, maintaining a service between Vladivostok and North China
points via Nagasaki. Their ships, however, have been attached by the
Northern Coal Mining Company of Nagasaki on the non-payment of
40,000 yen, and are detained in the harbor of Nagasaki

THE OVERFLOW OF THE HAN RIVER IN CENTRAL CHINA.

^[Following a period of violent downpour and windstorm, the early half
of April of this year has scattered distress over the central provinces of
China. The flood is reported to be especially disastrous in its effects,
and the most serious of recent years. In the Province of Honan it is ex-
ceedingly severe. The sudden rise of the water of the Han is usually due
to the sudden melting of snow on the mountains at its head waters. The
tremendous fall of snow in the middle of March had done a great deal of
damage both to human life and cattle, as well as to the houses in this
section of the country. At many points the snow fell to the height of
twenty feet. With the beginning of April, however, there was a sudden
change in temperature. The thermometer rose. There was a violent wind
and electric storm, accompanied by a terrific downpour. This unquestion-
ably, was the cause of the sudden rise of the Han. It attained a rise of
seventeen feet. The full force of this tremendous flood struck the mouth
of the Han River about the 6th of April in the evening. At the time, a
violent wind and rain storm prevailed, and the Chinese junks which were
at anchor at the mouth of the Han, several thousand in number, attempted
to escape the storm and flood the best they could. Panic, collision in the
storm added to the sad scene, resulting in the sinking, capsizing and wreck-
ing of several hundred vessels, and the loss of life in this melee was
great. The number of Chinese junks and boats which gather about the
mouth of the Han and at Hankow, attains as high as 10,000; and
according to the statement of the Chinese, not less than 1 ,608 vessels
were lost in the tempest, and in the efforts of panic stricken sailors to
escape death, no less than three thousand men were said to have lost their

THE FAR EAST 547

lives. The loss of goods amounted in value to over 2,000,000 of tael.
The overflow of the Han River caused naturally a tremendous rise in the
Yangtse River. On the 7th day of April, within twenty-four hours the
gauge showed an increase of water from 9 feet 10 inches to 10 feet 6
inches. On the 8th of April it arose to 1 4 feet 1 0 inches, and was stead-
ily on the increase, until by the 22nd of April it rose to 31 feet and 1
inch The disastrous effect of this flood would tell very seriously not
only on the domestic trade of central China, but on its foreign trade.

THE EXPANSION OF THE MERCANTILE MARINE OF CHINA.

<JFor some time China has given many an indication of a serious attempt
at the increase of her mercantile marine. The government has sent its
instructions to the provincial heads throughout China, to inaugurate a
thorough investigation about the condition of the Chinese merchant marine,
also the actual condition of the steam-ship lines, both domestic and foreign.
It was reported sometime ago that China is on the eve of establishing new
lines of steam-ship service; one from Shanghai to the different points of
the United States via the Nippon ports: another line from Chifu to the
different ports of Nippon via Port Arthur and the ports of Korea: still
another line from Hongkong to the Atlantic ports, by way of the ports
in the South Pacific: still another line connecting Amoy with Teinan,
Manila and the points in Formosa and the islands of the South Pacific.
These four great steam-ship lines have been already decided upon, it
was said. <IThe plan of establishing these four lines is by the organiza-
tion of a steam-ship company with its headquarters at Shanghai, and its
branches at different ports of call. The company is to be a stock company,
and its bonds are to be disposed of among Chinese merchants. Since the
income of such steam-ship company would not be able to defray the ex-
penditure for first years of its organization, the government is to assist
the company with subsidy ample enough to carry on its business, on the
condition that the company is to refund in installments a definite amount to
the government, at such period when the steamship company will be able
to conduct its business independently and profitably. As soon as the
stocks are marketed the company is to carry on its operations without loss
of time, beginning with Nippon, Manila, and South Pacific lines. The
stocks of the company are to be handled through a commercial bank.
The operation of the company will commence with the home waters,
and to be extended to the American and European waters.

RUSSIAN NAVY IN THE FAR EAST.

<flln spite of the impression prevailing in some quarters of the English
speaking world that the Russian Navy in the Far East is a thing of the
past, we understand from a report of Russian newspapers that Russia
is about to organize a squadron under the magnificent title of the Amur

548 THE FAR EAST

Squadron. The squadron is to be composed of ten gun-boats of about
250 tons displacement, which are to be used entirely on the Amur River.
These vessels are now being put together in eastern Siberia. The activity
of Russia on the Amur at this time is significant. There are a number
of people who look upon the construction of the Amur Railway as distinctly
a war measure ; indeed there are those who take that to be an out and out
declaration of war on the part of Russia. At any rate, even to the
indifferent and the careless observers of Eastern affairs, it is patent that an
appropriation bill of no small amount of money for the railway (and at
this time too, when Russian finance is by no means seeing its flower days)
which passed the Duma can certainly never be justified on the ground of
profitable commercial enterprise. Look as you may there is nothing that
justifies the expenditure of so many million rubles along the bank of the
Amur, from either the commercial or industrial point of view. It is clear
also, on the other hand, that had Russia in the last war such facilities as
the Amur Railway could afford on the day of its completion, she would
not have been placed in the difficult position of supplying so much food
material for her soldiers in Manchuria through the Trans-Siberian Rail-
way. The Amur Railway will solve, to a very large extent, the difficult
question of provisioning the Manchurian or the Siberian Army of Russia.
At any rate, in these days when more than half the world is comfortable
in the conviction that Russia is completely down and out, as far as the
eastern politics are concerned, it is refreshing to listen to the eloquence of
simple facts. Let those men who delight over the dream of Russian fall
and disgrace in the East, take a moment or two to ponder carefully over
the following significant fact; Two-thirds of Manchuria is still under
Russian dominance. The Russo-Nippon War — this we people of Nippon
know but too well — settled nothing whatever. It landed Nippon in the
air, not quite as completely as in the closing days of the Chino-Nippon War
to be sure, but still in the air. For all the prestige of a first class power
of the world will not actually guarantee the future welfare of a nation, and
it is a high time for the English speaking races who have no small interest
in the future of Asian markets, in the politics of the Far East, to take note
of this simple, ragged and stubborn fact.

THE WORKINGS OF THE SOUTH MANCHURIAN RAILWAY.

Baron Goto, the President of the South Manchurian Railway Company, is reported to
have said in his speech before the third general meeting of the company, held in the
To\yo Chamber of Commerce Building on the 27th of June 1908 :

^Originally our company hoped to complete its work of reconstruction
of the line by the end of 1907. This was made impossible, owing to
the inability of a number of European and American workshops to turn
out the material necessary for the reconstruction work as quickly as we had

^

\f\\

THE FAR EAST 549

hoped. The iron works abroad had been completely occupied with
previous orders Which they had contracted 'before ours was placed with
them. Moreover, the climate of Manchuria is such that the three months
in the year, January, February and March are a period which would
prevent any kind of construction work. Owing to these reasons, the com-
pany expected to see the completion of the reconstruction work by the 30rh
of June. 1908. However, through special efforts put forth by the
officials of the company, we have seen the completion of the work on the
25th of May. In other words, about one month before the specified time.
This is a matter which affords us great satisfaction, a matter over which
we should express our thanks to the different officials engaged in this
work. <IAs to the work of changing the narrow gauge to the standard
broad gauge throughout the entire distance of the South Manchurian line,
the world has entertained a rather pessimistic view. We have heard it
said on every hand, that owing to the panicky condition of financial circles,
the company will be compelled to take a very tame and conservative at-
titude in this particular line. But it was evident that had the company
adopted such methods in the reconstruction work, it would not only
have consumed a long period of time before completion, but the work itself
would have been highly unsatisfactory after completion, and in some places,
compelling us to rebuild over again. In other words, we might have been
forced into double expenditure. These considerations compelled us to
finally decide once for all, to raise foreign loan for this reconstruction
work. In this manner the reconstruction work of the line
was able to show the present highly satisfactory result. <JThe
operating expenditure in mining coal at Fushun was at first 4 yen
and 20 sen per ton. At that time it was thought that by about 1904 or
1 905 we might be able to mine coal at the low production cost of 2 yen
and 70 sen, but thanks to the very careful measures taken for the economic
development of the coal mine at Fushun last year, the production cost of
2 yen and 50 or 60 sen per ton has been realized. Of course at the
present time, the methods of mining are such that a large quantity of co&l
is not obtainable. CJThere are those who criticise adversely the scheme of
constructing hotels in connection with the railway activity, on the ground
that that is unnecessary. But in the colonial policy in this twentieth
century, the establishment of suitable hotels is one of the most im-
porant items. The reason is apparent. In a section of the country which
is comparatively little developed, it is very difficult to retain a number of
travelers to any very great extent without such hotel accommodation.
Unless however, the undeveloped portion of the world be happy enough to
engage the attention of good and active citizens from abroad, the chances
of seeing the development of a number of enterprises of different types in
such half developed territories are rare. It is to encourage such visitors,

550 THEFAREAST

and also to encourage his longer stay by offering sufficient protection for
health, that the establishment of hotels with suitable provision for physical
needs and comforts is considered to be highly important. There are
critics who seem to condemn the policies of our government toward Manch-
uria, and severely criticise also the methods and management of the South
Manchurian Railway Company. They claim that our policies are utterly
in violation to the "open door" policy, and the policy of equal rights and
opportunities in Manchuria for all. These critics are entirely in the wrong.
As a matter of simple fact, the attitude of both the Nippon government
and the South Manchurian Railway toward Manchuria is such that it
would be very difficult to find so liberal a policy, so kindly an attitude for
the "open door" policy in the entire history of colonization enterprises of the
world. ^Although our railway is one of the most important trunk lines of
the world, still we are entirely dependent on the East China Railway of
Russia. For that reason, both our government and our company must
enter into a definite agreement with the Russian government and her
East China Railway Company, and avoid by all means the futile and
useless competition against them. <|The steam-ship line connecting Tairen
with Shanghai is to be opened in the very near future. In a neaT future,
also, we are to open a line to Hongkong, Philippine Islands, Australia and
America.

OF BOOKS ON THE FAR EAST.

BY ASINO KOJIRO.

THE TRAGEDY OF RUSSIA IN PACIFIC ASIA*

One story of the Russo-Nippon War which is likely to remain.

XT is the Russian side of the War which Mr. Frederick Mc-
Cormick gives us in his two volumes. He belongs to the
happy race of historians fathered by Xenophon and Caesar;
he was an eye witness of the great battles of Liao-yang, of the
Shatho and of Mukden; also he was in Port Arthur when
the first attack fell upon it by sea. Mr. McCormick served throughout the
War as the associated Press correspondent attached to the Russian army.

And Mr. McCormick, unlike so many war correspondents with whom
the enterprising publishers of the West honored the War, can write. There
is, moreover, something of a historian in the pen he handles, a somewhat differ-
ent affair from the novelist's quill pluming itself with the stage airs of a
Clio.

* By Frederick McCormick.

(Outing Publishing Company, New York. $6.00 net.)

a °
at
< &

I

p

THE FAR EAST 551

"The solution," says the author, referring to the war as the up-shot of a
half-a-century old problem for the West in East Asia, "may be likened to
the game of ten pins. Japan one of the four powers vitally concerned and
only the third in size and wealth in swift succession;

"CO Captured the sea from Russia, the largest and wealthiest;

"(2) Destroyed the line of defence of the Russian Eastern Empire;

"(3) Segregated and captured the capital of the Russian Eastern Em-
pire;

"(4) Captured the 'neutural zone* of the Russian land concession
(Liao-tung) ;

"(5) Captured the whole new coast of the Russian Eastern Empire;

"(6) Captured the Russian base (Liao-yang) ;

"(7) Destroyed the Russian offensive; (battles of Sha-Ho and San-
chia-p'u) ;

"(8) Captured the Russian refuge, the Manchurian capital, Mukden;

"(9) Captured and destroyed the whole Russian mobile navy;

"(10) Ended the war with a timely and profitable peace, with con-
cessions of Russian territory, property, franchises etc."

And the two imposing volumes before us are the story of it all — in detail,
vivid with the vividness of the colors of fire and blood which he saw with his
own eyes.

Just as the war reached its climax at the Battle of Mukden, so the
story of it, the work of Mr. McCormick, comes to its full flowering in the des-
cription of the greatest battle ever fought in the memory of man.

"I never, in all the two weeks of terrible battle, heard one hopeful word
or knew of one from any supposedly sane and intelligent Russian officer," is
one of the remarks with which Mr. McCormick introduces the story of the
great battle. And in the single sentence he gives a picture of the spirit of
Russian soldier that is dead. And the army conquered in hope, is defeated
long before the first shot of the actual battle is fired.

"In the east the cannon flashes could be seen striding without a sound
like a long line of gaunt specters back and forth in the dark midnight sky.
In front, yet still the rifle clatter, chug, and occasionally ominous quiet! and
over all, the soft witching music of the Geisha from the tireless band in the
mess room stole into our houses where, with a colleague I stood behind a mat-
battened window to listen. At the same time there was the sound of revelry.
The surrounding had all the outward suggestion of a night in decaying Rome
where all the furture was involved in one last throw of the dice." Can there
be a more vivid picture of the night fight, and of the Russian camp in battle?

552 THE FAR EAST

And thenceforth the alert prose of the author keeps pace with the rapid and
ever shifting scenes and fortunes of the hapless Grand Army of Russia ;

"In four days the Japanese marched forty versts, fighting four desperate
and successful battles turning the Russian right from the parallel to the meri-
dian. The adroit and master achievement would not perhaps have amazed
the Russian armies had it not shielded the advance of General Nogi's Pori
Arthur Army, whose presence became now positively known by die capture
of prisoners in the vicinity of Yu-hun-tun. This event disclosed the imminent
fate of the Sha River line and electified the army with the alarm, 'Nogi is
flanking!' "

Later on when the battle ripened into the gruesome, goresome denoumeni,
the author gives us many a page Which the realism of the feature should bind
into its literary bible. For example this ;

"The dead on the west had not been buried for four days. There was
blood everywhere behind the main position at the redoubts; blood of the
slaughtered beef, flesh of animals killed by projectiles, and dead men's faces!
Here where by the hundred and the thousand men's lives are cropt!' were
thousands of infantry supports sleeping among the dead draught and riding
animals, and the debris of slaughtered cattle and sheep, and bursting shrapnel.
Further south along the line were more supports, hugging the firm earth of
which they seemed a part; it would not be long until some of them were of it. A
hundred feet from the track six horses had been killed by a brisant. A
brisant routed a wagon-train with which I was moving and the soldiers by the
roadside taking no notice of the brisant, only quarreled about the horse feed."

The author takes you as by the hand, through the battles which made the
valleys of the Liao forever historic; as for the fights by sea, which he did not
see, there are only bare outlines of them in this work. But the tales of the
great war are after all, but half of this work. These two volumes of Mr.
McCormick throw a deal of light upon things, men and problems which did
not begin and didn't end with the Russo-Nippon war. Looked at from the
standpoint of a study of the Far Eastern question pure and simple, "The
Tragedy of Russian in Pacific Asia" is a commanding work. Then, too,
there are few books indeed through which all sorts and conditions of Russian
soldiers and adventures and hapless peasants pass with as much truth and life
as through the pages of these volumes.

Moreover, if you would only take this book in your hand, if you but
open it, you will read it through. What more can one say of the compelling
charm of so serious a work?

Km I

a tj

S1:

h 5
I 2

[*- ^

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Just Published

In Korea with Marquis llo

BY

George Trumbull Ladd, LL D,

Illustrated. $2.50 net. Post paid, $2.70

THE CONTENTS
Rulers and People
Resources and Finance
Education and the Public Justice
Foreigners and Foreign Relations
Wrongs : Real and Fancied
Missions and Missionaries
July. 1907, and After
The Solution of the Problem
The Invitation
First Glimpses of Korea
Life in Seoul
The Visit to Pyeng-Yang
Chemulpo and other Places
The Departure

Personal Reminiscences and Impressions
The Problem : Historical
The Compact

\

W> Tg

^

Bl

Undoubtedly the most important work on Korea and Japan, as far as their present relation! are
concerned, that has been brought out. Professor Ladd had, through his relations with Marquis Ito,
very exceptional facilities for personal observation in Korea, and unprecedented opportunities for
obtaining inside information and accurate knowledge as to the past and present conduct of J&pan
__ and her present intentions. Much hitherto unpublished
material was placed in his hands enabling him to estab-
lish beyond reasonable doubt the truth about certain
matters which he discusses in his book. The book is
partly the account of pe sonal experience described in
a readable and interesting way, and in part a serious first
hand ditcussion of a weighty political problem, and it is
consequently of interest both to those who waDt nicely
a surface picture of conditions and to those who want to
study the problem seriously. No one can, in the future.
write hist' ry of these events or discuss them with author-
ity, without making himself familiar with the views and
conclusions of Prof, Ladd in this book.

' Written
inc books

fith great care. It is one of the most in-
n the East that has jet been published.
- Philadelphia Inquirer.

"It cannot fail to be of interest"

-King and present King of Kc

-Louisoille Courier-Journal.

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

A New Book on Travels in the Far East.

55to Waters mh (fyzmi

BY F. DUMONT SMITH
BEAUTIFUL CLOTH BINDING, $1.50

46 full-page Illustrations
INCLUDING THREE CARTOONS BY ALBERT T. RE1D

This is an instructive and intensely interesting story of what Senator

Smith saw and heard last year on his trip to Hawaii,

Manila, japan and China.

CRANE & COMPANY

Publishers, Topeka, Kansas

^^^^O THOSE who wish to own works of
^^ J unquestioned authority on the Far East
— an opportunity:

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N Korea with Marquis Ito.

By Prof. George Trumbull Ladd, Prof esse;
of Philosophy, Yale University, [477 pages.
Illustrated), - -

$2.50

r rAKENING of China.

lu Prof. W. A. P. Martin, for over Twemy
ars President oj the Peking University,
rfusely Illustrated)

HE FAR EAST,

For One Year, -

OUR SPECIAL COMBINATION OFFER,

$3.80

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WO for almost the price of One.

The most exhaustive history of the Russo-Japanese
War from the Russian side:

V^vHE Tragedy of Russia in Pacific Asia.

^^ J By Frederick McCormick, the Associated Press

^^■i^^ Correspondent with the Russian Army.

Two large volumes, profusely illustrated with photo-
graphs and drawings by the author, and maps, - - - $6.00, net

PAP? PA^T For One Year,

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OST OF our subscribers began with the first is
of the Magazine. Your subscription will expire with
the issue for September. Send us NOW $7.00 and
we shall place in your hand a vivid story of the war,

which will remain as standard, and another year of the FAR

EAST free.

^]| This offer is open to those who subscribed with later numbers.
Send us $7.00 and we shall send the books and extend your sub-
scription one year from the time of expiration.

VOL. I. SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1908 No. 12,

Count Okuma on
the Change of
the World's At-
tidude Toward
Nippon Since the
War.

Autobiography of
Prince Ito Hir-
obumi

Yoshida Shoin, the
Schoolmaster of
Prince Ito.

An Inner Story of
Canton -Hankau
Railway.

The Korea of To-
day.

The New East Jn
the Making

\

<W* fiat 6M QubUa^inB C?.

DETROIT, MICH., U. S. A.

IIRTY CENTS THE COPY

THREE DOLLARS THE YEAR.

I

The Far East

Adachi Kinnosuke,
Proprietor and Editor

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1908

CONTENTS

STONE STEPS AT NIKKO
POEM— NIKKO

FRONTISPIECE
D. M. BRUCE

A TRUE STORY OF THE CANTON-HANKAU

RAILROAD (Illustrated) ADACHI KINNOSUKE f«3

YOSHIDA SHOIN-
OF PRINCE ITO

-THE SCHOOLMASTER
(Illustrated)

HARA TARO

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF PRINCE ITO HIROBUMI— VII.
Being an account of his life as told by himself to
and recorded by AHASHI ATOWA

(Illustrated)

THE CHANGE OF THE WORLD'S

SENTIMENT TOWARDS NIPPON SINCE

THE RUSSO-NIPPON WAR COUNT OKUMA

I6»

AMERICAN CONSULS IN THE ORIENT
(Illustrated)

THROUGH NIPPON AND MANCHURIA
ON THE NEW YORK TO PARIS RACE
(Illustrated)

JOS. W. RICE

THE KOREA OF TO-DAY

LIEUT. GEN. USAKAWA

THE NEW EAST IN THE MAKING

(Illustrated)
Is Nippon Really Monopolizing

Chinese Trade?
The Importation of Foreign Iron and

Steel.
Cheap Flour for the East
The First Favorable Sign in the

Foreign Trade of Nippon.
The Rise in the Standard of Living

in Nippon.
The Nippon Steel Works.
The New Service Between Tairen

(Dalnay) and Shanghai
The Growth of Nippon Yusen Kaisha.
The Arbitration Treaty Between America

and Nippon.
China and Her New Navy.
The Finance in Formosa,

ASADA MASUO

Copyright, 1908, by The Far East Publishing Co.,

Entered as second-class matter July 9, 1908,
at the post office at Detroit, Mich.

The Addison,

Published Monthly by
The Far East Publishing Co.,

Detroit, Mich., U.

S. A.

STONE STEPS AT NIKKO.

WmBBBMBMBfflBBBBm&

Nikko.

Ss S. ML IBntte.

memory/ of templea anb of aljabe,

Sail crgptomeria towering ouerljeab;
uflje rualjing rtuer anb tt|e unbelting glabe,
©efore tlje gleam of golb anb green anb reb,
HJjere roofa uplift, anb carneb are creaturea atrange,

Wjere colour uiea uritlj ligljt anb curoe with, line,

Hljerc gruuea uf bronze anb tall atone lanterna range,

Anb gatea of bloob-reb lacquer guarb tlje aljrine.

©

Ijoae 3£aatern wnrkera copieb nature'a wealtb,
3ln faireat floweca anb beauteoua birba of air,
Anb ui rough, t ttjrouglj centuries of patient stealtli
IMaruela tljat now tlje weatern nationa aljare;
ojfje "mnnkiea of tlje aenaea" interuene

Mittj ting tjanba tljat rouer eue anb ear,
Will] close preaaeb lipa anb cuer wnnbering mien,
2fa euil mag tljey aee nor apeak nor Ijear.

Q

ut off gour atjoea, ue atanb on Ijoly grounb,

Sift up unur ljearta,-uot often aljall tlje apell
(§{ £ftkko Ijolb $mx, nor tlje matctjleaa aounb
fljall tljrouglj tlje barkueaa of tjer temple'a bell,
Marking tlje Ijour tljat make anb watctj anb ceaae,--

lut aelbom in tljis life pause face to face
3$itlj linea of aolemn SJubbljaa, in tlje peace
Wf tljat lone ualleg, mljere tlje watera race.

G

lear ia tlje air anb blue tlje akg, but mljen

2flje Ijilla arounb mitlj crimaon bloom aljall flame
Azaleaa acenting all tlje ualea,--alj tljen
3J aljall be far from Sftkko anb ita fame.

."lAUHUkilSHm

The Far East S

Vol. I. September-October, 1908. "No. 12

A TRUE STORY OF THE CANTON-HANKAU RAILROAD
CONCESSION,

BY ADACHI KINNOSUKE.

QERMIT me to open the map of China before you; there is
Pekin, up in the north; just where you would look for the
brain. Midway, belting the great and ancient Chung Kwoh,
as the men of "the Land of the Mean" call their own country,
there is the greatest stream of the Asian continent; it is called
the Yangtse. Six hundred miles from Shanghai at its mouth, up the stream
every inch of which an ocean-going ship can cover, you come to the metro-
polis of central China; the city of Hankau. Hankau, as you see on the
map before you, is almost due south from the imperial city of Pekin, nine
hundred and thirty-three miles as the railway would measure. Southward
you can make your way through the great Yangtse valley, through the popu-
lous provinces of Hupe and of Hunan, across the classic pass of Chi-ling,
over which the South sent her wares to the marts of the North for cen-
turies of peace, and you will find yourself upon the waters of the Lei and
the Pei rivers. If you happen to be wise in the ways of wanderings, you
would certainly take the streams as your guides. And they would reward
your confidence in losing you in a delicate lace work of waterways, and of
deltas In the end, however, you are sure, to make your acquaintance
with that mistress of the bewildering canals and some two millions and
a half of industrious population called the city of Canton. You are on the
historic soil of Maccao which saw the Portuguese in the brave seventeenth
century days when the laurel of the pioneer of Europe on the far Eastern
seas was still green upon their brows. From there across a little patch of
water, you can step over to Hongkong. From Hankau to Canton is 742
miles. The railway from Pekin to Hankau, the Lu-Han Railroad as it is
called and the Hankau-Canton line, would give the iron backbone of 1,675
miles to the Chinese empire. And in these unhappy days of awakenings
when China is no longer to be found among the meek and gentle of earth,
a stiff steel backbone is not a bad thing to have.

In the early nineties, there came to the foreign office of China the repre-
sentatives of a Belgian syndicate. They made a great deal of a rather
simple fact which had all the beautiful appearances of innocence in those
guilty days; namely that Belgium is a small country, quite devoid of the
profitless dream of a territorial ambition in the Far East. They were a

554 THE FAR EAST

race of industrious people, very fond of peace, those Belgians. And on
this beautiful ground, what they wanted from China was the concession to
build a railroad from the capital, to the great city on the Yantze — nine
hundred and thirty miles. To them, — so said their representatives — it was
a commercial venture pure and simple, merely a nine-hundred-mile stretch
of commercial possibilties ; — nothing more. And then, too, what unexpected
wealth China might not be able to discover through such a line; what pros-
perity might not be the harvest of such an enterprise. There was no danger to
China — politically. It was after the Chino-Nippon war: now that Nippon
had taken the trouble of showing that the whale is dead, sharks were upon
its carcass. China was making free with her territories and concessions at
the fanciful rate — to borrow a rhetorical figure of Count Okuma — "a
thousand miles a day." Not that she was the victim of a sudden fit of gen-
erosity, but simply because the sharks, especially from the civilized Europe,
have the eloquence of their own and which could not be denied. The language
of "mailed first," was the only tongue which the author of that famous
phrase and his brothers of the civilized West could understand. Russia in
the north had already made away with the modest morsel of something like
three millions of square miles of Chinese territory, out of which you can
make almost twenty Nippons. If China did not give the concession to
the Belgians, some one else would be very likely to ask for it. And per-
haps that somebody might not have as pleasing a countenance as modest
Belgium. And so it came to pass that the Lu-Han Railway concession
was given to the Belgian syndicate. Not many years went by when
China found out that at least three-fourths of the money employed for the
Lu-Han Railroad was furnished by French investors. That was sad en-
ough and very disquieting indeed. You remember — and depend upon it
China was none too forgetful — how friendly France was to Russia in those
days. This, however, was far from the blackest of the news about the
unhappy Belgian concession. It came out a little later that the French
investors had a rather powerful encouragement. The great and mighty
Russian government guaranteed the satisfactory nature of their venture!
Ever repentant and unhappy China! What could she do? As of wont,
nothing. With brazenness passed all belief the Belgian syndicate asked — de-
manded, perhaps would be a more fitting word — in addition to the Pekin-
Haukan line which it already had, for the concession for construction of
the southern extension of the Grand Trunk line — that is to say 742 miles
from Hankau to the city of Canton. This time, the Belgians did not get
it. China refused. To the Belgians and the Russian diplomatists at Pekin,
this was as if a dead man had risen all of a sudden and slapped them on
the face. Americans had asked for the concession for the Hankau and
Canton line.

THE FAR EAST 555

China gave the concession to the American. Moreover, she did so
with a great deal of pleasure. That was something of a treat on the part
of unhappy China; that was the first and only railroad or indeed any other
concessions which she gave out of the fullness of her heart. All others had
been torn from her unwilling and powerless hands by diplomatic brigands.
In giving the concession for the Canton-Hankau line, China wished to say
to the world: We have read the history of the American diplomacy in the
far East. The manliness, independence, the striking absence of the sordid
and heartlessness in its methods, its respects for the larger and nobler prin-
ciples of humanity, called justice and disinterestedness, its consciousness of
power without the taint of brigandage — all these have commanded our re-
spects and fired our enthusiasm. America has given us Burlingame. We
are happy now that to us is given an opportunity to show, in a measure at
least, something of our appreciation of this singular power which came to
the far East without a fashionable dream of the vivisection of the ancient
empire; without the enlightened mania of making away with homesteads
of the heathen in the high name of civilization.

That China, in giving the concession to the American, took the care and
trouble of exacting from them the pledge in black and white that the con-
trolling interests in the line both in proprietorship and in its management,
should rest with either the Chinese or the American and that the company
to which the concession is given be bona fide American, shows that she is
a good merchant and financier.

In 1898, the concession was given to the American China Development
Company. American engineers had flung so many pleasant jokes at the
poky way of Russians and other Europeans in the railroad building en-
terprises in northern China. With the concession came to them, therefore, a star
opportunity wherein to show their vaunted methods to their old world con-
freres. In 1 904 — that is to say, after six years — the Americans constructed
some twenty eight miles of the line. A mountain was in travail — said
Horace (or something like it) — and brought forth a mouse. After all
we have not advanced very far from the Roman days.

And in 1901, China woke up — China which wakes so often and never
is disappointed in finding a surprise — and what do you suppose she found?
Americans in whom she had every confidence and what is much more than
that — in whom she had had every reason to justify her implicit confidence,
had sold, in that year, the majority of stock of the American China Develop-
ment Company to the Belgian syndicate or those who were back of the
Russian and French interests in the Far East! In fine, there she was,
sitting face to face with a beautiful prospect of seeing second Manchuria
and this time in the very heart of China, (for this line commands at one and
the same time Pekin which is the political brain of the empire and Hankau

556 THE FAR EAST

which is the commercial heart of it). It was naturally supposed that the
Americans made some profit out of this treacherous transaction. That at
least was the only consolation vouchsafed to China.

When Sir Chentung Lian-Cheng, the former Chinese minister to the
United States, found himself in the pleasant city of Washington he reviewed
the situation. Many years had gone by since the granting of the concession,
and the American Chin& Development Company had succeeded in con-
structing something like twenty eight miles of the proposed line. For the
construction of said milage, the company expended something like four mil-
lion dollars. The entire length of the line was estimated at 742 miles.
And the total cost of construction of the entire line from Wuchang on the
Yantze to Wong-sha the western suburb of Canton where the line was to
have its southern terminus was estimated at forty million dollars. Now this
four million dollars for the construction of the first twenty eight miles — to
be sure the beginning of any thing, especially of a great railway building
cost a great deal more in proportion than the rest of the work. The survey,
the establishment of shops, &c, &c, all call for money and money. But

the four million dollars there was something about the item of

expenditure that made the government of China wish for a good look into
the books of the company And the government thought that it had
the right. For had it not signed, through its minister at Washington, the
bonds to the amount of forty million dollars? By so doing did not the
government of China hold itself responsible for the principal and interest
on the said forty million dollars? The request of the Chinese government was
flatly refused.

Now China had all the beautiful opportunities in the world to ad-
minister to this enterprising company one of those chastisements which recalls
the days of childhood. In 1901, the controlling interest of the company
passed by sale of shares out of the hands of the American. There was as
brazen a violation of the terms of agreement as one could wish. At any
time, therefore, according to the sweet pleasure of the Chinese govern-
ment, China could pronounce the concession void. At once her minister
at Washington at the time advised Pekin of the state of affairs. The
Americans broke the terms of agreement. They forfeited the right to the
concession. If, therefore, China wished to regain the control of the Yeun-
Han line, it was a high time for a prompt action. Alas! for the profitable
course of China, a prompt action is something for Which the Chinese admin-
istration has never yet made itself famous; and as ever the golden wings
of opportunity winnowed fast. At the head of State Department of the
United States was John Hay. His eyes, always on a larger and higher
aspect of international affairs and activities, looked with concern upon the
unfortunate state of things in connection with the Canton-Hankau concession.

THE FAR EAST 557

In this affair something more than a loss which can be measured with a pile
of dollars, was involved; to him it was a question of national honor. Very
soon China came to see what Mr. Hay thought of the affairs and what
power he wielded over the financial circles of America. The market saw
an unusual activity in the Canton-Hankau shares. On the twenty-second
of December, 1904, J. Pierpont Morgan and Company and their friends
succeeded in buying back the controlling interest in die American China
Development company : and Mr. Hay was happy .

Meanwhile China became a stage; enacted within the boundaries of
her own, she saw two great dramas, the like of which she had never seen
before. The war between Nippon and Russia is one of them and the other,
which, to her, is more important than the first, was the awakening of China
to her own national consciousness. The battle of the Yellow Sea on the
tenth of August, 1904, the fall of Port Arthur, on the newyear's day of
1905, the fall of Mukden and the Battle of the Nippon Sea were fought
one by one; and every one of them, the latter ones more eloquently than the
former, told of the break of the new day for the Far East. And every vic-
tory of the Nippon forces acted as an impatient whip upon the giant who
had fallen so deeply in love with slumber. It had to come, the national
awakening of China; not even the dead load of corruption; in so many
branches of administrative activities of China was powerless to prevent it
from coming. In the first hours of her awakening, the mind of China lighted
upon two things: the popular education for the mass and the command of
the artery of the empire — the railways. Today, China looks upon the
popular education much after the same fashion as a drowning man upon a
life buoy; to her way of thinking it is the only means of salvation: as for
her desire for the command of railways — especially that of the Grand
Trunk line from Pekin to the city of Canton, it was quite as serious and
strong as the other.

At last an imperial edict issued from the palace at Pekin: and for the
solution of this difficult and annoying problem the greatest statesman of
China, and most powerful of viceroys, — Chang Chihtung of Nan-pi, was
appointed. At his request, an imperial decree authorized him to enlist the
distinguished services of Sir Liang-Cheng, then the Chinese minister at
Washington, to act as his associate in this troubulous work. Unhappily
enough for China, the time when she could cancel the concession in all
justice was no more. Mr. Morgan and his American friends held, now,
the controlling interest in the company.

Three courses of action were suggested to the two eminent statesmen of
China :

1 Through an agent in a European capital, China may try to buy
the majority of stock of the line at high premium and thus come into the

558 THEFAREAST

^

control of the line. And after so doing, run the line on such an expensive
plan that the Belgian stockholders would be eager to get rid of their shares
at fair prices. 2. To come out above hoard and negotiate for the pur-
chase of the line, from the American and other stockholders. 3. To aban-
don the construction of the line to the mercies of the popular sentiments of
the provinces through which it runs. The temper of the people being what
it was, it was not difficult to forecast something of the trials that the con-
struction of the railway would meet under such circumstances. And then
act as the wisdom of the future developments would dictate.

The second of the three courses appealed to the great viceroy and his
associate at Washington.

Early in the year, 1905, in Washington, Mr. Morgan was saying to
the Chinese minister in substance: We shall be glad to go ahead with the
work. But your government must tell us to go ahead. If your government
is willing to afford us all the assistance and co-operate in the construction
of the line, then we are ready and willing to take up the work. I can as-
sure you, on our side, that from this time on, there will be no cause of an-
noyance to your government as in the past. But if your government is not
willing to do its utmost to assist us in bringing the enterprise to a successful
issue, then, I have reasons to suppose that the stockholders of the company
may entertain a proposal for the purchase of the holdings.

Both Chang Chihtung and Sir Liancheng were for the purchase of
the line. Negotiations upon negotiations and further considerations of the
price became the order of the day. At last the time came and a message,
freighted with all the tremulous possibilities of the welfare of many mil-
lions of Provinces of Hupe, Hunan and of Kwangtung through all of which
the line passes and indirectly of the entire empire of China, went out from
Washington: it was addressed to Chang Chihtung the viceroy. Frankly
the message stated that the price asked by the Americans was large, very
large. But of one thing the sender of the message was sure; that the
amount was the least the controlling party of the company was willing to
take. And then too there were many things to be taken into account. If
China were to allow the construction of the line by foreign materials, there
may very likely happen many unexpected things. For example: in the
fevered days of the awakening of China — human nature being about the
same the world over, — it may be, as indeed it happened in so many other
lands, that the world may hear occasionally of the regretable days of the
Boxer trouble rising from the scarce forgotten and not at all forgiven past
In such cases the misguided patriotism of some good people of China may
cost many a pretty and honest penny to the Chinese government — as it did
in 1900. The amount of indemnity in such a case may well be ten, fifty,
perhaps a hundred fold, the fancy price now asked for the railway. More-

THE FAR EAST 559

over, after all is said and done, the greatest and indeed, the untold value
of the purchase of the line back of China is its effect upon the awakening
of nationalism among China's forty millions Now, the Washington mes-
sage to the great viceroy begged him to submit the plan of purchase and
the price to the people of his viceroyalty for their approval. If only the
people would approve of it, then the Chinese minister at Washington would
give his unqualified support for the purchase of the line, — even at the
fanciful price. The great viceroy acting upon the advice of his associate
at Washington, submitted the entire plan to the people. The result was
gratifying; nothing was received with such an outburst of enthusiasm on the
part of the Chinese public. As for Chang Chihung, from first to last,
with never a thought as to the price asked, he was for the purchase of the
line. In the vision of that great statesman, not all the gold in the vast em
pire of China is compatible in value to the control in China's own hand of
one of the great arteries of her national life. What doth it profit a great
nation and the countless millions of people and square miles of her terri-
tory, if she were to find the control of her own heart in the hands of a
stranger who is naturally more interested with his own welfare than with
those of the far away China? All that the Viceroy feared was the coming
of an accident, either within the court at Pekin or in the commercial owners
of the line, that would turn into a bubble all the sleepless nights which he
had devoted for the consummation of the purchase.

All was ripe, smile blossomed on more than one pair of thoughtful lips
of China's statemen and diplomatists and the sixth of June, 1905, was set
for the consideration of the sale of the property. On the sixth of June
preliminaries were discussed and agreed. And it was agreed that the fifth
of August, 1905, would be the date upon which the stockholders of the
company would ratify the agreement. Not all however, was over. It
simply meant — this happy conclusion of preliminary understanding — that all
parties concerned in the fateful transaction should fall upon their knees;
that the pious hour of prayer was with them. The way of true love and
the progress of a transaction of international scope are much the same. They
are thorny, and moreover, you can never tell where the thorns are to spring.
Between the sixth of June and that August day set for the final conclusion
of the business, many things, as the matter of fact, did happen. Mr.
Morgan was in Europe. So also Senator Lodge. The senator saw the
king of Belgium. The distinguished gentlemen might have found — being
men of so many affairs very catholic in taste, and very broad of sympathy
and of mental horizon — a thousand different topics of grace and interest. But
they talked of the Canton-Hankau Railway. That their conversation drifted
to a certain corner of the earth which is not exactly under the flag with the
stars and stripes, was certainly no accident — accidents, commonest thing

560 THEFAREAST

among common people, are not permitted in the company of certain dis-
tinguished diplomatists of the world. It simply told of an unusual interest
which at least one of the two gentlemen took in the matter.

Great pity that an expert stenographer was not permitted to be present
at the audience. Of course none knows what the king of Belgium said to
the American senator, and every one is very sure that almost every sentence
was upon the Canton-Hankau Railroad. Upon his return to the United
States, Senator Lodge wrote to the President; not exactly the shortest letter
imaginable. The senator's letter, it has been reported, dwelt on the reasons —
which were not few, — why the Canton-Hankau railway concession should
not be sold back to China ; how much this sale of the concession to the Chinese
government would affect and indeed destroy the prestige of America in
China. It can not be denied if only the report be true that it was a
splendid tribute to the eloquence of the Belgian King this letter of the senator ;
it showed how seriously the serious and distinguished senator took the King's
conversation on the Chinese Railroad. One might be permitted to picture
in his own imagination with what glowing colors, the king of Belgium painted
the great future of the great railway — if, ah, if — indeed, if only
it could be built and managed by the American brain and backed by the
American capital! His Majesty the King of Belgium owned a certain
number of shares in the American China Development Company. But, of
course a sovereign, in all his exalted dignity, never condescends to think of his
personal interests when he is speaking with a senator of another power.
However that 'be all that we need trouble ourselves with is this simple fact;
after his conversion, the senator made it evident that he looked upon the sale
of the concession as a deadly blow on American prestige in China.

The American company, in violation of the terms of contract, permitted
the controlling interests to pass into the hands of the pro-Russian party. That
was the time when the deadly blow was struck upon the prestige of America
in China. Not the sale of concession back to China. Strange that a hun-
dred letters did not come out of a hundred senators in protest against this
violation of trust. But they didn't

Little later, the happy King of Belgium, bent on enjoying the company
of the eminent Americans in Europe in that particular summer, was glad
to see Mr. Morgan and it was reported that they were together upon the
•royal yacht for about half a day. As for the mind of Mr. Morgan toward
the Chinese railroad, however, it had been made up; and one might be per-
mitted to suppose that the changing of it, was beyond even the power of
royal eloquence After his return home, on a summer day, the famous yacht
of Mr. Morgan was reported riding at anchor at Oyster Bay. Not many
days after that, we heard of the departure of die Chinese minister from
Amherst where he had been enjoying — as the people who know nothing of

THE FAR EAST 561

the ceaseless claim of the diplomatic affairs upon the sleepless thoughts of
the representatives of great states say — his summer quiet. Soon after the
Chinese minister reached New York, a gracious invitation came out of the
hospitable board at Oyster Bay asking him to enjoy a few leisure hours of
summer in company with the distinguished head of the nation and talk over
a little matter.

At Oyster Bay was waiting a spendid dinner and for the Chinese min-
ister a pretty surprise. All because of a cabled message from Mr. Rockhill
at Pekin. Mr. Rockhill had it from a highest authority that the Chinese
government at Pekin was not at all averse to the idea of an American rail-
road from Hankau to the city of Canton; on the contrary the Pekin govern-
ment was eager, most enthusiastic for the establishment of just such a line;
as for China's desire to purchase back the line from the American, that was —
well, yes, entertained, yes, but entertained only by a certain coterie of amaiable
people. There was — and I simply state a fact, here — in the foreign office of
China and high in favor of the Pekin court, a Chinese gentleman through
whom the two important concessions — those of Pekin-Hankau and of Canton-
Hankau lines were given to the foreigners. Naturally the Washington
government was in the state of mind of a man who was hearing two voices
out of a single mouth. As for the Chinese minister at Washington, his
entire consolation was in the three imperial rescripts which had been issued and
which were in the safekeeping of the eminent minister of documents at
Pekin; all of them had explicitly conferred the full power on Chang Chih-
tung to negotiate for the purchase of the Canton-Hankau line. In this
matter, therefore, the viceroy and his associate. Sir Liangcheng, the Chinese
minister to the United States were the Chinese government. Shortly after
that genial dinner at Oyster Bay, the Chinese minister patronized the cable
company in a generous fashion and the famous viceroy on the Yantse was
the recipient. Those were the extravagant days of cable tolls for China.
Chang Chihtung, ever zealous for the fair reputation of the righteous, must
have said a few pointed things to the foreign office at Pekin. The speedy
way, the pains they took and the ample manner in which both the minister
of documents and the foreign office at Pekin corrected the first impression
of the American minister to China seem to authorize any one to infer as
much.

While history sat, with its hands full with these very interesting things,
at its traditional loom, the fifth day of August came and went. And the
stockholders did not meet. It was postponed to the twenty-ninth of the
same month. So it naturally came to pass that the twenty-ninth of August,
1905, managed to cheat the fifth day of August out of the historic dis-
tinction of being the day which marks, with an event of a fitting proportion,
the beginning of new order of things in China The Canton-Hankau railway

562 THE FAR EAST

concession was sold back to China. The time was in Pekin when the men-
of-war and heavy guns of foreign powers — the mere show of them — used
to work more miracles than the prophets: when China harkened to the in-
ward voice of fear as to the words of the gods; when intimidation was the
trump card up the sleeves of every Western diplomatist at Pekin; thos*
days are already a tradition with China.

YOSHIDA SHOIN.

The Schoolmaster of Prince Ito.

BY HARA TARO.

^--—.^^E rode out of the city of Tokyo, my father and I; passed the

Br H ^^ famous cemetery of Aoyma, along Tamagawa Road. I

i B ff remember neither the day nor the year, so young that life

V^^^ was almost history-less with me then only the gold of the

sun was flirting with the gold of the rape in flower and I

knew that Spring was ripening afield. Our kuruma carried us a mile or

two beyond the city limits. We alighted in front of a modest shrine; before

us was a tombstone standing in the shade of a pine tree beyond which the

historic plain of Musashi, soft, silken, dreamy, was purpling in the distance.

"Here it is, my son," my father said to me, "You see yourself that it is

a grave; what you do not see is that it is also a cradle. This is the grave

of Yoshida Shoin ; it is also a cradle of the New Nippon. Here the Shogun's

government beheaded him; it was in die days of Ansei; this is the very spot

where his head fell. He was then thirty years old. That stone is not very

big, is it? It nevertheless covers the memory of one of the greatest men your

country has produced; he was bigger than a thousand of your father put

together — which of course you do not believe, and you shouldn't my son"

"Almost as big as the august Son of Heaven," I ventured.

"No, no, you go too far," said my father, ''But certainly he was the

father of a number of the authors of New Nippon. He had neither wife

nor children, but he taught a small school in the clan of Choshu under the

shadow of the Castle of Hagi. It was not bigger than that shrine there; it

only had two rooms one of six mats and another of eight. There was a

young boy who used to serve the school as its janitor. You can see him today

here in the city of Tokio. His name is Ito Hirobumi As you know he is,

at present the Prime Minister of His Majesty the Emperor."

Who, then, is this Yoshida Shoin?

The Harbor of Shimoda — always pretty with her shy, country maiden
air; somewhat vain too, of the spirit-splendor of Fuji the Peerless ever mir-

THEFAREAST 563

rored in the depth of her gentle bosom — found itself famous, all of a sudden,
on a fine spring morning of 1854. The fame which came to her was more
than national; it was international. The American fleet under the command
of Commodore Mathew C. Perry had come all the way across the great
ocean and was then riding at anchor on its quiet waters. It was on the twenty-
fourth of April, 1854, and in this harbor of Shimoda, that an incident came
to pass; no one paid much attention to it; no more attention than to the babe
in a manger in the village of Bethlehem or to the boy who stood at the
parting of roads leading to Waterloo and said to Blucher "Don't go that
way, General. Take this road."

Midnight had just sounded from the belfry of a Buddhist temple on the
hill upon die slope of which was sleeping the town of Shimoda. The night
was dark; the northeaster which had fanned the bay gently through the day
had now freshened into a gale. The pale yellow beach of the harbor of
Shimoda was a faded crescent hugging in the white caps. At one of the
horns of the sandy crescent, at the time when this incident happened, there
stood a shrine dedicated to the beautiful goddess of the sea and of fisher-
folks, called Kakizaki Benton. Upon the sands, high and dry and safe
from the incoming tides, were a few fishing boats. Some distance out, riding
the choppy sea of the harbor, were the ships of the American fleet. Silence
everywhere; only the measured tread of patrols which the Shogun's govern-
ment had placed along the beach to watch the American ships on the one
hand and on the other, any of the natives of Nippon who would be foolish
enough to communicate with the foreigner. A few minutes after the midnight
bell, near the shrine of Benten, there emerged out of the dense shadows of
night, two men. They were laden with the ordinary travelling wicker "tele-
scopes" called \on. For a second, they stood on the sandy beach, in the
teeth of the wind which lashed the loose garments of the men ; they talked to-
gether very earnestly and from their manner one could see easily enough that
they were consulting on a matter of gravest importance. They turned toward
the silent shrine. But they were no night pilgrims; instead of for the lorn of
the shrine they made straight for one of the fishing boats. Throwing their
wicker bundles into the boat, the two men struggled desperately in push-
ing the boat over the sandy beach into the waters of the bay. Always alert,
restless, watchful, one would have said that they were doing something that
was not quite right. As soon as the boat was on the water, they threw them-
selves into it, very clumsily, it is true, but with haste and agility that none
would have expected to see on the part of pious people as the midnight pilgrim.
They had no easy time in finding a scull ; they did not know where a scull is
kept in a boat, they lost no little time in searching for a rope to hang the
scull — so hopelessly ignorant were they that they did not know of the com-
monest habit of fisher folks and boatsmen for, whoever heard of such a thing

iiri7iiriw«rriii^i"i*fc«i«riiiiiiii r «

564 THE FAR EAST

as a boatman so careless as to leave a scull rope in a boat on the beach? As
soon as they saw the hopelessness of their search, one of them untied his
gridle. An awkward thing, indeed, to use on a scull ; but they did not seem
to notice it. When at last the scull was hung on the improvised scull-rope
made of a girdle, both men sprang upon it. The white breakings of wave-
crests were the only lanterns which guided them; they had their eyes glued
upon one of the black hulls of the American fleet; that was evidently their
objective. But the boat did not seem to have the slighest idea of any such
thing . What really the two men were doing, on the choppy midnight waters
of the Bay of Shimoda, was to write a rather effective volume of unconscious
farces in the circling lines of the boat they were sculling. But the night,
had it been blessed with a sense of humor, could not have laughed at the
two men very heartily; they were so heartrendingly in earnest, desperate,
almost tragic. It was not long before both men were rolling at the bottom
of the boat like a sake bottle which was empty or like a man who was full, —
the girdle had parted. The accident, however, was not without a meaning;
it served indeed, to bring out rather eloquently a fact that within either one
of the two men, there was more desperate daring and courage and patience
than the entire town of Shimoda could boast of . At once another girdle took
the place of the broken; once more the struggle. The pityless sea fought
them every step. "Sincerity," said an ancient sage of China, "Sincerity sees
no obstacle; it goes through steel and granite and something harder than them
both, the heart of man." At last they were in the shadow of a great black
hull ; it was the frigate Mississippi

The men gained the gangway ladder. The sound of a boat pounding
away at the hull brought the officer of the midnight watch to the head of the
ladder. "Who's there?" he called. No answer; neither of the two men
could speak a word of English. Without a word, therefore, they kept on
mounting the ladder. The light of a lantern held aloft by the American
officer at the head of the gangway, came down the steps and met the mid-
night visitors. They stopped. One of them drew out a portable ink well
and a writing brush, also a piece of paper . After covering a sheet of paper
with classic Chinese the writer ascended the steps toward the American officer.
It was a strange hour, on such strange waters. The loose Nippon garment
had no girdle to confine it; and the wind was strong. Nevertheless the
young man gathered them closely together about him with one hand and with
the other he offered the Chinese document to the foreign officer. There was
that something about the young man which spoke of gentle birth ; that perfume
of culture, which like a perfume of May, speaks to all men of all climes and
tongues without embarrassment. Certainly they were no assassins; no mid-
night birds of prey. The American officer glanced over the Chinese charac-
ters; he knew only one man with the American fleet who could read them;

THE FAR EAST 565

he pointed out to the young visitor the flagship Powhatan aboard which was
Mr. Williams, the official interpreter to the American expedition .

Once more the two young men were back in the boat. They were weary ;
the fight against the stormy sea and the scull — especially the scull rope was
rapidly telling upon them; the indomitable will, asserted itself over the
weary body, however, and once more the boat struggled its way toward
another black shadow riding at anchor not far away. In reaching the Pow-
hatan, the two men tried their best to gain the lee of the ship; but the wind
willed otherwise. With one superb and insolent kick — for it was nothing less
unmannerly then that, the wave and the wind hurled the boat against the
landing platform of the gangway ladder. Just at the precise second when the
boat was sent against the ship, the wave ebbed under the ladder and the
boat slid down on the slope of the ebbing tide; quick as a flash one of the
two young men leaped off the boat and gained the ladder — not all the
miracles in the suttas are as impossible as this feat. At the same instant,
the other young man dived and threw himself flat on the bottom of the boat.

"Leap to the ladder; let go the boat!" shouted the young man on the
ladder to his friend in the boat. "Let it drift; we have no more need of
her." And a few seconds later through another miracle he who remained in
the boat gained the ladder and joined his comrade. Meanwhile the boat
bumped its head with every swell of the tide against the ladder; it made
a deal of noise. The ship was thoroughly aroused; aboard the flag ship the
watch was more vigilant than on other ships, perhaps. Soon the sailors ap-
peared at the head of the ladder ; they were armed with no such gentle weapons
as lanterns; in their hands were huge pikes which through the gloom of night
appeared like so many spears. To the two young men looking at them from
below, the side of the hull had all the appearance of a battlement of a
Medieval castle tower. The gloomy and warlike silhouette looming into the
black night out of a stormy sea did not seem to have the slightest effect to
frighten the two natives who climed up the steps; and to all the forbidding
shouts of the sailors, they were deaf as the sea itself. The first of the visitors
pulled out a piece of paper which he had covered with Chinese idiographs in
the lantern light aboard the Mississippi and handed it to a petty officer who
stood in front of the sailors at the head of the ladder.

That was the first introduction — and the last, alas! — of Yoshida Shoin
to the American Flagship which was the supreme goal of all his dreams.

His note was taken at once to the official interpreter, Mr. Williams who
translated it: "We wish to cross the ocean that we may be permitted to see
the culture and flower of the Western lands. Kindly beg the Great Admiral
to give us permission to attain our object and to take us with him to America."

The note was taken to the Commodore. The American Commodore
liked nothing better than to take a few of the representative young men of

566 THEFAREAST

Nippon home with him. At the same time he knew that there was a law
in the newly opened country that prohibited any of the people of Nippon to
go abroad. Commodore Perry had just concluded a treaty of amity and
commerce with the -Empire of Nippon. It had been no light task either .
Was he going to spoil everything by helping one of the citizens of the empire
in breaking a law of his own country? That was not to be dreamed of — not
for a second. The answer of the Commodore was brief, very kindly and
very simple. "Go back and get a permission from your government and I
shall be delighted to take you to America." "If we go back," made answer
Yoshida, "we shall certainly go to the government authority, but it will not
be to get a permission to go abroad ; it will be to offer our heads to the sword
of official executioners."

"It can not be as bad as all that," said the Commodore, "Besides, who
can see you? None of the government officers have discovered you; the night
is stormy and black. Make haste and gain the shore. Even if you be
caught, you need not fear; I shall do all I can to intercede in your behalf."
Yoshida knew the law of his country and the officers of the Shogun better
than the American Commodore. He smiled sadly; his return, he calmly
asserted spelt death — the shameful death of a criminal and nothing else. All
the prayers of his and his companions however, availed nothing; Commodore
Perry sent the young men back in one of his own boats. With the break of
day on the morrow, the young men delivered themselves into the hands of the
authority. They were thrown into a prison awaiting sentence. A few days
after the midnight incident ; some of the American officers were passing through
the town of Shimoda, in front of a dungeon ; it was more of a cage for a lion
or a bear than a prison; its floor was of damp mud; it was too small for a
man to lay down full length and too low for him to stand up . Suddenly one
of the American officers stopped, for he recognized the face of a prisoner and
from within the iron bars the prisoner smiled his recognition. The prisoner
evidently expected a visit from an American; it was not the first time that an
American officer paid a visit to the prison. Yoshida, for the prisoner was
none other than he, pulled out a folded piece of paper; it was covered with
classic Chinese. The officer took it back to Mr. Williams, the interpreter.
And you can read that note today in the first volume of the official Narrative
of Commodore Mathew C. Perry's expedition to China and Japan seas . Here
it is:

"When a hero fails in his purpose, his acts are then regarded as those
of a villian and robber. In public, have we been seized and pinioned and
caged for many days. The village elders and head men treat us disdain-
fully, their oppressions being grievous indeed. Therefore looking up while
yet we have nothing wherewith to reproach ourselves, it must now be seen
whether a hero will prove to be one indeed. Regarding the liberty of going

THE FAR EAST 567

through the Sixty States (the entire Nippon) as not enough for our desires,
we wished to make the circuit of the Five Great Continents. This was our
hearts* wish for a long time. Suddenly our plans are defeated and we find
ourselves in a half-sized house, where eating, resting, sitting and sleeping are
difficult; how can we find an exit from this place? Weeping we seem as
fools; laughing as rogues. Silent we can only be." You must admit that
nothing much nobler can be found in Seneca.

At the time the whole land of Nippon was a volcano; the coming of the
American gave a crater to it; it was the birth hour of the New Nippon. The
Edo government of the shogun had many important things both on its
conscience and attentions. The sentence and execution of an obscure state
criminal could wait; there were millions of great state measures which could
not. It was decided, therefore, to hand Yoshida over into the keeping of the
Lord of his own clan. So it came to pass that, in a prison ka2° escorted as
a criminal, Yoshida saw once more the noble pines of his native town of
Hagi. The lord of his clan was gracious to him; he was taken out of the
prison and placed in a small straw thatched cottage in the village of Matsus-
hita. He asked for the permission of gathering about him a certain number of
young boys of the clan and teach them, as indeed his uncle had done before
him. It was granted him. We have already mentioned the dimensions of
this cottage school . The room of six mats that is to say nine feet by twelve
was used as a kitchen and the larger one of eight mats was called upon to
serve as a school room, bed room, parlor, sitting room and serve a few other
purposes which the imperial pleasure of social convention might impose upon
it. Here about him, Shoin gathered a handful of youth, the youngest of
them was about eight or nine and the eldest was not out of the teens. The
master himself was in his twenty-sixth year. He said that he wished to
teach the youngsters the military tactics of the School of Yamaga of which
his family for many years had been a tutor. He was not a tactician; the
technical study of military science would have felt just about as much at
home in his cottage school as Jesus of Nazareth in a Fifth Avenue church of
the year of Grace 1907. This famous cottage school had no curriculum,
simple or complicated; only the master gave his boys the now celebrated
"Seven Rules of Conduct of the Samurai."

1 . Loyalty and filial piety are the foundation of all virtues . 2. Let
us have the union of master and man; let loyalty and filial piety be one and
the same thing; let Our Country, the State, alone be supreme. 3. In the
ways of the Samurai there is nothing greater than principle, than honor.
Honor translates itself into a fact through courage; courage lives and has its
being only in honor. 4. When the Samurai acts, it is important that he be
not deceived ; to him trickery is shame . Frankness and candor should be the

568 THE FAR EAST

fountain of all his actions. 5. The superior man is choice of his friends. 6.
Let death and death alone stop one's endeavor.

His was, in truth, no school at all. It was a club. History has already
given it a name, rather fanciful, nevertheless, not a whit more fanciful than
true "an altar upon which was kindled the fire of Ishin Revolution" (War of
Imperial Restoration). In the eyes of Yoshida, there was no teacher, no
pupil. He spent all his time and attention in discovering his equals among
the young boys he had gathered; he was too busy to notice that they had
peachy floss where he had shaggy blighted patch of beard. A note of his
to one of his boys has been preserved ; it is in classic Chinese, in part it says ;
"Now the American embassy has entered the Capital and the men of principle
have descended into dungeons. The affairs of the Under Heaven are
strained to the extreme. You are already a boss of the boys with whom
you gather . To be a boss of playmates is the beginning of being the master
of Under-Heaven." The note was addressed to Okada who was then ten
years of age. In all conscience, is this a sort of thing that one writes to a
ten-year old?

In the center of the larger room — the room with eight mats there was cut
into the floor a large charcoal brazier. Many a winter night, they hugged it,
the master and his boys. There were no text books in this school room;
nobody recited. The far away affairs of Yau and Shun of the classic days
of China were dead; and although all other schools of Nippon devoted their
entire attention to them, Yoshida and his boys never made even a decent
effort to resurrect them. Instead of a recitation out of the Four Books of
Confucius the master would say. "I have just heard of the terms of the com-
mercial treaty proposed by the Americans; what should be done with them?"
If not that then, "Well, at last the imperial command was issued to sweep
away the barbarians; how should we go about it?" The topics they touched
were living and they discussed them with flaming words. No wonder they
forgot the passage of night. Night after night the scanty charcoal fire melted
into embers. They came a little closer together, hugging the brazier a little
tighter. The break of day paled upon the paper screen called shoji of th°
singular school room; and the boys walked home to breakfast in the rose of
dawn.

The historian who would call the roll of the great makers of the New
Nippon today hasn't a difficult task. All that he need do is to read an old
register of this humble school of two rooms taught by a state prisoner, there
in the shadow of the Hagi Castle . The School began with the seventh Moon
of the Third Year of the Ansei Period; it closed with the last month of the
Fifth Year of Ansei when the master was taken away to Yedo to be be-
headed.

^

I

COUNT ITAGAKI.

THE FAR EAST 569

Scarce two and a half years were the life of the school. "And many of
the pillars of State today" wrote Marquis Ito (now a prince of the empire)
"are men tutored at the Gate of the Pine." Kido Koin who was the counselor
to the first Premier under the new regime unquestionably the greatest construc-
tive statesman of his day and by turns the Minister of Finance and of
Education was one of the elder boys of the cottage school. We have said
Prince Ito was a janitor of it.

Early in the morning of the tenth of October, 1859 Yoshida Shoin
Torajiro was led out of the dungeon. He was taken to the execution ground
outside of Edo; there a hole had been dug. Blindfolded, he was made
to kneel in front of it . The rest was simple ; a matter of about one tenth of
a second; a flash of the icy sheen of a blade; that was all. It was ten
o'clock in the morning . In those days, the execution ground was a wild and
lonely spot. And the hole into which the head of Shoin, with all the glory
of the "verdant locks" as the Chinese poet would say, of scarce thirty year's
ripening fell, was one of many. At the time none paid any particular atten-
tion to it. Today on that very spot stands a shrine. When Kido and the
rest of his boys came to power, the imperial government publicly honored the
memory of the criminal. It is more eloquent, that shrine, than a hundred
volumes of learned history.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF PRINCE ITO HIROBUMI.*

Being an account of his life as told by himself to and recorded by
OH ASH I OTOWA.

VII

^fc « ,^E returned home from Europe in September of the 6th of
Wf H wl Meiji (1873). The now historic Korean Expedition question
V H v was the topic of the day. Discussions over it were attaining
V^a*^ their height. Kido was opposed to it but no definite conclu-
sion was or could be reached until the return of Iwakura
Embassy. Upon my return home I paid my visit to Kido.

"What are your plans for the future," he asked me. I told him what I
had in my mind; and I had a good deal to say. So much indeed that it
would not be possible for me to report it in detail here.

The hitherto frozen attitude of Kido suddenly melted like ice in summer.
He said to me:

"If such are your ideas, I am completely with you. There is nothing

* Translated by Adachi Kinnosuke.
Copyright 1908, by Adachi Kinnosuke.

570 THE FAR EAST

upon which we differ." The discussion dwelt altogether on the future pro-
gram of Nippon. Our discussion turned on the great topics on the future
conduct of Nippon. I unfolded before him the program for the future
conduct of state and as I went on I had the happiness of seeing disappearing
one by one all the tangled clouds under which our friendship suffered through
the European trip*

One and all the men of the European Embassy agreed on this point: —
The prime duty of all of us at that time was to first foster the national
strength of Nippon. For we saw clearly that our country was compelled to
accomplish the great work which had taken Europe one hundred years, within
twenty or thirty years at most. If our State failed to do this it was very
cfear that Nippon could not stand shoulder to shoulder upon the same plat-
form with the great powers abroad. Prince Iwakura, Kido and Okubo
were of one mind on this point. The Korean Expedition agitation was at its
climax. It was defeated. Soon after we saw the Saga trouble. Following
it came the Formosan affair. The Expedition to Formosa was brought to a
conclusion by Okubo who was sent as a special ambassador to China. In
this year Okubo wrote a book which he called "Seitairon" (on the policies
and constitutions of Stale). He gave me a copy, saying: "This pamphlet
embodies my ideas. You are examining into this phase carefully so I will
offer a copy to you."

In short we all had agreed that the most important duty before us was
to put our domestic affairs into an efficient organization. At this time over
the Formosan affair Kido differed from his colleagues and finally presented
his resignation. He went home to his native province. Prior to the resigna-
tion of Kido, Saigo, Itagaki and in fact all the prominent men of Satsuma,
Tosa and Hizen clans had resigned their offices over the Korean Expedition
question. There was a restlessness which was national. We seemed to be
on the eve of a radical disturbance throughout the country. I wished to join
Kido in his resignation but Prince Iwakura would not hear of it — "If you
were to resign now it will give an appearance of a break between Satsuma
and Choshu which will never do. You must stay with the government."
Therefore I gave up the idea of resigning my position and worked together
with Okubo.

We despatched our expedition to Formosa. China protested noisily.
Okubo at once shouldered upon himself the responsibility of becoming a special
ambassador to China to settle the Formosan affair. He went to China and
after concluding his negotiations satisfactorily, came back. It was toward the
close of the 7th year of Meiji (1874).

In die judgment of Okubo it was imperative that we should by all means
raise Kido from his retirement and secure his service for the State. The
resignation of Kido originated in the difference of opinion over the Formosan

THE FAR EAST

571

affair. Unlike Kido, Okubo could not give up the office and go home and
for this simple reason: — If Okubo were to resign the administration would
have been thrown into chaos. It was, therefore, very apparent that he could
do nothing of the kind. Moreover, Okubo was tied to the office for another
reason. When Saigo resigned over the Korean Expedition question it might
be said that Okubo shouldered the responsibility of the administration in
place of Saigo (Saigo and Okubo are both Satsuma men) although Okubo
differed from Kido over the Formosan affair, it remained quite true that
Okubo had an unbounded respect and admiration for the ability and wisdom
of Kido. In fact it was the desire of Okubo to carry out the policies of
Kido on all the major lines of State activity. Okubo was willing to take a
second place to Kido in the conduct of governmental affairs. Such was the
attitude of Okubo and at this time, Okubo proposed that he should per-
sonally go down as far as Yamaguchi (the native clan of Kido where Kido
was at that time) in order to urge Kido personally to take up the respon-
sibilities of State once more. Okubo consulted me on this point. I saw
the wisdom of the move at once but I took the liberty of adding, "It would
never do for "you to go personally as far as Yamaguchi. If the people were
to hear that Okubo pesonally went down to Yamaguchi to Kido it would
lessen the dignity and weight of the government. It would be much better
therefore for you to go as far as Osaka; let Kido come up as far as Osaka
also on his part. I shall send my messengers to Kido urging him to do this
and meet you at Osaka. So it came to pass that Okubo and Kido met in the
City of Osaka and this meeting has passed into history as the famous Osaka
Conference.

At the time of the Osaka Conference Okubo at first said to me "I am go-
ing to urge Kido from my point of view. I shall speak what I think to him,
but if Kido would not listen to what I have to say I wish you would see
him yourself." Just as Okubo feared, Kido did not listen to what Okubo
had to say. I tortured my head with a dozen and one different plans. It was
imperative that we should adopt just such program as would receive the ap-
proval of Kido. After much thought I drew up the following program:

First : The establishment of the Council of Elders. I urged the establish-
ment of the Privy Council as a measure of preventing a few men from mon-
opolizing the governmental powers. The establishment of the Council of Elders
would greatly add weight to the legislative functions of the government and
such council would be an excellent step for the establishment of a constitutional
government in the future.

Second: The establishment of the Supreme Court. This I urged
as a measure to solidify the foundation of the judicial functions of the govern-
ment

572 THEFAREAST

Third: The establishment of local assemblies on the ground to facilitate
the ready communication of wishes and opinions between the government and
the people. And

Fourth: Division of duties in the Cabinet. This plan was proposed
in order to bring about such conditions and arrangements of the administra-
tive functions so that His Majesty himself may take an active part in the
administraton of State affairs and by dividing the duties of the Cabinet in
such a way as to throw all the minor detail work upon the men of lesser
magnitude and placing such men as Kido and Okubo in a position to devote
themselves almost entierly to the work of assisting His Majesty in an advisory
capacity and in the direction of larger measures of State.

With this proposal under the four headings, I went down to Osaka. I
had a private audience with Okubo and laid before him my plans, saying:

"I understand that Kido stands firm. I don't think you can move
him without definite articles of agreement. This is my idea. I would like
to have you pass upon it and after I hear what you have to say, I shall call
on Kido and see." He looked it over carefully and said "These are admir-
able— I approve of them, but independent of these articles it is my desire to
beg Kido to take the leadership and I wish to carry out his ideas."

"That is very good," said I. "I shall go and see Kido. As for this
private interview we shall keep this as confidential."

After leaving Okubo I did not call upon Kido, but waited. Kido, how-
ever, heard of my visit to Osaka and simply made the remark, "So Ito is
here also, is he?" At the time, Itagaki was in Osaka with Okamoto and
Omura and others. He talked with Kido extensively on his pet theory of
popular rights and the imperative necessity of establishing the Imperial Diet.
Inoue was there too and he also discussed the matter extensively with Kido.
I was quartered at a hotel called Sagaya. Kido called upon me and he
said, "You wrote me requesting an interview with Okubo and in answer to
that I came but I think this conference is hopeless. There is no possi-
bility of our agreeing at all. Moreover even if I were to enter the Cabinet
there would be no particular benefit arising from it. It is hopeless; there-
fore, I think it is best for me to remain in retirement. It would be very
much better if Okubo and yourself were to devote your united efforts to
the conduct of affairs. There would be no friction then and everything should
go smoothly."

"That is your idea," I said to him in answer. "You claim that it is
useless for you to enter the Cabinet. That there would be no especial benefit
from your presence. But suppose we were to arrange matters in such a way
that it would be highly beneficial?"

"But," said Kido, "I have no special ideas of my own even if you were
to arrange everything to make it, as you say, highly beneficial."

PRINCE IWAKURA

PRINCE SANJO UM

KIDO KOIN

OKUEO TOSHIMICHI

1

1

THE FAR EAST 573

Thereupon I produced the four articles and added: "If we could carry
out these ideas I think we shall have made a decided step forward . Will you
agree to come and help us?"

Kido took up the four articles and said, "If you could carry these
out I think I shall agree to come out of my retirement. But how about Oku-
bo? Can you get his consent and co-operation on these points?"

"I don't know whether he would or he would not, but it is my idea to
try it. If I were able to get Okubo to agree with me on these points will it
be agreeable to you?" ,

"Well, I fear it is a difficult task; but you may try and see."

Thus an interesting preface to the historic Osaka Conference was written.

A little later I had a public interview with Okubo. We had already
gone over the ground, so there was no possibility of disagreement on his
part. He agreed on every point as a matter of course. Then Kido said to
me, "So far so good, but even if I decide to accept a portfolio I cannot do
it all by myself I have had a talk with Itagaki. Perhaps it might have
been better, had I not discussed the matters as extensively as I did with
Itagaki but now it is impossible for me to leave Itagaki completely and step
into office by myself"

"There ought to be a way to arrange everything without trouble," I
said. So I saw Okubo and told him how the situation stood. In answer,
Okubo said, "I am utterly indifferent about that. If such be the idea of
Kido I have made up my mind to follow the lead of Kido in everything and
I shall agree to whatever is agreeable to Kido."

Now is was the firm conviction of Itagaki that we must establish a national
assembly This was shortly after he had presented a memorial on the
establishment of an elective assembly- There was a suggestion to establish
an assembly and elect half its members by the governmental appointment but
we held that half governmental assembly would not answer. Inoue agreed to
negotiate with Itagaki. The result of all was the meeting of Kido, Okubo,
Itagaki and Inoue together and the Osaka Conference came to a close in the
midst of exchanges of friendly cups.

Now that all differences between factions were somewhat smoothed
over, we approached Prince Sanjo, Prince Iwakura and also Lord Shimazu
who were the ministers of state at the time, with the idea of carrying the
different policies upon which the fusion was brought about. In a memorial
presented by Kido the different phases of the situation and different policies
were outlined. The memorial was approved. That was the beginning of
the new order of things which is known as the Reformation of the April of
the 8th of Meiji (1875.)

The inauguration of the new order of things demanded an immediate
examination into different regulations and institutions of State. In order to

574 THE FAR EAST

carry out the aforementioned four articles, there was appointed a commission.
There were four members to the commission: — Kido, Itagaki, Okubo and
myself, but in its actual operation I shouldered the work in an especial man-
ner. On the 1 4th of April of the year there was issued an Imperial rescript.
It was necessary that this edict should be phrased with skill and clearness.
While we were troubling our minds over the solution of this difficulty and
looking for the right man Inoue Gi came back from Kyushu So we secured
his services in writing the Imperial Rescript.

Those were the days when discussion on where the supreme power of
State rested was at its height. Some advocated that the supreme power
was vested with His Majesty, the Emperor. Others claimed that it was
in a representative assembly. There was a great deal of noise over this
discussion. Chiefly these ideas had been imported from America and Eng-
land. Those also were the days when Fukuchi (Mr. Fufyuchi Cenichiro)
was strenuously advocating a policy of conservative progress. Such doctrines
were not discussed very widely in England, but in Germany it gained a
great deal of currency and was defined with a great deal of clearness.

It hardly calls for a statement that such men as Kido, and Okubo whom
we followed as our leaders in the first years of Meiji had one and all a
well defined conviction on this one point, namely of giving the country, in
the end and gradually, the constitutional form of government. But to return
to the Imperial Rescript of the 14th of April, here is the text:

At the beginning of Our reign, as the chief of the State, We called to-
gether Our subjects in conference. On five points of policy We took Our
oath before Heaven. We laid the foundation of State, sought the ways
to bring about the peace and prosperity of Our people. Happily by virtue
of the spirit-presence of Our ancestors and by the efforts of Our Subjects, We
have attained the modest tranquility of today. Still upon reflection We find
that the days of reconstruction are still young? Not a few domestic affairs
call for the fostering care and development. Wherefore, We this day, extend
significance and spirit of Our oath and hereby found the Genro-in (Council of
Elder Statesmen) and thus extend and promote the legislative functions. We
also establish the Daishin-in (Supreme Court) and thereby solidify the judi-
cial power of State. We also summon together our local officers and
thereby promote a better understanding between the people and the govern-
ment which would redound to public benefits. And by degrees We shall
establish the constitutional form of government. Thus We hope to share
with you people of the country, its blesings. Do you, therefore, our peo-
ple, neither permit yourselves to be enslaved by the institutions of old nor
make too radical and careless a step in your forward move and in all things
avoid haste. Take good heed, then Our people to Our wishes and assist
and co-operate in Our work."

THE FAR EAST 575

THE CHANGE OF THE WORLD'S SENTIMENT TOWARD
NIPPON SINCE THE RUSSO-NIPPON WAR.

BY COUNT OKUMA.

>s>ffife> J HE change in the sentiment of our foreign friends towards
df C~\ Nippon is a matter that should claim a serious consideration.
^^ I There was something striking, almost astonishing in the friendly

^^^1^^ sentiment which Nippon enjoyed among her foreign friends
an the opening days of the Russo-Nippon war. Everybody
knew that Russia was a great and mighty nation. Since Peter the Great for
two centuries, Russia had enjoyed the reputation of being the great military
power of Europe. Against this great country which had been looked upon
as the military dictator of Europe, Nippon rose in arms. It was a daring
essay on the part of Nippon, bordering almost on the reckless. All the
world thought that in the end we would be defeated. Many of them thought
that in the first brush of conflict we might have a few victories but in the
end they looked upon the defeat of Nippon as inevitable. They believed in
this. Not only they but Russia herself believed in this firmly. Therefore
all the friends that Nippon had abroad, and who were violently pro-Nippon,
were by no means confident of the final victory of Nippon. Even among the
most enthusiastic friends of Nippon there were many who looked upon the
final outcome with trepidation and many a misgiving. In spite of it all, it
cannot be gainsaid that one and all they prayed for the victory and success
of her arms. There was a reason for this, which was not entirely unselfish.
The states of Europe at one time or another had all suffered either directly
or indirectly, from the conscious or almost subconscious tyranny of the
militant Russia. They did not like it, and at the same time they seemed to
be powerless to break or minimize the military prestage of Russia. Indeed
there was something great in the power of the Tsar. To the Kaiser, even Bis-
mark, in France, Austria, in all other states of Europe, every nod and
every smile of the Tsar were a matter of considerable importance which com-
manded a serious scrutiny. One and all they had suffered from either the
expressed or implied threat of the military might of Russia. They had always
looked upon Russia with an eye of suspicion. Even in Germany, confident
and proud of her military achievements, Russia has always inspired a degree
of uneasiness that was not at all flattering to her self-respect. This was
eminently true in Austro-Hungary, in the Balken states and in Turkey too
apparent for comment. Even in England, also.

Under the circumstances it was not unnatural that so many peoples in
Europe, deep down in their hearts, prayed for the victory of Nippon on that
day when a comparatively insignificant power on the far off edge of the
Pacific dared to rise in arms against the might of Russia.

576 THEFAREAST

The war began. With every battle, victory perched upon our banners.
Seeing this our ally, England, and our friend who is not a whit less friendly
than our ally herself — the United States of America — looked upon the
achievements of Nippon arms with satisfaction. Their enthusiasm knew no
bound. From the way they proclaimed their pleasure and approval over the
victory of Nippon, one would have supposed that they were at war and the
victories were theirs. In those days not only America and England but many
other countries all over the world really believed that the victory of Nippon
spelled the coming of a happier day. The defeat of Russia and the crushing
of the military despotism in Europe, they thought, did much for the peace of
the world, for the advancement of civilization. This was true in an especial
manner with our British and American friends. Both England and America
had had no small interest in the destiny of the Far East. They had been
unhappy over the tremendous expansion of Russian power in the Far East.
They looked upon the ever growing power of Russia in the Far East with
dread. To cite one proof out of many there is the famous circular letter
sent out by the Secretary of State of the United States, under President
McKinley's administration and which called for the open statement from
different powers of the world on the preservation of the integrity of the
Chinese Empire — now famous as the "Open door Policy." Moreover the
Anglo-Nippon alliance which had been formed proclaimed its position on the
two important points of the preservation of Chinese Empire and the open
door policy. From these it is apparent that both England and America were
solicitous to save the great market of the world called China from the domin-
ance of military Russia. They did not like the idea that Russia should
sweep down and close the Chinese market against all other traders but her
own.

Like the two friends, Nippon also advocated the preservation of the
integrity of China and the open door policy as applied to the markets of
China. So stood the situation at the beginning of the Russo-Nippon conflict.

It was the Manchurian land that gave birth to the war. Naturally the
countries which took the greatest satisfaction in every report of Nippon victory
by land and sea were the two countries, England and America. On the
European continent the satisfaction over the Nippon victories was not voiced
quite as openly, still there were indications to show that the Nippon victories
over Russia were not displeasing to a number of powers of Europe. Take for
example, Germany. She values the Chinese market exceedingly well. Ger-
many, however, is placed in such a position that it is impossible for her to
antagonize Russia in Europe. Therefore it was impossible for her to make
external demonstrations of satisfaction over Nippon victories. Still it cannot
be denied that certain elements in Germany were highly gratified at the
Nippon victory. Speaking of the world at large it is safe to say that the

THE FAR EAST 577

Nippon victory was welcomed with a hearty enthusiasm. It seemed, indeed,
that at the time the differences of race, of religion, the historic difference be-
tween the East and the West were completely obliterated from the minds of
men. One thing uppermost in the minds of the people of the West seemed to
be that they took pleasure in discovering so singular a race as the Nipponese.
They took pleasure in recognizing the people of Nippon as a great nation.
Such was the sentimental attitude of the world scarcely two years ago. The
names of Admiral Togo, Field Marshall Oyama, General Kuroki and Gen-
eral Nogi were shouted the world round. So popular indeed were these
great names that the enterprising merchants of the West incorporated them into
their trade-marks, put them upon the labels of their goods. Innumerable
tokens of appreciation in the form of treasures were showered upon Admiral
Togo according to the reports of the Jiji. That was the time when Nippon
commanded the sympathies of the world and the world seemed to recognize
Nippon as the sovereign power of the Orient. One and all these, our western
friends, believed that Nippon would do much in the preservation of peace
in the Far East, in guaranteeing the integrity of China, that she would take
China by the hand and lead her out into the full light of civilization and ex-
pected confidently that she would do a great deal for the sake of China and
also work for the general profit of the world at large, and for the cause of
humanity.

But scarce two years or at most two and one half years have passed and
what changes have taken place in the sentimental attitude of the world toward
Nippon! This should command the deepest attention of us all. There must
be a cause, a reason for the change. There must be several reasons for the
change. In enumerating such causes one may say that it comes from envy;
another may say that it springs from misunderstanding. These are unques-
tionably two of the main causes which brought about the change. There
seems to be still another, a still greater reason, but of that we shall not speak
here. Let us examine into die two principal causes mentioned.

Whence this western envy toward us? Whence the sense of suspicion
with which the west began to look upon every action of our country? It is
natural that popular and sentimental enthusiasm which rose to a very high
point suddenly should, as the time went by, decrease gradually. In their
calmer moments the western people came to see that the rise of Nippon meant
a tremendous stimulus to China, and the awakening of China meant the rise
of the Orient land which homes over half the population of the world. The
western people naturally thought that the Chinese would go to school to
Nippon in everything, and once the Chinese army would be organized and
tutored by the Nippon brain, there would arrive upon the world's stage a
factor which is terrible in its power. So it will be with India, with Turkey,
even with Persia ; for once the Orientals learn to look down upon the Europeans

578 THE FAR EAST

there will come to pass a state of things that would be stupefying beyond
imagination. The Oriental market which the Europeans, through their toils
of four hundred years, had opened and their prestige in the East which they
gained at no small expenditure, all these would disappear on one single
morning. This dread and the feeling of jealousy toward the newly risen
power gave birth to such utterly erroneous propaganda as the "yellow peril."

At the same time the military efficiency of Nippon compelled the recog-
nition of the world, and the western people argued at once that just as the
people of Nippon attained the high efficiency of their arms, so in the time of
peace they would succeed in developing their commerce, their merchant marine
and their manufacturing interests. They also argued that on such a day when
Nippon shall have attained the height of her commercial development she
would rob the states of Europe of their markets in China and in India.
Naturally the sense of envy toward Nippon arose on the part of the
western peoples. This unquestionably is one of the reasons of the sudden
change of the sentimental attitude of the West toward Nippon.

There is another thing — misunderstanding. And whence comes this
misunderstanding between Nippon and her friends? It comes from the
difference of blood; from the fundamental differences in their ethical views.
The Europeans look upon the people of Nippon as utterly different from the
white race. In governmental institutions, in customs and ethics Europeans
recognize the principles of Christianity. Christianity is ,tbe basis of every-
thing. The people of Nipon are different and therefore they argue they are
an inferior race, an inferior nation. Also, and very naturally, they think
that the morality of the Nippon people is very much inferior than that of the
European race. They look down upon the people of Nippon as tricky, as
low, as an inferior race. Especially low on the scale of civilization. The
West goes on to say that the Nippon people possess a high degree of military
efficiency but because they have won battles they have become conceited, vain.
Before the war, the attitude of the people of Nippon was exceedingly polite
toward the European and American races but after the war that has changed.
They have become proud and in some cases seem to look down upon the
Europeans. Such is the attitude of the western mind and such is the begin-
ning of all the misunderstandings. Arguing upon these lines the western
peoples thought that simply because Nippon has been triumphant in the late
war she must, conceive a great ambition she must in the end invade China.
The provision on the part of the Nippon people to respect the "Open Door
Policy," in China is a simple political move.

( To be continued )

CHARLES DENBY

American Consul-General at Shanghai, the most important post in the consular service. Ap-
point e d by Mr. Root (rem the Department of State where he held a prominent position-
Mr. Denby was reared in China and speaks the language. He is the son of the late Hon.
Charles Denby, Minister to China for many years, and has himself acted as Charge a"
Affaires.

THE FAR EAST 579

AMERICAN CONSULS IN THE ORIENT.

BY JOSEPH W. RICE.

'***£^^^*J HERE is now pending before Congress a Bill, inspired by the
M C~"\ State Department, providing for a thorough reform of the
^^ J Consular Service of the United States. The general subject

^^^gg^r of reform in the Consular Service has recently received a con-
siderable share of attention from Mr. Root, who evidently
shares die opinion of American travellers and residents in the Orient that
the American Consular service as at present organized and constituted does
not attain the high standard of efficiency and merit which is reached by the
consular organizations of Great Britain and Germany, or even of some of the
smaller European states. It may be pointed out that this inadequacy in the
Consular Service affects American prestige and status in the Orient with more
peculiar force than other territorial zones for the reason that Exterritoriality
prevails throughout the East, and the consul — a mere ministerial officer in
Europe and elsewhere charged only with the most perfunctory duties — is here
invested with judicial powers, and all those quasi-diplomatic and administra-
tive functions which accompany the extraterritorial status of the citizens of a
Western /nation. Hence the American consular official appointed to serve in
the Orient should possess a greater range of versatility sufficient to conquor
more varied duties than those which fall to the lot of consuls assigned to other
parts of the world.

Probably there are in the modern world no communities where artificial
standards of life prevail to so thorough-going an extent as in the "foreign"
communities dwelling in the East. Under the influence of material plenty
amounting to luxury, hordes of servants, divorced from the higher ambitions
of life at Home, lacking family ties and the inducements and consequent in-
terest of the permanent settler, and with a vast underlying native population
watchful and appreciative of appearances and understanding little else, but
whose favor and respect for commercial purposes it is necessary to win, it is
not to be wondered at that factitious ideals become all-pervading. As con-
ducive to the same result, let it be remembered that in the East as nowhere
else all the world is represented in approximately true proportion. Each
civilized nation sends its quota — each nationality jealously watching but not
always comprehending aught save the external things of the others. Hence the
exaltation and manifest paramount importance of appearances in the East,
and the rule of conduct there prevailing which requires that at all costs "face"
must be saved.

Into such communities is inducted the American consul. He is usually
appointed directly from political or business life in the United States. He
knows nothing about the East — cares nothing for its ideals and standards, for

580 THE FAR EAST

which he often has an undiplomatic, if common sense, contempt which he is
at no great pains to conceal. He is pervaded with American home thoughts
and notions, and the rule of life there obtaining. "Making the eagle scream,"
that innocent Home amusement, but one which it is politic to confine within
our own borders, to him seems a wise and beautiful pastime. Mayhap, even,
he may possess a virile contempt for the innocuous dresssuit. In short, not
only is he a greenhorn, but he is a stubborn greenhorn, — he will not learn.
The part which the interest of his country demands he should play in consular
or quasi-diplomatic functions is poorly sustained. He makes a bad appear-
ance, is sometimes shabbily dressed, can converse only in his own tongue,
is shy of foreign ladies (or they are shy of him), is unused to his surroundings
and shows it. The natural result follows. He retires to the background.
Other consular representatives of puny European powers, possessed of the
social initative and ease which he lacks, take up the position which his country
through him should occupy, and shine with meretricious but none the less
useful brilliance. It may be thought that the status achieved in European
social life in these ports is more or less unimportant, so long as our consular re-
presentative upholds his dignity amongst the people to whom he is officially
accredited. But his position with the latter is directly influenced by his
status in the former community. The question often is not what he is, but
what he seems to be. The Indian or the Chinese understands best what he
sees. From the appearance of power, importance and dignity that he sees
displayed on small occasions, he passes a posteriori to a false conception of
real power and importance. And Just to the extent that the native is thus in-
fluenced and misled, to that extent has the American Consular representative
failed to accomplish the gist and purpose of his appointment. The inter-
American sneer at the un-American "airs'* assumed by his consular colleagues
is futile. It should always be borne in mind that while the means may be
artificial, the end always kept in view is substantial. National dignity as
displayed in the public purview acts directly on commerce. The story of
the "old-fogey" American consul in the Orient who personally performed
manual labor in moving his household furniture from one dwelling to another,
thus reducing himself in the eye of the native to the level of a "coolie" illus-
trates the harm that may be done by the lack of a clear conception of this
consular representatives and offered the doer's country as a butt for inter-
truth. Here a single inapt, stubborn act marked the doer as the worst of
national and native ridicule.

The American's extreme democratic education and disposition also hamp-
er him in adopting a sufficiently dignified habit of living. The American has
carried practical democracy of manners to a limit unknown in other countries.
As a small politician, from which class many of our consuls come, he is ac-
customed to clasp with professional eagerness the hand of the wary voter.

_

E. T. WILLIAMS

American Consul-General at Tientsin. Appointed in May last by Mr. Root, from the position of
Chinese Secretary to the American Legation, Peking. Like Mr. Charles Denby, Mr.
Williams is one of the newer appointees whose personality helps to raise the standard of the
American Consular Service.

THE FAR EAST 581

be it horny or be it soft. He is a "mixer." He has been taught to "get
out and make friends," and not to stand on ceremony or to cultivate dignity.
The habits and the point of view of more than half a life-time are not easily
put aside. To the native and to the "foreigner" alike, the perplexing freedom
of the American consul's familiar acquaintanceship amongst nondescripts and
nobodies of every class, inspires first amazement and then derision and con-
tempt ; and the troubled consul has an uneasy feeling of topsy-turviness when he
begins to discover that the reward of promiscuous social affability in the
Orient is more often general scorn than popular esteem. Thus it is that
there is hardly a consulate port throughout the East that cannot (and does
not) tell with relish its local tale of horrifying associations and acquaintance-
ship indulged in by the local American consul. He has failed to learn, or
he has been too old or too independent to learn and practise the social "savvy"
which his official confreres, and his local public, expect of every consular re-
presentative of a great power. In the system of culture of the plain American
citizen resident in the United States this accomplishment undoubtedly ranks
low in the scale of value, but in that of the American Consul resident in the
Orient it has a vastly higher rating commensurate to its utility.

The truth is, the rising tide of civilization advancing with the years will
accomplish nothing more useful for the betterment of American foreign trade
and general foreign relations than the softening and refining of American
manners. In the development and culture of the amenities of life we are far
behind our European neighbors, to our detriment and their gain. The ma-
jority of Americans will no doubt be willing to own with an indulgent, self-
gratulatory smile that in the cultivation of these somewhat effeminate artificial
social graces, the nation is "behind the times." Many of us, if not most of
us, are glad to be behind the times in this regard. Yet, just as the individual
finds it impossible to live according to self-enounced laws without respect to
society, so a nation if it wishes to take its fitting place in the world's commerce
and affairs, must adopt the rules of life which the general national consensus
approves as essentially decent and decorous. To express the resulant argu-
ment plainly and simply we are losing business by our isolation, and we are
losing prestige by the gawkiness which causes our isolation, and marked
amelioration of manners and advancement in culture must be had to secure
and restore both. This is an urban and artificial age, and as a business nation
we cannot afford to allow ignorance of any useful branch of education to
hamper our trade.

The usual criticism pronounced by Americans themselves on the per-
sonnel of our Consular Service is that it is not drawn from the "right class of
men." I question whether there is any real sense in this platitude. It is quite
true that there are classes of men in the United States who could most satisfac-
torily represent our country in the East as consuls, but these classes as such

582 THE FAR EAST

are not available. Also, there are certain sections of the United States, the
Eastern States for instance, whose more refined civilization the better fits
their citizens to fill consular posts in the Orient. But so long as our govern-
ment remains a federation of sovereign states, it is idle to expect the consular
corps to be made up solely from this section. The American Consul in the
Orient is an average American citizen. Often he is one who has taken a
part in politics at Home and his appointment is the reward of party allegiance,
and as long as party government continues in its present form in the United
States, these appointments are likely to continue, and it is futile to decry
them, or load them with more than their merited share of blame. Some of
the consuls are bright and enterprising — others are stodgy and unprogressive.
As a class they are not a great credit to us, but we are not likely to get a
better class, or possibly a different class, at least until the entire scheme of
appointments to the consular service is reformed. One qualification, however,
should be possessed by every appointee, and that is such a past record as
furnishes a fair guarantee that he is honest. This every American dwelling
or travelling in the East strenuously demands. The notorious instances of
scandalous aberration from the path of honor and integrity exhibited by cer-
tain of our consuls in the East during the past few years should never again
be allowed to occur. None but American residents in that section know the
bitter harvest of ill-repute to the national character these incidents have borne.
I touch on this matter with timidity, for it is a grave — almost an esoteric sub-
ject. Be it stated simply as a bitter fact, that in the Orient no nationality
save the Japanese has so bad a name for dishonesty as the American. The
establishment of the United States Court for China has already done much
and will probably do more to correct abuses and negative evil opinions. The
advent of this court, with a vigorous, dynamic judge on the Bench clothed
with large powers of supervisory control over Consuls, has already had the
effect to spur all the latter officials in China to unusual activity and zeal, and
it is expected to effectually check peculation in the Consular Service by means
of more thorough supervision and prompt punishment of defaulters.

Nothing could be more unpractical and more certainly productive of in-
adequate consular representation and administration than the method of ap-
pointing the Consular Heads — the Consuls — direct from civil unofficial life
outside the service which party tyranny has always forced our government to
employ. Consequently there is no American Consular Service as there is a
British Consular Service. When a consular position becomes vacant, the
claims and exigencies of party requirements usually swallow it up, and even
though there be a clerk or assistant whose term of residence in the East or
acquaintanceship with the work have qualified him for advancement, it has
been rare that he received it. This is the gravest administrative evil possible —
the fundamental fault of the service — and it is an absolutely fatal fault. So

THE FAR EAST 583

long as our consuls shall be appointed desultorily and haphazard from matured
men uneducated in the Consular Service no matter from what class they are
selected, just so long we shall never have a service to compare with that of
other nations who work on the basis of systematic promotions within the
service according to seniority and ability. The disjointed, discontinuous char-
acter impressed on a given consular office by the disassociated tenure of success-
ive incumbents, each utterly unfamiliar with his predecessor's work and ex-
perience, renders the handicap too great for individual ability to overcome.
No attempt to reform the service by the judicious individual appointment of
men outside the service but otherwise apparently able and suitable can prove
otherwise than abortive. This method is wrong in principle, but even admit-
ting the possibility of its perfect operation, still the moderate mean of ability
furnished by a trained up-growing consular staff, with the accompanying ad-
vantages, can be better trusted to give satisfactory results. Writting on
another branch of the subject of administrative changes, Walter Bagehot
in his "English Constitution" says: "In many matters of business, perhaps
in most, a continuity of mediocrity is better than a hotch-potch of excellences.
A single competent selector of new inventions would probably
in the course of years, arrive at something tolerable; it is in the nature of
steady, regular, experimenting ability to diminish, if not vanquish, such diffi-
culties. But a quick succession of chiefs has no similar facility. They do
not learn from each other's experience; — you might as well expect the new
head boy at a public school to learn from the experience of the last head
boy." The truth of this principle finds extremest illustration in the case of the
consul appointed from Home. Not only must he learn the business of his
consular office, but he must learn the habits of oriental life as well.

The qualities which fit one to hold a consular office are not rare qualities.
There are thousands of young men in America who possess the requisite ability.
It is the adaptability for the sphere of life, not the ability to transact the
duties of the office which is scarcer. The commercial element, unthinkingly
echoing the catch-word of their cult, sometimes cries out for "business men."
As a matter of fact, this is a vain demand. Clever business men find more
satisfactory and remunerative employment in the United States, and if clever
business men are not to be had we certainly do not want foolish ones. More-
over, the business man is likely to be a busy and restless money-maker. His
instincts, talents and training all impel him to the discovery and utilization of
opportunities to make money. He may not necessarily prostitute his office
for the sake of gain, but there is that accentuated danger. The law says,
however, that he shall engage in no commercial venture of any kind, be it
honest or the reverse, and this behest the money-maker will find it very hard
to heed implicitly. Common-sense, honest, decently educated young Ameri-
cans with uniformed habits, entering the service at the bottom, will represent

584 THEFAREAST

our country far more creditably. The more gentlemanly and polished the
class from which they are taken the better for the service; at all events, the
"boys from the forks of the creek" should be inexorably excluded. Thus
gradually there will grow into the consular head positions, men not, as now,
scornful (and scorned) of society and social conditions in the East, but men
who have rationally accepted their due place in the Orient life; men keenly
appreciative of what the local present has to offer, and as keenly striving
and living for the things it prizes ; not men who spend a self-chosen but never-
theless lugubrious official existance in "remembering happier things." The
pith of the matter is the educational advantage gained — the knowledge and
training acquired in Oriental life, forming the basis for the organization of a
real consular staff.

The usual roar has of course arisen from die consuls that they are not
well enough paid. At present, the heads are certainly well enough paid.
The important point is that the assistants and "small men" shall be paid
well enough and on a scale graduated according to length of service, so that
sufficient inducement will appear to attract and retain good men. As things
are now, there is too great a gap between the pay of the consul and the pay
of consular assistants, from whom future consuls should come, and no
facilities for salary rises as sops to faithful minor officials who require ade-
quately increasing compensation.

It is quite chimerical yet to hope for an American Consular Service which
will at all compare with the British, because our foreign trade being what it
is, we cannot afford, nor have we the same need, for the large staff they
employ, and hence have not the corresponding ground work for an organized
system; and further, because in our growing country, prolific of opportunities,
we cannot offer such inducements of pay as will persuade men of equal
education and class to leave it. The young Briton enters his Consular Service
after a keen competitive examination wherein at least twenty applicants strug-
gle for each appointment. He must know, practically, two modern languages
besides English, and otherwise the examination is a strict one. A living
but small wage is paid to commence which grows steadily with service and
ability. Leave of absence may be obtained in such a manner as to afford
him who desires it opportunity to equip himself for the Bar preparatory to a
consular career along judicial lines. The consular assistant's occupation gives
him a good social standing in the British community. Within the consular
hierarchy, which is not divorced from other branches of governmental service,
but touches diplomatic and judicial life at various points, he can rise to great
heights in British officialdom. The more important consular posts are, in the
British Service, positions of great dignity and power, invested with rank
corresponding to that of the higher military and naval officers. Thus consuls-
general rank with (but after) Brigadier-Generals and Commodores; Consuls

— bobs s^BB

THEFAREAST 585

rank with (but after) Colonels, and Captains of the Royal Navy of three
years standing; Vice-consuls rank with (but after) majors, and lieutenants of
the Navy of eight years standing. This investiture of consular rank in the
British service effectually solves the important question of power of control over
ships of war, etc, at hand in a consulate port, whenever the need arises . In such
cases, the matter of rank in the great majority of instances will be found to
work out in favor of consular control. On the other hand, in the American
service, the dignity of rank and the power it entails are not conferred upon
consuls. If in difficulties, they can only prefer a request to the Naval or
Military commander whose help is desired, which the latter may in his dis-
cretion refuse.

One glaring anomaly in the administrative methods of the State Depart-
ment might be pointed out, that is to say, the shifting of consular officials from
one homogeneous zone of territory to another post located in an entirely differ-
ent zone. This is very harmful. The transfer of a consular official from
Dawson City to Canton, or from Nagasaki to Valparaiso may satisfy some
demand of temporary expediency, but ordinarily it is destructive of consular
organization in the Orient. As already explained, conditions of life and
environment in the East differ vastly from those conditions in other parts of
the world, and the removal of an orientalized official or the importation of a
greenhorn, cannot be aught but disturbing. For consular purposes, the Orient
so-called extends along the entire coast-line from Suez to Vladivostock. The
life and surroundings of the European or American throughout all this terri-
tory present substantially similar conditions. Hence the consular officials
educated and accustomed to its life should be retained in this zone of territory.
Such shifts or transfers as are found necessary or expedient may consistently be
confined within it.

Mr. Taft, during his residence in the East as Governor-General of the
Philippines, became well acquainted with the deficiencies of our Consular Ser-
vice, and ever since he returned to Washington a keener realization of the
true status of affairs by the Executive Heads has been succeeded by a more
active spirit of reform. The Executives alone, however, cannot accomplish
a thorough-going and permanent reform, though their judicious efforts to raise
the quality of the consular personnel are sure to be helpful. A plausible and
sympathetic Executive Order has been issued in which it is promised that
promotions shall henceforth be made from the lower grades of the service, a
suitable entrance examination is laid down as a requirement, and an examina-
tion in law required of appointees to consular posts involving judicial functions.
As an expression of good intention on the part of the administration, these
regulations are gratifying, but it is matter for regret that they are enforced
only by a temporary sanction. Without the cooperation of Congress, reforms
cannot be made permanent, nor the salaries of the lower consular grades so

-

586 THE FAR EAST

adjusted that the supply of new men drawn from Home to feed the system
shall not run short. It is too early to say what the result of the changes may
be, as the effect is not yet appreciable. It is feared that the number of suit-
able applicants to the Service will be so small and their standard of educa-
tion so low as to necessitate a lowering of examination requirements, which,
combined with the paucity of the consular staff, will force the government to
revert to the old system of appointment outside the service.

JOSEPH W. RICE.

Tientsin, China, May 25, 1908.

THROUGH NIPPON AND MANCHURIA ON THE NEW
YORK-TO PARIS RACE.

On Lincoln's Birthday, in the City of New York — at 10 a. m. on the
12th of February, 1908, to be precise — you could see them at their
stations along Forty-third Street betwen Broadway and Seventh Avenue,

facing the north end of the Times Building, De Dion (French),

Moto Bloc (French), Sizair et Naudin (French) Zust (Italian), Protos
(German), and the Thomas (American). At 1 1 a. m. exactly, a quarter
of a million pairs of eyes watched them start on the New York to Paris
race Every other man of the mob about Times Square was a prophet that
day, but none of their visions seemed to see a single car successfully enter
the City of Paris: — "Pshaw! They're up agin it, them fellers. They can't
hit Frisco, let alone Paris — they can't do it."

Scarcely had they left New York below their rear horizon when a great
snow storm had presented the racers with white sepulchres ; railway locomotives,
in the same part of the country through which they were passing, were coughing,
gasping for breath and fainting in the soft white arms of ten-foot drifts; but
the cars made their way through it all. And on the 22nd day of the race,
on March the 24th, 1908, Mantague Roberts drove the American car bto
San Franscisco. It had covered 3,328 miles from New York.

From San Francisco it made north to Seattle — thence on to Valdez,
Alaska, aboard the steamship, Santa Clara. The experiences of the Thomas
in Alaska compelled the modification in the original route of the race. The
reason was simple. It was simply impossible for an automobile to live
through the original Alaskan route. German Protos did not go to Alaska
to find an impossible route; some portions of the United States were quite
sufficient for all her desires in the line of impossible roads. Lieutenant Koep-
pen who drove her shipped the car by rail 2,000 miles to Seattle from a
certain impossible point in that impossible state, called Idaho. Lieutenant

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THE FAR EAST 587

Koeppen wished his car to be at Vladivostok in time to start across Siberia
with the rest of her fellow racers.

The Thomas sailed from Seattle for Nippon aboard the steamer Shaw-
mut ; she touched at Yokohama on May 1 7th, and on the morning of the
1 9th die Custom's officer at Kobe received the Americans' not altogether in
the American-yellow-journal-manufactured-chip-on-tbe-shoulder fashion. Mr.
George Schuster drove the Thomas through Nippon and here is his own story :

We were able to leave Kobe the following morning. Several people
were met at the Oriental Hotel, who having some knowledge of the roads
in Japan, acted as guides for the first half of the trip.

Soon after leaving the streets of Kobe, we found the roads very narrow,
and at times traveled on roads as narrow as six or eight feet. Sometimes
in traveling through Japanese village streets die roads were so narrow that it
was difficult to turn corners, making it necessary to go ahead and back up
several times until we were able to take them.

The car arrived at Kyoto, the old capital of Japan, about noon.

After a short stop and two hours of traveling, the car arrived at the
shores of Lake Biwa. Here the scenery is magnificent — mountains back of
the lake render it most beautiful. Skirting the shores of the lake, we
traveled through the village of Otsuki, at the head of the lake and through
Hikone, which is a resort along the lake, similar to some of our seaside places
in America.

Arriving at Maibara that evening we stopped for the night After
housing the car in a convenient railroad shed close by and putting a guard on
it, we arrived at the Japanese Inn, where we found it was necessary to re-
move our shoes, because it was the custom of the country to walk in the
house in native slippers.

The rooms in the inn were partitions, practically made of paper — really
nothing more than a toyhouse. There being no beds, the crew were obliged
to sleep on the floor with their feet higher than their heads.

The crew finally managed to obtain something that looked like American
food — a Japanese meal consisting mostly of rice and tea.

Leaving Maibara early the next morning, we found that as we progressed
into the interior of Japan the roads became narrower.

About 2 p. m. the car arrived in a country that was very mountainous,
with roads almost impassable for an automobile — being, practically, foot-
paths

The distance from this point to Tsuruga was about ten miles across the
mountains, but as the roads were found to be absolutely impassable to an
automobile, a detour of 200 miles was necessary in order to reach this point
by a route which the car was able to travel.

««.

588 THE FAR EAST

The bridges all through Japan were of practically toy construction, it
being necessary to make them only wide enough for the jinrikisha, or native
cart in use in Jauan, which has a tread of but 32 inches.

Late that evening the car arrived at a Japanese village in the mountains,
the descent was here so bad that the crew decided to stop over for the night.
Finding that there was practically no food to be obtained there, they sent
one of the coolies back to one of the villages they had passed through in
order to get something to eat. He brought 40 eggs and two chickens.

It was here that the host, a Japanese farmer, believed that the chicken
was a sacred bird, and begged us not kill it, as he believed that ill luck would
follow. We were, therefore, obliged to live on a diet of eggs and rice,
which they ate with chopsticks — no spoons being available.

The crew were objects of great interest. The farmer asking many
questions about their travels — the farmer, his wife and all friends knelt about
the fire, an open hearth. The conversation was carried on by means of an
interpreter, and lasted late into the night.

Leaving at daybreak the following morning, the car started down the
mountainside. After passing through a number of Japanese villages and a
tunnel, the car arrived at a village called Tamagura, where we obtained the
first view of the beautiful Sea of Japan, and Wakasa Bay, upon which the
port of Tsurgua is located.

The car arrived at Tsurga at about 3 p. m. We sailed for Vladivostok
the following day at 4 p. m.

On May 22d, the Thomas car left Vladivostok for Paris — after four hours
of struggling through endless stretches of mud, save where the road was lost
in a pool of water, striking sunken logs and boulders, causing the car to
bound up into the air, and almost turn a complete somersault, hurling the
occupants out. The fearful racking got from such treatment can well be
imagined. Many of the bridges were swept away, forcing the crew to ford
rivers.

On the way out of Vladivostok the Protos, which had stolen a march on
the Thomas by starting earlier, was found stuck in the mud and pulled out by
the Thomas — Lieutenant Koeppen opening a bottle of wine for the courtesy.
After the experiences and difficulties above mentioned, the car floundered on,
reaching Nikolsk on May 24th. Leaving Nikolsk on May 25th, the German
car took the lead, taking the railroad bed, while the Thomas went over the
prescribed route.

The first section of the road in Sibera proved as strenuous as any similar
stretch in America. The cars had not run 1 U0 miles when they found the
roads impassable in mire, practically abandoned since the opening of the
Trans-Siberian Railroad. The Thomas was stalled and returned to Nikolsk
to find that the Protos had gone ahead along the railroad roadbed and was

.1

THE FAR EAST 589

actually in the lead. The Thomas chased it for two days, with both cars
making slow headway, encountering many obstacles and braving death from
flying trains that came unheralded along the tracks. The American car
then suffered a serious accident and was forced to lie idle for five days while
the Germans were drawing away from them.

At Chita the American car was only two days behind the Protos, which
won the $1000 prize offered by the Imperial Automobile Club of Russia
for the first car entering Chita.

Leaving Chita, the Thomas, after herculean efforts and the breaking of
the car through the planking of a bridge in the city, which required hours
of labor to extricate it, arrived in Pogramitchnaya with the Protos only 60
miles ahead. The Thomas started on its chase to overtake the Protos. Still
using the railroad tracks, the Americans were held at all stations to meet
train schedules,, delaying them unnecessarily and daily receiving notice of
attempts to stop them by bandits and predatory tribes of nomads.
The run from Chita was replete with hardship and taxed the endurance of
men and machine to the greatest extent. In following the post road the
machine was bogged and after hours of hard labor was finally extricated, and,
with the assistance of a wandering Buriat, placed on the right way again.

The Thomas made exceptionally good time from Verkhaiendinsk to
Irkutsk, arriving on June 2 1 st, making 2 1 0 miles in 48 hours, and cutting down
the Protos lead down two days to two hours. The necessity of waiting for
gasoline occasioned another delay, which increased the Protos's lead to nine
hours. The German Protos, however, arrived at Kansk, half way between
Vladivostok and Moscow, and 396 miles west of Irkutsk, on June 24th, with
the Protos about 1 00 miles ahead.

Arriving at Irkutsk the American car was only a few hours behind the
Protos. In fact, they caught the Protos on the eastern shore of Lake Baikal.
Ill luck was theirs again, for, as they came up on Koeppen and his crew,
they found the German machine loaded for the trip across the lake, while it
lacked just four minutes of the time of departure, and they were forced to
wait 24 hours for a boat. In spite of this they came into Irkutsk, on the
western shore, two hours after the Protos had left, and started again nine
hours behind the Germans.

The Thomas left Irkutsk at 4 p. m on Sunday, June 21st, and after a
race unequaled in the history of automobiling, overtook the Protos at Tomsk.

The American car's trip was full of misadventure and numerous delays
from Irkutsk The ferry between two villages sank with the car, and many
hours were lost in extricating the machine.

Leaving Tomsk the Protos again got away in the lead, and owing
to long delays in obtaining gasoline, the Thomas was again compelled to
follow, but by superhuman endurance, caught and passed the Protos just

590 THEFAREAST

before reaching Kansk, on June 30th. The flying Germans were overtaken
after a most discouraging chase ; the Thomas getting away from Tomsk fifteen
hours after them, reaching Kansk at 5 p. m. on Monday, June 30th, struggling
through twenty miles of bog and mud after a short rest of five hours.

Leaving Omsk on Wednesday at 4 p m. the Thomas ran 30 miles to the
Irtsch River, which it crossed successfully. It then encountered a swamp
a mile wide, the road showing only occasionally above the water.

The road in places had been covered with straw to prevent wagons from
sinking. The ferryman warned Schuster of the depth of the swamp beneath,
but he persisted in refusing to be stopped by any obstacle, and proceeded.

The car set out and was almost across when the rear wheel broke
through the straw, striking a log and sinking to the hub. The Thomas began
to slip into the swamp and Schuster opened wide the trottle to get the
machine back into the road. The strain, however, was . too great and
cracked two teeth of the driving gear, leaving the car unable to run. With
the assistance of the local blacksmith, Miller, however, repaired the gear so
that the car could proceed at slow speed, arriving at Toumen on Thursday,
July 9th.

From Toumen the car raced on to Ykateunberg, located on the boundary
line between Europe and Asia in the Ural Mountains. Leaving there the
next morning the car went on to Perm.

Shortly before arriving in Perm the repaired gear gave way and a trip
to Kazan, 345 versts away by wagon, was necessary before a new one
could be obtained, and caused a delay of four days.

After replacing the gear the car resumed its journey to Kazan with the
Protos two days ahead. Arriving at Kazan two days later and without resting
raced on to Njni Novgorod, arriving there at 1 a. m., delaying only long
enough to obtain refreshment, the car left at 2 a. m. for Moscow, where
it arrived the following morning and remained for the day, leaving in pursuit
of the flying Germans six hours later. The car had lost several days on the
road, losing its way through inability to make the Russians understand the
sign language, and though the German Protos had left Saint Petersburg for
Berlin, Schuster was hopeful of overtaking it before it reached Paris, and
gave little heed to the almost broken-down condition of the men with him,
but with an energy that brooked no obstacles, he drove his machine merci-
lessly through mud and over all but impassable roads to Saint Petersburg,
where he arrived on Thursday, July 23d, leaving for Berlin at 7 p. m. the
same day.

Leaving Saint Petersburg the Thomas raced on after the Protos, which
was nearing Berlin, which it entered on July 24th, leaving the same day for
Paris, just as news arrived that the Thomas had crossed the German frontier.

_

THE FAR EAST 591

The German Protos reached the French capital at 6:15 o'clock on Sun-
day, July 26th.

At 8 o'clock on July 30th, the Thomas Flyer, victor in the round-the-
world race from New York to Paris, arrived in Paris, sweeping through the
crowded boulevards of the city, escorted by a great cavalcade of automo-
biles.

Crowds thronged the streets and cheered the Americans to the echo. "Vive
le car American" was the cry for block after block. At the Le Matin office an
informal reception was held for Schuster and his men, and toasts were drunk
to them and the car.

THE KOREA OF TO-DAY.

BY LIEUTENANT GENERAL USAKAWA.

v>«4^^fc. _J HE more disorderly element among Korean rioters has uo-
M £™\ dergone a complete change of character. They have coa-
^^ 1 verted themselves into bands of outlaws at the present time.

^WOggnyacy Their one aim seems to be to rob and destroy by striking
peaceful citizens of the country suddenly and at unexpected
points. They have no military organization, nor do they seem to be under any
leadership whatever. Naturally, the method to be employed in the suppress-
ion of disorderly rioters in Koera must of necessity adapt itself to
this change of character. To attempt to suppress the outlaws by military
operation therefore, is entirely unsatisfactory. From the very nature of their
operations, one can see clearly that it is impossible to suppress all of them
at one time in dispatching to Korea a large number of our soldiers and fighting
a pitched battle against them. Therefore, one of the most effective ways of
meeting them is to employ military force on the one hand, and utilize
police and armed police on the other. Moreover, the effective sup-
pression of the disorderly element of Koreans must always depend upon the
condition of administration machinery in the different sections of Korea. It is
not enough to meet rioters and defend them in a strictly military sense. Rather
the most important problem to be solved by us is to find the methods of
taming than defeating them. The order of the day is to convert these dis-
orderly elements into good citizens. The organization of a supplementary
armed police force in Korea has this idea in view. The military operations
in the suppression of disorderly outlaws in Korea has an unfortunate
effect upon the people of Korea. They are too apt to misunderstand such
measures. They see our soldiers carrying on operations against the highway-
men and robbers, and in their haste jump at the conclusion that we are in

592 THE FAR EAST

our haste trying our best to exterminate the Korean race at the point of the
sword. This is utterly defeating our original aim. For the good Koreans
themselves would naturally be driven to sympathise with robbers, on die
ground that, after all, blood is thicker than water. On the other hand, if
we only could succeed in taming these Korean outlaws by gentle methods,
could win them into our way by explaining to them our end, which
is far from exterminating the race, we receive a distinct advantage. The one
Korean who is brought to understand our ideas is worth a great deal in ex-
plaining our methods and aims to his countrymen. The work of our soldiers
in Korea has been exceedingly satisfactory. The men of the 1 3th Division
Who were retained in Korea since the war, have served for a long period. The
men of the Kokura Regiment who were dispatched last year, have seen about
one year of service. Both the 1 3th Division and the Kokura Regiment have
gone through a strenuous and trying service, almost constantly on the move
from one section of the country to another. Still they seem to be as active
and fresh to-day as ever, and one cannot see the slightest sign of inefficiency
among them. As for His Majesty, the King of Korea, I have had many
an audience during my former stay in Korea, but after His Majesty's ascen-
sion to the throne, the audience given me on this trip was the first with Which
I have been honored. From what His Majesty was gracious enough to say,
it is a matter of grave gratulation that His Majesty is paying a great deal of
thought to the improvement in the conditions of his people, and has taken
trouble to see and understand the true significance of our efforts in Korea.

The last visit of mine in Korea did not afford me sufficient lesiure to in-
vestigate extensively and carefully into the present condition prevailing in the
country. I shall venture to say, however, that all our enterprises in Korea,
such as the Oriental Colonization Company, should be carried out with utmost
caution. It is highly important for all of us, in all our attempts, to be ex-
ceedingly careful not to leave the slightest room for misunderstanding on the
part of the Korean friends of ours. ,

As for the evil effects resulting from the lawless and riotous elements
among the Koreans, effective measures have been taken to destroy them root
and branch. In such sections of Korea as are perfectly free from the ravages
of the lawless class, it is earnestly hoped that the number of our people who
aim to develop the Korean resources, should imigrate extensively and freely,
and take to the work of the development of Korean resources with renewed
enthusiasm. As for those sections which are still under the disquieting in-
fluence of outlaws, they are mostly in those parts of the country which lack
the transportation facilities, and Which are not promising for industrial activ-
ities, and for that reason, such sections should not weigh materially in the
calculation of our colonists.

The in-flow into Korea of the indolent class of our people is a matter
that is to be regretted. Men Who are sufficiently endowed with more or less

THE FAR EAST 593

capital, and ample ambition and industry, are sure to succeed in their enter-
prises of developing Korean resources.

The province of the Residency General is to guide and direct the royal
household department and the Korean cabinet to administer the Korean?
peacefully, and look after the interests of the foreign residents in Korea. I
sincerely believe that the efforts of the Residency General are bearing goodly
fruit. Its administration is approaching to perfection with every day that
passes. The Residency General is paying its attention more than ever, to the
local administration of Korea. It has brought about a change in the per-
sonnel of local administration, and promulgated the laws in the appointment
and duties of local officers. It is devoting its strenuous efforts to the improve-
ment of local government. The men who are now appointed as the ad-
ministrators of different provinces are those who have received education and
training abroad, mostly in Nippon. They are men of ability, and men who
are sufficiently intelligent to understand fully the true significance of the
efforts of the Residency General toward the Korean people.

As for the regulation governing the appointment of officials, and so on
it places special emphasis on the actual workings out of the local official
system, and has sacrificed mere formality in this matter. The men who are
appointed as the administrators and officers of the different local governments,
are appointed from the class of men whose reputation for integrity and intelli-
gence, and especially character, is above all reproach. This is very carefully
worked out, with the idea of organizing an effective channel through which
the government could acquaint the people with the real aim and end of ad-
ministration. Such men naturally would command the respect of the people,
and is thought to do much in bringing about a better understanding between
the people and the government.

As for the anti-Nippon sentiment in Korea, it is general throughout
Korea. There aTe a number of associations of men to be sure, among the
Koreans who profess individually to be pro-Nipponese in their persuasion,
and who are given to extolling the virtues of protective policies of Nippon
over Korea, but it seems to me that if one were to delve deeply enough into
the secrets of their hearts, these very men are looking upon every effort of
Nippon to improve the Korean condition of life as an unwarranted interfer-
ence on our part, and they seem to be watching an opportunity of overthrowing
the Nippon influence in Korea. There are a large number of men, who, with
their hands in their pockets, stand as critics of the administrative efforts of
the Residency General, and seem to be utterly indifferent in bringing about a
better condition among the Koreans. This class of people give no end of
trouble to the practical workings of the Residency General, in its attempt to
bring the Koreans to adapt themselves to the new order of things. Take for
example the question of organizing a supplementary armed police force in
Korea. That has been a mooted question there. All kinds of hostile com-

594 THE FAR EAST

ments were made against it, so much so that the Residency General was
compelled to spend several hours with the cabinet officers of Korea in ex-
plaining the benefits that would naturally accrue from the establishment of
such force, and at least as far as the administration end is concerned, he has
succeeded in convincing them of the virtues of such organization. But
both high and low, the Koreans seem to be unable to see far into the future.
Every one of them seems to be too busily employed to discover the advantages
which are in front of their eyes, and have no time or inclination left to lay
the foundation of future safety and prosperity of the country.

In our country an impression prevails that the Koreans are indolent, and
the very mention of a Korean seems to call into our mind a lazy, do-nothing,
useless type of loafer. But this is wrong. This impression doubtless must
have originated among those of our country who have only seen the Koreans
at Seoul and Chemulpo, and a few other larger towns. The people who
hold to such an opinion are blind to the fact that there is a large class of
farmers in Korea who are entirely and radically different in their character
from what might be called the official class. The Korean farmers are ex-
ceedingly industrious, in fact while some of our farmers at home are content
in cultivating one cho of soil as an ordinary man's work, there are a number
of Korean farmers who are cultivating five or six cho, and do it exceedingly
well. And I have not the slightest doubt that under proper guidance the
Korean farmers would develop into a class of exceedingly industrious workers.
In developing the Korean people in the agricultural industry, commercial
and other lines, there is one thing that is perhaps more important than any
other. The one thing that is necessary for the development and prosperity
of Korean enterprises is the establishment of an efficient transportation and
communication facility. The Residency General looks upon this matter as
one of the most important. The principal obstacle in realizing on this one
important line of Korean activity is that the financial ability of Korea is so far
below her national demands, and in the actual carrying out of Korean schemes
there are many things that are unsatisfactory, arising from this financial ina-
bility of Korea. The Mokuho line, for example, should be built as quickly
as the Korean ability would permit. The building of this line will have a
tremendous effect on the public opinion of the Southern Korea in adminis-
trative matters

The education of the Korean people is a matter which is being taken up
actively. In Seoul the school facilities offered for the education of Korean
children, both government and private, are gradually developing in their
efficiency. The enrollment of pupils has passed the ten thousand mark, and
the number of students which are being taught through different schools in
more remote sections may represent a fairly large total.

The Koreans are fond of empty discussion. The Korean character
is by nature perfidious. There is always two sides to it, one which is pre-

HOONG-WAH PAGODA, SHANGHAI, CHINA.

THE FAR EAST 595

sented to the public, and the one which is in secret, and there are a number of
Koreans who discuss at length and very learnedly, that the title of Residency
General is not at all proper, that our Residency General should be called the
office of "Resident Consular," etc. Now, as the popular education will
gain currency among Koreans, still more complex discussions over names
and titles of different officers and so on, may become more and more
troublesome. It is highly important therefore, that the men who are attempt-
ing to direct the educational enterprises in Korea should pay special attention
to the selection of the courses of study, and they should put special emphasis
on the practical side of Korean education, rather than the speculative and
academic.

THE NEW EAST IN THE MAKING,

BY ASADA MASUO.

IS NIPPON REALLY MONOPOLIZING CHINESE TRADE?

XT is entertaining, refreshing, even flattering, this great story of
Nippon's monopolizing the Chinese market. The fact has
no sense of humor, however; it doesn't care a rap whether
newspapers sell or don't sell. It is stubborn; it speaks in dry
figures. Here is its story: In 1905, Nippon including For-
mosa, sold to China the goods valued at 61,315,000 taels. In 1906 our
importation into China dropped to 61,052,000 taels, and in the year
1907 it once more dropped to 57,461,000 taels. CjfAnd the people say
that "Japan is monopolizing Chinese trade." flfAnd the newspapers,
the civilized blatant and real lords of the United States, say that we are
closing Chinese market against everyone else but ourselves: that we
mean to gobble up the Chinese trade. €][ Nothing is unnatural about this
— nothing is even surprising in this. It is thus the world talks and the
people too busy to examine facts is herded like so many sheep. <|EngIand,
exclusive of the British India, and of Hong Kong, sold to China in the
year 1907 goods valued at, in round numbers, 77,562, 000 taels. And
in the same yea.r Hong Kong sold to China 155,642,000 taels worth of
goods. And yet the people say, and the newspapers shout, that we
are building an eternal wall around the Chinese market which is invisible
but which in its exclusiveness would make the historic eternal wall of
China a cheap heap of mud. tJThe total import trade of China in
1907 amounted to 416,501,000 taels. There is no school boy who is
reckless enough to place the equal sign between fifty seven millions and
four hunded and sixteen millions; and this feat in mathematics is exactly

596 THEFAREAST

what so many shrewd, sober truth-telling British traders in Chinese and
Oriental ports are trying to achieve, — with the help of American news-
papers.

THE IMPORTATION OF FOREIGN IRON AND STEEL.

€][ Immediately following the Russo-Nippon War it increased as much
as three hundred per cent at one time. CJThe railway materials for the
construction of new lines and structural iron were the principal items,
which swelled the importation of steel and iron from abroad. Private
interests also purchased iron and steel largely for construction works, the
construction of levees and bridges as well as for structural purposes. Even
in the panicky days of our financial circles the amount of iron and steel
goods handled by dealers in the City of Tokyo alone passed the million
mark, every month. The amount of iron and steel in warehouses and
in stock today is valued at four hundred million yen. The market has
been comparatively active since April of this year and has "digested"
practically the entire stock brought over from last year, and is absorbing
all the importations that are being made from month to month.

CHEAP FLOUR FOR THE EAST.

^[Indications are that the price of Kwang Tung wheat will be about
one yen (50c gold) for two and one-fifth pecks. The activity of the
Nippon Flour Milling Co. has been the chief factor in furnishing the East
with cheap flour. Other companies such as the Teikoku, the Toa and the
Nisshin companies which are operating in competition against the Nippon
Flour Milling Co. were obliged to lower their prices. Two yen and thirty-
five or six sen is the current price at present. <JAs for the American
flour the importation of it has fallen off remarkably There may be five
hundred to six hundred thousand sacks in stock now, but it is a negligible
quantity. The market in fact is over-stocked The efforts of the dealers
in this line seem now to be devoted to the restriction of over-produc-
tion.

THE FIRST FAVORABLE SIGN IN THE FOREIGN TRADE OF NIPPON.

IflToward the close of May, 1908, the foreign trade of Nippon for the
first time began to show a somewhat favorable complexion. In that
month our foreign trade showed the excess of export of 300,000 yen
This has been welcomed as the first break in the darkened skies of the
panicky financial Nippon. The sign is all the more enthusiastically wel-
comed because in the similar period of the year before (that is toward
the close of May, 1907) we saw the excess of imports over exports to
the value of four million yen. ^[Moreover, the chief items which brought

THE FAR EAST 597

about this favorable change were cotton, yarn, copper and raw silk. To
be sure this slight excess shown in our export over import is not a serious
enough item to offer even an excellent excuse for the optomistic to harp
upon too strongly. <JA healthier sign which prophesies the coming of a
better day, financial, is perhaps the tendency on the part of the price of
the staples to settle down to a somewhat reasonable level. The prices of
staples have been coming down steadily but it is still quite out of propor-
tion to the very much downcast temper of the financial market.

THE RISE IN THE STANDARD OF LIVING IN NIPPON.

<IThe standard of living in Nippon has mounted at a tremendous rate.
That is another way of saying that money has lost its purchasing power.
One yen today can hardly buy as much as twenty sen did twenty-five
years ago. The rise in the standard of living in Nippon has been quite
as steady as it has been sudden and radical. There is one remarkable
think about it also — all through the period of the present financial de-
pression it is a notable fact that the prices of the necessaries of life have
maintained its level wonderfully well. The downward tendency of
staples and the commodities necessary to life has been noted in the pre-
ceding paragraph, but this fall has been exceedingly slight. There are
a number of reasons for this. The financial panic has affected the private
industries disastrously, but the governmental works seemed to be in an im-
munity bath. Now in Nippon a large portion of the larger industrial
activities are in the hands of the government. The government has
been paying good wages to the working man. The working men have
not suffered therefore through the financial panic. They, with their
governmental interests, have looKea upon the financial disasters as a fire
across the stream as we say. Their purchasing power has not been de-
creased; hence the price of the commodities has maintained the pros-
perity standard even through the darkest days of our finance. And then
too there is the increased taxation. The taxes put upon the articles of
necessity are such that it is impossible to lower the price of commodities.
It is so with sugar, so with kerosene oil, so with soy. There has been a
dangerous tendency — acompanying always the balloon habit which the
soaring standard of life in Nippon has acquired — of murdering the
traditional frugality of the people The time was, and not many years
ago, when the simplicity of life in Nippon was the admiration and wondei
of the West. Now it seems very much as if the extravagance of Nippon,
so strinkingly brazen in contrast, with the Spartan days of the Elder
Nippon, is making even our American friends to open their eyes and
mouth wider than they are becoming. Here then is a topic upon which a
prophet should sound an eloquent warning.

598 THE FAR EAST

THE NIPPON STEEL WORKS.

tJThe Dai Nippon Steel Works is to commence its active work some
time within the next year. Negotiations to float five million yen of its de-
bentures on the London market is reported to be in progress.

THE NEW SERVICE BETWEEN TAIREN (DALNAY) AND SHANGHAI.

<flThe South Manchurian Railway has placed the Kobe Maru on the
newly established line between Tairen and Shanghai. It is to make a
round trip a week. The significance of this newly established service is
very great. It is the first step in bringing Shanghai into a direct touch
with Manchuria. The conveniences that this new line affords to the
business interests in the south China operating in Manchuria and Siberia
are manifold. Moreover the effect of this line upon some of the Nippon
merchants doing business at Tairen would be marked. There are a
few Nippon houses in Tairen such as Mitsui and Okura companies which
are large enough to deal direct with the manufacturers all over the world.
The petty merchants handle at Tairen, goods shipped from the chief ports
in Nippon, such as Kobe, Osaka, etc. In the case of foreign goods im-
port duties anywhere from 25 to 30 per cent are paid when they enter
Nippon ports. Our Tairen merchants handle these goods and naturally
the cost of the import goods there have been surprisingly high. The
only thing that saved these petty merchants from being squeezed out by in-
ternational competition was a certain amount of business which they enjoyed
from their compatriots of their native colony largely through friendly senti-
ment existing among the members of the Nippon colony. ^JWith the estab-
ment, however, of this direct service betwen Tairien and Shanghai, all
will be different. At Shanghai, the foreign goods pay about five per
cent ad valorem import duty. Now these import articles can be carried
over to Tairen over this newly established line promptly on regular sched-
ule through the hands of foreign mrchants. These articles can be sold
at Tairen at a very much cheaper rate than any of the petty Nippon
merchants could possibly procure through Kobe and Osaka houses. Of
course Tairen is a free port and therefore the articles that would be shipped
from Shanghai would enter there duty free. ^Now, the new steamship
line between Tairen and Shanghai is established, owned and operated
by the South Manchurian Railway Company. €|And the South Man-
churian Railway Company is the government property of Nippon. The
establishment of this line as we have pointed out means the driving of
Nippon merchants out of business at Tairen for it must be apparent even
to one who runs along the highway that they can never hope to hold
their own with heavily dutied articles imported at Osaka and Kobe, against
the foreign houses which can bring into Tairen their articles upon which

THE FAR EAST 599

they pay five per cent import duty at Shanghai. C|In other words the
establishment of the new line means the driving of our petty merchant
out of business at Tairen. flAnd we hear no end of talk, especially from
the foreign merchants in the Far East, of the aggressive, monopolistic,
despotic and altogether hateful methods of the Nippon government in gob-
bling up the entire trade of the Far East! CfThe establishment of the
new line means that Shanghai will as far as the foreign articles in Man-
churia are concerned, command the cream of the Manchurian trade.
^[Indeed there are many among the Nippon merchants who are criticising
this measure of the South Manchurian Railway Company in establishing
the new line which works so disastrously against the Nippon interests.
But they are quite as short-sighted as the foreign critics of the Nippon
policy. The Manchurian market is a large market. It is in its infancy.
What it needs now is not monopolistic protection but a healthy develop-
ment. And the life of the South Manchurian Railway will rise or fall
with the prosperity or decline of the Manchurian market itself. The
establishment of the Tairen-Shanghai Line is one of the many brilliant
achievements of Baron Goto who was the President of the South Man-
churian Railway and is now the Minister of Transportation and Communi-
cation in the new cabinet of Nippon. The mental vision of Baron
Goto is not horizened by the coast lines of Nippon, neither is it walled
by the boundary line of Manchuria. Always he has looked at thing!
from a world standpoint of view and the establishment of the Tairen-
Shanghai Line is to promote the Nippon interests in Manchuria on a
very much larger scale than the petty merchants in Tairen would be able to
appreciate.

THE GROWTH OF NIPPON YUSEN KAISHA.

CJIn the City of Kobe, at the Kawasaki Dockyard, was launched a steam-
ship called Mishima-maru. It is a sister ship of the Hirano-maru which
was built and launched at the Mitsubishi Dockyard, toward the close of
last year. They are the two of the six newer vessels being built for the
Yusen Kaisha. Each one of these ships displaces 15,800 tons. It has
a speed of sixteen knots per hour. The aggregate tonnage of 52,000,
of the newest type of ocean liners will be placed therefore at the command
of the Yusen Kaisha in a very near future. fIThese six new vessels
are to be placed on the European service of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha.
At the present time they have six vessels on her European line, of six
thousand tons each. The six new ships which are in course of construction
now, are to replace these older vessels and the six vessels which will
be replaced by the new vessels will be utilized on an irregular service,
either on the Atlantic or on the coastwise trade at home.

600 THE FAR EAST

THE ARBITRATION TREATY BETWEEN AMERICA AND NIPPON.

€JOn the 5th of May, 1908, in the City of Washington, Mr. Root, re-
presenting the United States, and Baron Takahira, ambassador of
Nippon, placed their seals on an arbitration treaty. Some three years
ago the treaty was broached, but circumstances prevented an immediate
ratification of such treaty, and it has been postponed until this year.

CHINA AND HER NEW NAVY.

C| According to the Pekin communication of Tokyo Nichi-Nichi, China is
about to reorganize her navy. In the Department of Military Adminis-
tration she has established the admiralty office. As the preliminaries of
the rehabilitation of the navy the central government has decided to des-
patch commissioners to different provinces of the empire for the purpose
of surveying the coast waters, and charting the island, etc. It has
already issued an instruction to the viceroys of the different provinces to
this effect.

THE FINANCE IN FORMOSA.

•JThree years ago we saw the independence of the Formosan finance.
Since then the self supporting policy of the Formosan administration has
waxed in strength steadily. The increase of annual revenues from different
enterprises on the part of the Formosan administration has been healthy
and steady. It is true that annual expenditure of Formosa has gone on
increasing at somewhat rapid rate. Still at the present time not only is
she able to pay all her bills out of her revenue, but she has sufficient amount
of funds laid away for the purpose of inaugurating extensive public works
such as water works and harbor works. The expenditure in the con-
struction of water works and dredging of the harbor, and a number of
other extraordinary items of expenditure, have increased very largely in
Tecent years. Even these works which are involving a large outlay at the
present time is after all an excellent investment from which the ad-
ministration can confidently expect handsome returns. There is no doubt
but that the investments are well placed, tflln this fiscal year the land tax
amounted to 2,992,000 yen. The amount of land tax naturally has to
increase every year. Not only has it to increase but it is expected to in-
crease at a rapid rate. Among the chief items or revenue for the ad-
ministration are salt and camphor, but the products of Formosa from
which the administration can reasonably expect returns are not confined
to the two articles mentioned. In short, Formosan resources are but
touched. They are very far from having been exploited to the full. The
golden age of Formosan finance is still in the future. Altogether the
colonial enterprise of Nippon in Formosa as far as finance is concerned
(and this was the point of gravest doubt) is far from being a failure.

Just Published

In Korea with Marquis Ito

BY

George Trumbull Ladd, LL. D.

Illustrated. $2.50 net. Post paid, $2.70

THE CONTENTS
Rulers and People
Resources and Finance
Education and the Public Justice
Foreigners and Foreign Relations
Wrongs: Real and Fancied
Missions and Missionaries
July, 1907. and After
The Solution of the Problem
The Invitation
First Glimpses of Korea
Life in Seoul
The Visit to Pyeng-Yang
Chemulpo and other Places
The Departure

Personal Reminiscences and Impressions
The Problem : Historical
The Compact

Undoubtedly the most important work on Korea and Japan, as far as their present relations are
concerned, that has been brought out. Professor Ladd had, through his relations with Marquis Ito,
very exceptional facilities for personal observation in Korea, and unprecedented opportunities for
knowledge as to the past and present conduct of Japan
and her present intentions. Much hitherto unpublished
material was placed in his hands enabling him to estab-
lish beyond reasonable doubt the truth about certain
matters which he discusses in his book. The book is
partly the account of personal experience described in
a readable and interesting way, and in part a serious first
hand discussion of a weighty political problem, and it is
consequently of interest both to those who want merely
a surface picture of conditions and to those who want to
study the problem seriously. No one can, in the future,
write history of these events or discuss them with author-
ity, without making himself familiar with the views and
conclusions of Prof, Ladd in this book.

"Written with great care. It is one of the most in-
forming books on the East that has yet been published,
-Philadelphia Inquirer.

'It cannot fail to be of interest"

The ex-King and present King of Ko

-Louisville Courier-Journal.

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

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VOL. II.

NOVEMBER, 1908

No. 1.

THE
FAR
EAST

Our Commercial
Policy Toward
China.

By Mr. Ijuin,
Japanese Minhler to China.

Autobiography ot
Prince Ito.

Up the Fuji.

Financial Nippon of
Today.

The Hokku of
Basho.

By Porter Gamett.

The New East .in
the Making

" fiat Qaat Quhltaljmg Qo.

DETROIT, MICH., U. S. A.

TJHIRTY CENTS THE COPY. THREE DOIXARS THE YEA

;" ■■.■'■■'■..;■■■.■..■ ,

The Far East

Adachi Kinnomhp,

Proprietor and Editor

NOVEMBER. 1908

CONTENTS

MT. FUJI, by a native artist FRONTISPIECE

FUJIYAMA D. M. BRUCE

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF PRINCE ITO HIROBUMI-VIII
Being an account of his life told by himself
to and recorded by OHASHI OTOWA 1

UP THE FUJI HARA TARO 5

(Illustrated)

THE FINANCIAL NIPPON OF TODAY

(Illustrated) HIRATA TAKATOKI 9

UNDER THE CHERRY CLOUD OF SUMIDA— A Story

(Illustrated) ADACHI KINNOSUKE 13

THE COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL POLICY

OF NIPPON TOWARD CHINA. OJIUN HIKOKICHI 20

"Being a report of recent date." "Minister of Nippon at Peking."

THE HISTORY OF NIPPON CIVILIZATION

By the Author of the Mikado's Empire 28

(Illustrated)

THE HOKKU OF BASHO PORTER GARNETT 34

THE NEW EAST IN THE MAKING ASADA MASUO 36

REVIEW—

On the Education of the Korean.

Establishment of a Chinese Line.

The Decline of the Transportation Business
between Europe and the Far East.

The Foreign Professors in the Imperial Uni-
versity, Tokyo.

A Visit of American Business Men to Nippon.

The Future Outlook of Nippon's Revenue,

International Baseball as a Peacemaker.

The Subsidy for the Mercantile Marine of
Nippon.

Education in China.

The Takao Harbor Works.

The Construction of the Daito Railway.
(Illustrated)

Title Page— The Far-famed Rapids of the

Hozu River. 48

Copyright, 1908, by The Far East Publishing Co.,

Entered as second-class matter July 9, 1908,
at the post office at Detroit, Mich.

Published Monthly by

The Far East Publishing Co.,

The Addison, Detroit, Mich., U. S. A.

,

Sfajhjama.

2hj ®. WL Mtuct.

W

Ijere Sfujiuama mists o'er tlje bag

a[t;rau0t| purple fjaze, tjer peerless crest of snout,
QJljere lies a lanb of beautg, uiljere to strag
3fs still to uialk in uwnber-lanb, anb know
GJlje ecfjoes tljat tlje elfin bugles blout.

X

tjearb tljem at ijakone; o'er tlje scene

JVnb siluer lake, a soft enchantment creeps;
Aboue tljose maters uiatctjetfj 3[u;i-^an,
Anb in tljeir beptljs Ijer sljaboui lies anb sleeps,
■Hbjle through, tlje tjills tlje fairg music smeeps.

t bamn slje makes, tjer wtjite cone like a flomer
Ranging in 8jeauen, tlje pure anb perfect stjrine
©f Ijer uiljo makes tlje bubs to bloom, mljose pomer
uffje faitljfttl uiurstjip, anb tlje mise bitrine--
f§ee tlje stram sanbals of tlje pilgrims line.

©

Ije pattjuiag to tlje sacreb mount; me climb

Past moobs, aboue tlje rain-cloubs, to tlje snom,
Qffjrougb, bark to bamn,~until me reacb. tlje prime,
2(n sljimmering ligljt perceiue tlje first faint glow
Anb Ijear tlje morning's silner trumpljets blom.

The Far East

Vol. II. November, 1908. No. 1

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF PRINCE ITO HIROBUML*

Being an account of his life as told by himself to and recorded by
OH ASH I OTOWA.

VIII.
"V>4B|^^/ HE Imperial Rescript was largely based upon the suggestions
M £"*\ of Kido. He held that it would not be well for us to push
^^ 1 ahead too rapidly. Gradual, systematic, conservative progress

^^^g^r was what he advocated and the Imperial Rescript announced
the establishment of the constitutional state founded upon the
principle of conservative progress.

It was the favored doctrine of Kido — this principle of conservative pro-
gress. Okubo pledged himself to follow the lead of Kido. Therefore it is
perfectly correct to say that the principle of conservative progress was the
keynote of the administration at that time. His Majesty, the Emperor, also
heartily approved of this principle of gradual progress. The Imperial Res-
cript referred to is the proof of this. We have seen the working of this
principle of conservative progress as it proved itself through the many years
which followed, especially through the sixteen years at the end of which time
we saw the promulgation of our constitution.

This is a fitting place for us to pause to examine the wisdom or unwisdom
of this principle of gradual progress. Let us invite our critics to examine
carefully the result of this principle in its actual workings. As for us, we
do not hesitate a moment to say that it was eminently wise and profitable when
judged by its fruits. Looking back from where we stand to those days of
sixteen years ago [this was written in the early part of 1 899 ] we see that
the leaders of thought among the people in those gone days were exceedingly
impatient on one point, namely, to secure popular political rights for the
mass. As soon as the Genroin [the council of elder statesmen] was estab-
lished the petitions for a representative assembly elected by the people, fell
upon the government like a flood. The foresight of Kido and Okubo was the
dominant force which fought back this too impatient and radical tendency for
the exercise of popular political rights. And today we have seen the pro-
gress through the sixteen years. We have seen also the promulgation of the
constitution. We may ask the question therefore: — "What do the people
think of the constitution even today? What ideas have they of the constitu-
tional state?" We have sufficient data to answer the question; it is plain to

* Translated by Adachi Kinnosuke.
Copyright 1908, by Adachi Kinnosuke.

THE FAR EAST

see that if the administration had yielded to the public clamor of rapid and
radical progress, and did not adopt the principle of gradual and conservative
advance, we would have seen greater abuse and more unfavorable results in
the inauguration of a constitutional state than we see at the present time.
Indeed Who can say that such abuse might not have led to the serious danger
threatening the very existence of state? In those days when the question of
political rights was uppermost in the minds of our people, when they were
loud in the discussions over the advantages of this and the disadvantages of
that form of political institution, when they were not so very clear in their
mind as to the prerogatives of the Diet, if I say, at that time, the government
followed the suggestions of the radicals, none can prophesy what blunders
might not have been committed.

As far as I can see even today, there seem to be a number of people who
are given to extremes in their ideas on the constitution. Is it not true that
among the politicians who are still living, there are many who do not under-
stand the meaning of a constitutional state? I believe therefore that it cannot
be gainsaid the actual operation of the principle of gradual transition and
progress resulted in a great profit to state.

So the Genroin [council of elders] was established. Also the Supreme
Court and local assemblies. Thus we have seen that three of the four items
of my suggestion were actually carried out. As for the specialization of the
duties of cabinet ministers, there was no strong opposition. Still affairs were
not advanced far enough at the time to put this idea into practical operation.

At first, Itagaki was opposed to the idea but gradually he modified his
views and especially after he had taken up his residence in Tokyo, he de-
clared himself unreservedly in favor of the independence of the cabinet.
Prince Shimazu was also in favor of this principle. As I have said, I was
the author of this plan for specializing cabinet duties, still I saw circumstances
that this program would work to disadvantage and therefore I was compelled
to modify my views on this point. The event which compelled me to change
was the Korean affair. If at the time when such an event would come to
pass and the duties of the cabinet were specialized as suggested by my pro-
gram, I could see the possibility of great confusion. Prince Shimazu and
Itagaki declared decidedly in favor of the program of specializing cabinet
duties and wished to carry it into practice. Okubo, Kido and myself opposed
this measure and once more there came to pass a difference of opinion among
these men. Thereupon Prince Shimazu and Itagaki resigned.

The Korean trouble which resulted in the division of the cabinet has
passed into history under the name of the "Kokwa Affair."*

Kido at the time was confined in his house ill. It was necessary for us
to despatch an embassy to Korea. We discussed the question as to who

THE FAR EAST

would be the most suitable man for the mission. It was decided to send
Kuroda and also Inoue as Associate Ambassador. I said to Inoue :

"We are going to send Kuroda as our Ambassador to Korea. I think
you had better go with him."

Inoue said to me then: "That Korean affair is a small matter which is
not important or big enough to engage the immediate attention of the ad-
ministration." He was radically opposed to this idea of going to Korea with
Kuroda. He was so firmly grounded in this conviction of his that he even
went to Kido and discussed the matter with him. He concluded by saying
to me — "Just think of it; how could I do such foolish thing. Consider my
views on the question. The position I have always taken. How could I go
as an associate ambassador?"

I retorted:

"That's so — but that is the weakness of the Choshu men. You must
give up private convictions and forget your own affairs and views for the
sake of State. Willy-nilly I would like to have you take this matter up fav-
orably and decide on your trip to Korea."

Then he repeated :

"But you must think this over. I would surely get into trouble with Kido."

So I went over to Kido and said to him:

"Here is this Korean affair. It is the idea of Okubo to send Kuroda as
our ambassador to Korea. But Kuroda alone may not be sufficient; so we
think that we should send Inoue as associate ambassador and we would like
to have your consent and endorsement on this point." Then Kido said to me:

"I am ill at the present time, but I don't think I am going to die at once.
It seems to me there is no reason why you cannot wait a little while." To
which I said:

"But if once we lose our opportunity it would go hard with us."

"But," said Kido, "if Inoue is still donning the face of a man, he could
hardly go on this mission after what he has been declaring so strongly for so
long." Then I said to him in answer:

"I do not think Inoue wishes to go; but if he declines this mission then 1
would take it that Inoue does not place sufficient weight on the importance of
state and I would not, therefore, hesitate in driving into him the sense of duty.
I don't know what he has told you but I have determined to persuade him
to undertake this mission willy-nilly."

At last I succeeded in gaining the consent of Kido and through repeated
and persistent negotiations with Inoue I finally gained his consent. Thus
Inoue went as an associate ambassador to Korea. Happily the Korean affair
was concluded to the satisfaction of our government, but at one time it was
exceedingly troublesome.

THE FAR EAST

I believe Kido entertained the thought of the establishment of the con-
stitution from an early date but as to what methods he was in favor of em-
ploying in our particular case I have never heard.

In the 4th year of Meiji (1871) when we went abroad I remember Kido
saying to me, "We have succeeded in bringing about the Restoration of Im-
perial regime : we have done away with clans and replaced them with prefec-
tures, but everything is in confusion; it is not well. We must provide a con-
stitution and lay the foundation. of systematic and orderly institutions." To
which I replied at that time:

"But even if we were to provide a constitution, whether such a thing be
possible in its practical workings at home I do not know. In fact there is a
grave doubt about it. It is necessary I think that we should devote a careful
and ample study to the subject." To which I remember Kido assenting
saying: "That is quite true, as you say." From that I inferred that in the
mind of Kido there was no settled program as to the detailed methods in the
establishment of a constitutional state and carrying out its provisions.

A little before the time when the Korean Expedition Agitation broke
out, on the 14th of October to be exact, of 1872, Kido asked me if I
would not enter the cabinet. I declined the invitation at the time. I was
invited to call on Kido one day. When I saw him he said to me: "I suppose
both Iwakura and Okubo urged you to enter the cabinet. I wish you would
consent. As I am ill so often, I cannot discharge my duties to the full. It
is at least difficult to do so. So you enter the cabinet in my stead, and then
I shall feel at ease, and close my eyes in pease, as they say, even if I die."
To this I answered, saying:

"If such be your ideas and if you desire it to such an extent, I shall be
very glad to enter the cabinet. I shall accept a portfolio. But even if I
enter the cabinet I cannot guarantee that I may be able to carry out your
ideas, as it is very plain to you, that I must carry out the measures according
to my own conviction answering to my responsibility."

"Oh, of course" he said.

And it came to pass that in the 6th year of Meiji (1873) I received
the appointment of Minister of Public Works with the rank of Sangi.

*Note. — It was the 20th of September, 1875, The Unyo-Krvan, a-man-of-war of Nip-
pon, lay at archor at the mouth of the river Han. Some of her officers and men went
out in a boat to survey the coast. Without warning and with no provocation whatever,
the Korean fort of Eisa, which guards the entrance to the port of Ninsen (made famous
in the Russo-Nippon war by the sinking of the Russion cruiser "Variag" which now car-
ries the sun-round flag under her new name of Soya, by Nippon ships under Admiral
Uriu) fired upon her. The Unyo-Ktvan the very next day opened fire on the fort, seized
38 cannon and dismantled it. This incident aroused the Korean Expedition once more
to life in Nippon. Mr. Soejima advised Prince Iwakura to reorganize the Imperial
cabinet and the agitation for an expeditionary war against Korea was rampant throughout
the country.

id

^1

B&

gjf-rfc-'.-.^

THE FAR EAST

UP THE FUJI.

BY HARA TARO.

OUT of the now ancient days, (upon my word I am getting old)
floats a mirage of a school room (it was one of the fencing
halls of our lord of the Kameyama clan hastily converted
into a school room by-the-by) and the echoes of child voices
reciting : —
"Fuji-San stands with its feet planted in three provinces of Kai,
Suruga, and of Sagami. Away from the face of the sea, it towers
1 2,490 feet into the heavens. It is situated at 35 degrees 22 seconds
north latitude and 1 35 degrees 44 seconds east longitude. Learned
men in earth-strata science call it, a dormant volcano. Conical in
shape with its skirts transparent to the eyes of distance; ever robed
in eternal snow, it is, 'the white fan, half opened and hung upside
down in the mid sky' of the poets," etc.

Later in the dangerous days of small knowledge and half wisdom, we
have recited with fire the irrelevant and irreverent classic couplets of the
famous scholar: —

"Kilemireba,
Kikuyori hikushi,
Fujino Yama,
Shaka mo Koshimo,
Kaluga aruran."
Which according to the lettered murderer of melody and the perfume of
style called the translator, runs something like this :

"When I come and see it with my own eyes, how much lower it is than
I have heard — 'the Fujiyama.

So mayhap will it be with Sakya and Confucius."
* * *

Oh yes, I have climbed it more than once when I was too young to know
either the nobility of lines, or what is more eloquent than that, the spirit mean-
ing of the peak.

A moment before ascending it

Fuji, we are told by Mr. Shiga, is an ahisu or an Aino word. It
signifies the Queen of Fire. Mirrored therefore in the ancient name, you can
see Fuji the volcano in all its glory. Today, it has gone to sleep and even
a school girl can approach her crater with small danger.

To those who would pay their respect to the sacred majesty, the Fuji,
there are six avenues open. To the pious pilgrims from the West of the
Barrier (or in the more modern terminology, from the southwestern portion of
Nippon) there is a path which is known as Omiyaguchi. This passage leads

THE FAR EAST

you by way of Murayama and after traveling 3 ri and 8 cho (about 8 miles)
you reach the point called Umagaeshi which means "Turn back the horses."
Thence into the cloud and beyond to the crest of the Fuji. It is there that
the traveller is warned to leave all earthly ease behind. This road passes by
the famous shrine of Sengen. It is by this road that a great majority of
pilgrims make their way to the top. This has been known, therefore, as the
front gateway to Fuji.

Those who make their way up the Fuji from the country of Kai, climb by
the way of Yoshidaguchi, while those who make their progress from the regions
East of the Barrier or from the northeastern portions of the Empire, take their
way by Subashiriguchi or through the Eastern Front Entrance as it is called.

If you were to take the road by Subashiri, — said a man of wisdom and
ripe years when we were coddling our pet scheme of climbing the Fuji in a
certain school dormitory in the City of Tokyo, — you will have to ride two
ri (about 5 miles) through dense forest, then you will come to Umagaeshi;
thence you will make two more ri and find a resting place at Central Eating
Depot. From there to Ichigome is the distance of 8 cho (about half a mile).
Now Ichigome is the first mark on the ascending scale up the Fuji. From
this point upward to the highest peak, there is a distance of 5 ri (about 12 Yi
miles). This distance is divided into ten portions which are called first,
second, third and on to the tenth and Ichigome means the first gome. Now
at each of these points marked by first, second, third etc., gome there is a
resting place. From the fourth gome upward, these resting places are caves
dug into the mountain side walled with rocks. In these rocky caves, the
travellers are expected to weather both the wind and rain or snow storms.
These shelters are called "stone caves." If you take this road it would be
well for you to spend a night at the lofty shelter at eighth gome. You can
also mount the peak by way of Yoshidaguchi. This also takes you through
a dense forest until you reach Umagaeshi ("Turn back the horses") and not
until you reach the fifth gome would you be able to emerge from the dense
forest and for this reason this road robs you of the scenic splendors which
either the Omiyaguchi or the Eastern Front Entrance which you could reach
by way of the Gotemba station, would afford you. This Yoshidaguchi is
the historic pass up which pilgrims proud of many years' record, have shaken
their golden bells and recited the sacred passages from the Sutta, as they
battled through almost an incredible series of difficulties up the shaven face
of the peak. This road has always been chosen especially by those ultra-
pious who delighted, like ancient monks, in torturing themselves for the glory
of the gods and for the persecution and purification of their own flesh. If
you go by way of Hakone you would sail north on the lake and land on its
western shore, go over the range of Suruga, come out upon the Suyama whence

THE FAR EAST

you will go by Suyamaguchi. You will skirt the Hoei peak along its north-,
ern base and reach the top. But if you go by way of the Gotemba railway
station, your path lies along Nakabata way. You will go to Tarobo and up
the second, third and fourth gome to the tenth, the top.

The first day of the sixth moon of the old Luna calendar, is the day set
apart for "the opening of the mountain" as it is called and through the mid-
summer for forty or fifty days, both the pious who are old enough to hunger
for the glories that are to be in the company of the gods, and the young- who
in their splendid folly would snatch at the sun and the moon with bare hands
make their upward way along the glacial height.
* * *

It was the first of August.

"Forty-seven years are better than three twenties" said he who had
fathered us all, and the race we began under the broiling sun into the station
of Iidamachi in Tokyo lasted clear up to the cap of the Kenga-mine 12,400
feet from the face of the Pacific, the highest point of the Fuji.

Down the Kanagawa way, out of Yokohama, through the history-
encrusted stretch, our train raced. The famous steep pass of Small Budda
which has served through countless years back as a melodramatic stage of
all manners of romance and adventures and of highwaymen who have peopled
the folk tales for the entertainment of our younger days, had nothing more
imposing on that day than a black unromatic tunnel-mouth which swallowed
the modern dragon breathing steam. Thence we lost ourselves in the ma-
jestic congregations of mountain ranges, of century-old woods, of mountain
streams that flung down silver and crystal into the sea. Here and there a
song of a boy tending an ox tuned itself with the orchestration of birds in
the sapphire shades of deep mountains in summer. Thus we passed through
a hallway decked with the pictures, no less artist than Heaven itself could
paint, and at last there we were at the railway station of Gotemba. Many
hostelries hummed with crowded guests; we suffered from the common ail-
ment of the tourist. Embarrassment of riches was the trouble.

"Which? Why, of course Fujiya. Are we not on our way up the
Fuji, and for us there is only one hostelry — bearing the name of the great
mountain," said the wisdom of Forty-Seven and that settled the matter for us.

"Ah, honorable host" said my father to the bowed head before us,
"how is the road from here to Ichigome?"

"Hat, the great rain that come down from heaven and the savage blow-
ing of winds which accompanied it, shook our tramway as a thing of reed;
that it did august guests. And the humble one would hesitate much to send
forth his own horses hitched to that demented basha (horse car) up the
road. Indeed I have been told by my friends that at a number of points the

THE FAR EAST

rails have been washed, as if they had been a thing of straw. Believe your
humble servant that with all the gracious guardianship of die great diety of
Sengen, not everything is either the safest or the most ease-inspiring in this
noble mountain."

"Are there no more horse cars going up to Ichigome tonight?" one of
the younger members showed his ignorance in the Fuji-logue. The head of
the host fell on the mat in utter amazement, and I would wager half my
fortune that there was a smile beneath the bowed head. All the gods of the
mountains and the streams forbid that there should be such recklessness as
traveling through the dense forest at night for eight miles to Ichigome. That is
a thing never to be thought of. Would the august presences consult a
policeman to assure themselves of the verity of his statement? It is not only
the danger from men but from the ghosts and the beasts as well.

The shoji (paper screens) of the room opened upon a nature-made land-
scape garden. From afar through the twilight came the lyric pipings of the
mountain stream going home to sea. Just than the full moon appeared over
the shoulder of one of the pines in the yard, and the silver of the moon
inspired me to say :

"Why not make it on foot?" And even as I breathed forth these reck-
less words, I saw our honorable host of Fujiya sinking visibly through the
floor in utter consternation, calling in every one of his dismayed features upon
the eight million gods to witness the extreme of foolhardiness of youth. And
I took pleasure to add, "It would beat the sweaty toilings through the sum-
mer sun in a stuffy horse car tomorrow morning. And look," I said, turning
my face full upon the silver circle in the skies, "what a gorgeous moon."
The honored host threatened to summon the policeman to back his statements.
We were indifferent, however, to all the prophesies of evil and happy in the
blind faith which says alike to the philosopher and to the potato digger,
"Your neighbor was struck by lightning and your friend died in wreck and
your uncle met a typhoon but as for you, elect of the gods and anointed of
the Lord, no cyclone neither fire nor water can touch your precious skin;"
and thinking only of what a magnificent moonlight feast of deep mountain
scenery would be unfolded to our vision, we offered only our boisterous,
blind-faith mirth in payment of all the sober and sage warnings of our good
host and the sturdy wisdom of Forty-Seven Years leading; after a simple
fare which had all the exquisite sweetness of taste which passes the under-
standing of the royal tables the world over, we put on our rvaraji and bowed
our goodbye in perhaps the best humor of which men are capable. I decline
to describe the moonlit stretch of ten miles covered by us through the hours
in which even the rill is said to fall asleep. Why? Simply because I can't.

THE FAR EAST

It was one of those experiences which humiliate human adjectives and laughs
at the primitive limitations of human speech.

A little way out of the Gotemba, to our left, we spied, shy in the moon-
lit gloom, the five shrines of Sengen looking for all the world like the ultra
refined water color study of Sesson. After covering five miles farther, we
came to the famous waterfall of the Eight-Great-Dragon Kings. Now, as
everyone knows, this is the waterfall wherein all the pious aspirants who
would peep into the skies from the height of the Fuji, should purify their
flesh, and it could not be thought of for a moment — according to the judgment
of Forty-Seven Years — that we should neglect this initial act of piety. We
had no particular appointment with the Deity atop of the Fuji on any de-
finite point of time. In fact, we were richer in time than in any other earthly
goods. Off with our costumes, then and down with our bundles and soon
we lost ourselves in a fog which was made of dreams of the gods of die
mountain rather than of the pounded water from the fall and through which
the silver rays of the moon quivered like the shy tears of the maiden in love.
The rite of purification accomplished, and a little ahead of the break of day,
we reached the first resting place, Ichigome.

THE FINANCIAL NIPPON OF TODAY.

BY HIRATA TAKATOKI.

N**4^^^»^ HE financial statement for the month of August, is out. The
M C*\ men °* Nippon — and there be some beyond the seas, now that
^L I our Imperial finance is becoming more and more a matter of

^^^I^F international interest — breathe more easily. Our fiscal year
closes with the last day of the month of March. The exper-
iences of the past assure us that the report of our finance about the close of the
month of August, for all practical purposes, forecasts the financial condition
of the fiscal year. Hence the special significance of the August financial re-
port.

And it tells a splendid story. A comforting one as well. It shows
the decrease of not less than 36,000,000 yen in the state expenditure as
were presented in the Budget ; and in revenue it shows the increase of 2 1 0,-
000,000 yen over the figures of the Budget. In fact in the 40th financial
year (April '07 to March '08) it shows a total excess revenue of nearly
250,000,000 yen.

Before going into the analysis of this splendid showing it may not be out
of place for us to pause to tell the story of financial Nippon in general and
how the Imperial finance of our country is conducted.

The term "Budget" in our country does not mean the financial statement

10 THE FAR EAST

which is presented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the British Ministry
to the Parliament. As in France, Germany and America, the word "budget"
in our country means an estimate of revenue and expenditure for one fiscal
year. The financial law of Nippon requires all state revenues to be paid into
the national treasury. There are exceptions, however, to the rule.

1. In an extraordinary case where it is desired to effect a special ad-
justment, a special financial year is created which is independent of the
general fiscal year. A war is an example to the point. It is permitted to
make the entire course of a war as one financial term.

2. Where it is specially desirable to bring about the financial inde-
pendance of a special locality by a special arrangement its revenues may be
permitted to be applied directly to the expenditure of that particular locality.
The government of Taiwan (Formosa) is a good example of this.

3. In the establishment and conduct of special enterprises a special
account may be established, for economic and other reasons. Tobacco Mono-
poly Bureau and the Imperial Steel Foundry are good examples of this.

4. When the establishment of a special account is convenient and ad-
vantageous for the adjustment of a certain specific account such account is
opened. Coinage adjustment Fund is an example.

5. Sometimes the financial independence of government schools and
libraries are desired and this also is facilitated in the establishment of a
special account.

The general Budget is divided into two kinds — the ordinary and the ex-
traordinary. The creation of a reserve in a general budget is provided for by
the Imperial constitution. Of this also there are two kinds. Sometimes cer-
tain items in the general budget are found short of funds. The call is made
on the first reserve to make good the deficit. Sometimes there occurs an
item of expenditure which is absolutely necessary after the compilation of the
budget. This, however, was omitted in the general budget because it could
not be forseen at the time of the compilation. To defray such necessary
item the second reserve is used.

The budget is in its general character annual, still there are many un-
dertakings of the nation that cannot be completed in one year — construction
of war ships and forts for national defence is one of them. It is necessary to
have a certain fixed appropriation covering for a number of years in order
to complete such work successfully and economically. For this the constitu-
tion makes a provision and at any time the government is permitted by the
constitution to incorporate an item in the budget to extend beyond the specific
fiscal year for which the budge': is compiled. The budget after the approval
of the entire cabinet is presented to the House of Representatives at the com-
mencement of the session; that is to say, in November or December, some

THE FAR EAST 11

four months prior to the beginning of die fiscal year. After the passage of
the budget through the House of Representatives and the House of Peers,
it is presented for approval, to the throne which is usually done in January or
February, that is to say, two or three months before the commencement of
the fiscal year for which the budget is made. It is then promulgated through
the official gazette.

I have given a short digest from the Financial and Economical Report
of Japan issued by the Department of Finance of our country. It sufficiently
outlines the character of the budget and the manner in which such approp-
riations are made.

Coming back to the analysis of the strikingly favorable showing made in
the August report you will see that none of the tremendous gains are sudden
nor unhealthy. The great reduction of expenditure is chiefly due to the
following causes.

First: The Saionji Cabinet went out and the Katsura Cabinet came
into power. It brought with it a new financial policy. Retrenchment was
its watchword — it faced frankly the financial situation which was threatening.
All the public works and items of expenditure that could be carried over
or extended over a long future period, were given a longer period. This
perhaps is the chief cause of the striking decrease of expenditure.

Among the leading causes that brought about the increase of revenue
to such extent were the revenue from special war accounts and from Russia
on account of the maintenance of prisoners during the time of war.

Substantial gains were made in addition to the above and this is per-
haps the most gratifying feature of our financial condition.

Among the ordinary revenue the revenue from taxation was estimated in
the budget at 430,000,000 yen. According to the statement issued at the
close of August the actual revenue exceds 492,000,000 yen, showing the
actual gain of about 60,000,000 yen over the figures of the budget. The
detailed examination shows that land tax decreased by 600,000 yen, but
the revenues from saki tax, customs duties and various internal taxes have
all increased. The revenues through government monopolies and government-
owned industries increased by over 6,000,000 yen. The revenue from posts
and telegraphs as well as stamp taxes shows a decided increase. The or-
dinary revenue for the fiscal year of the 39th Meiji showed an increase over
the budget and the actual returns of this fiscal year also shows an excess
over the figures of the budget. This is something pleasant to ponder over.
More pleasing, however, is this fact: the amount of actual revenue in excess
of the figures given in the budget for the fiscal year of 1907-8 is very much
greater than the excess revenue for the fiscal year of 1 906-7 over its budget
figures. The fiscal year 1906-7 shows the actual gain of little over 45,000,-

12 THE FAR EAST

000 yen over the figures of the budget but the present fiscal year has gained
as I have said over 60,000,000 yen. It must be confessed that this great gain
was quite unexpected even by the most sanguine. So much so the Tokyo-
Ashihi declares it unexampled.

Nothing brings out the striking gain of the present fiscal year as the fol-
lowing table which shows the figures given in the budget for ordinary revenue
and actual gain or loss over it. The table shows the result of ten years

Budget Increase or

Decrease.
121,455,420 +11,432,915
179,560,810 —2,232,272

193,730,180 —1,560,099

207,693,182 —5,658,083

226,114,613 _4.874.207

226,464,310 —2,283,611

290,012,881 +9,129,248

371.067,493 +27,234,158
398,852,459 +45,959.980
431,552,141 +60,311,386
Note: — The increase given for the two fiscal years of 1906-7 and
1907-8 are the actual amounts given in the report ending with 31st August.

The excess of actual revenue over budget is as you can see from the
table something new and recent. With the single exception of the year 1 898-
9 the budget always proved more optomistic than the actual revenue.

Dr. Soeda, President of the Industrial Bank of Nippon is reported to
have said in his interview with a representative of the Tokyo- Ashihi : — "At
this time when the summer season is about to close, our government bonds
show a rising tendency on the London market. There is a strong indication
which seems to open a new era for the investment of the British capital in
Nippon. For example when we look back to the conditions prevailing about
April of this year we find that both our new and old bonds both 4's and 4'/2's
fell last spring to 80 and the 5's fell to 90, and even the military bond fell
close to 99, but since the financial policy of the new cabinet gained a wide
publicity European markets show a decidedly favorable complexion toward
the Nippon bonds, and we see now our 5 per cent war bonds rose to 1 00 —
Comparing it with where it stood in die earlier half of April of this year we
see that it has gained over 2 to 5 pounds. This evidently is the result of the
promptness with which the interests were paid on our bonds and the publicly
announced policy of our government against the additional floatation of bonds.
All of which brought about a decided increase in the confidence of the
British capitalists in the Nippon policies.

t— 1898-09.

Fiscal year

Actual Revei

1898-9

132,869,335

1899-00

1 72,328,528

1890-1

192,170,081

1901-2

202,035,099

1902-3

221,240,408

1903-4

224,180.699

1904-5

299,142,129

1905-6

398,301,651

1906-7

454,812,439

1907-8

492,163,527

THE FAR EAST 13

UNDER THE CHERRY CLOUD OF SUMIDA.

BY ADACHI KINNOSUKE.

&

EALLY it was a bit of gauze torn off from the skirt of that
vain coquette called Spring, in her all-too-hasty and careless
way of passing over this earth, and which was caught by
the bare branches of trees which had stood lonely, looking
very black and ugly upon the snow, all winter long. There
were some, not many, who said that it was a cloud made up of tenjo's faces
blushing over their first experience in love. An error. But, of course, we
can see how they made a mistake like this, seeing that they were poets. And
as for those people who insisted that it was nothing but cherry blossoms on the
banks of Sumida, they knew no more about what they were talking than a
mathematician knows of love.

But, not to be too dogmatic in this age of assertions, we will be generous
enough to make a compromise and say that under the cherry cloud of Sumida
there stood a tea-house.

And it looked, in all truth, as if everything — its straw roof, its bamboo
curtains, its sign with the characters upon it which certainly did not seem
very much blessed with modesty as far as its fat strokes were concerned, its
wooden benches with cushions on them, its show-cases full of all sorts of
elegant temptations for the palate — everything, I say, seemed as if it were
made out of the strokes of a Nippon painter of the Hokusai school. But
there was one feature of the tea-house which, more than aught else, seemed
to have danced out of a picture — a little waitress. Always I saw her stand-
ing in the doorway, and she was by far the most tempting invitation to the
weary — and to those who were not, so that they were young, for the matter
of that — to sit down and enjoy what might be called a rest from pleasure.

She was not a daisy with the conceit of a magnolia, this maid, but a
daisy, who, for some reason or other of which she herself was not aware,
laughed at a magnolia. There came to her tea-house many a great lady
from Tokio and patronised her in a condescending manner. But had she
not offered a hot cup of rice every morning to the God of Luck, and a prayer
along with it? And so she was not in the least annoyed at these things.
And, to do her justice, there were days when, standing under the cherry
cloud, she did not know that she, perhaps, was the fairer of the two. There
was one man who thought there was no question on that point.

This particular one, who used to go out to Sumida to "see the cherry
blossoms," as he said with a wink, was an artist — a fellow-citizen of mine in
a little Bohemia in a modest corner of the great Capital of Nippon.

14 THE FAR EAST

II

Asada Matsuyo was his name.

Twenty-five centuries ago he might have been a god. But now, coming
so much out of time, he was nothing but a fool ; a crank, with a crack some-
where in his cranium — at least that is what the honest people thought and
said of him, aye, to him. It was a very happy thing, however, that he had
absolutely no taste for public applause or blame. A few of us who, like him,
were pointed out by the wise public as fools, but, unlike him, did not have
any reason to be foolish, could see in him a spark now and then which well
merited a shrine. And often in our enthusiastic outburst of insanity, we rose
to the task and reared a temple to him. And because we had no wood or
stone, or mud, or anything that would cost money, with which to build it,
we took our hearts as the building materials.

To think of it, it is a very strange thing that the people insisted in catching
him at a wrong place, by a wrong end. If one were to catch a cat by her
tail he would be made to see very soon that the tail was not the right place.
Even a kettle, if you will be blind and hold it by its bottom which is always
turned to the flame, your hand will have an emphatic mark of your blunder.
But our Asada, being nothing but a divine painter, was not, it seemed, allowed
to be as vindictive and high of temper as a cat or a kettle.

For example, once he painted a mood of a servant girl with a heavy
bucket of water. The burden gave a sad defect to the balance of her
shoulders and her unoccupied hand seemed as if it were desperately trying to
seize a bulk of air far away. A very few strokes of his brush went to the
making of the face of the poor servant girl — a couple of strokes for her
eyes, one for her nose, another for her mouth — that was all. It was there,
however, the perfect picture of that sarcastic cynicism of a working girl; — "I
work from dawn to the death of the sun, 365 days every year. What is the re-
sult? This bucket of water is as heavy as it ever was and my mistress is as
cross as sin. Life is a practical joke of the gods. Our tears, curses, sweat,
groans, laughters, fits — all are for the amusement of the bored divinities!"

I say all these were there in that sketch — yes, perfectly. People did not
see these things, however, perhaps because they were there. But they wanted
to see the photograph of a servant girl with the right number of hairs in her
eyebrows, with the exact diameter of the pores marked carefully in her skin;
and the photograph of every muscle in her body. They wanted to see even
the dirt on the water bucket. They wanted to see these things because — in
their way of thinking, — and in the name of wisdom, when were they ever in
error? — the artist ought have had them. When the infallible public did not
find the things which it looked for, it called him names.

"Very well," said he to himself and to the world at large, "understand
me well, good people, I am painting only for my own amusement, for my own

THE FAR EAST 15

self. I will, therefore, do as I like!" And he did. He was a happy fellow
because he wanted the world to forget him, and the world is always pleased
at that job, finding it not the hardest thing under heaven.

But it was within him, that flame which something higher and brighter
than the sun had lit in his soul, and whose marks escaped now and then,
through his fingers, through his brushes. And those who had in their make-
up anything to be scorched, when they came in touch with his canvas, they
were scorched truly. But his pictures were as rare as the visitations of a
good fairy. And one must indeed have been an intimate friend of his to have
prevailed upon him to show one of his "colour studies" on paper. And for a
long time I thought that he treated every mortal alike in this excessive modesty.
But I was greatly in error. And O Chika was the occasion of the discov-
ery of my mistake

III

O Chika is the name of the daisy blooming beneath the dewdrops gather-
ed by the cherry petals of Sumida, and when one day, tired of books and
sick of life, I deserted my den and dragged my cane on the Sumida bank, it
so happened, in the motherly thoughtfulness of Providence, which we fools
are so apt to call "mere chance," that I stopped at the tea-house.

A cup of tea of that classic warmth of colour and of the traditional
flavour with a cherry petal boating upon it, is always good. Far better,
however, it is when it's served as the mirror of a charming smile on a pretty
face which bends over it. And it pleased my weakness to render unto this
unpretentious female Caesar, whose realm is as wide as the human heart, what
was hers.

"I regret that I am not a painter," said I, letting my eyes say the rest.

"Oh, honourable guest, I thank you!" she said, naively answering to my
implied compliment. "But I am sure you can paint, because you look at me
with the same kind of eyes as his."

"His?"

"Oh, I have a friend who paints."

"Well, he is an enviable fellow, I am sure."

A pleasant laughter — and, like a many-coloured flash, she disappeared
behind a screen. A moment later she brought out a roll of paper. I un-
rolled it.

"What is the honourable guest smiling about, may I know?"

"Well, I believe," said I, "I have the honour of your friend's ac-
quaintance."

"A — ah?" in the voice of a dreamer frightened out of sleep; and then
recovering, with a smile; "the honourable guest is joking?"

"Perhaps."

He had painted her, not exactly as she was, but as he had seen her — felt

16 THE FAR EAST

her. I mean that his eyes were, for any of the divinities he adored, a mount
of transfiguration. The picture was not a picture of a girl — rather it was a
translation in colours of the height of his imagination's flight.

The girl in the picture was serving a cup of tea to an owl . That easy
grace which Nature gives to a girl in the self-forgetfulness of her hearty merri-
ment, a bit of coquetry, a trifle of condescension, the amiability of one who
is sure of her conquest, were all put on the curve of her lips, on the uplifting
of her eyelids. And as if the ambition of the painter were not satisfied with
the beauty of his dreams, he placed, doubtless in order to bring out by contrast
all the delicate charms of the maid, the most grim of philosophers in the ab-
sent-minded stare of the owl's eyes.

"Do you like the picture?" asked I of the girl.

"It is very pretty, I think — but "

"Oh, but how much prettier is the original than "

"Oh, do Vou think so?" Her eyes were round. "Really, when he brought
it to me, I looked at it a long time. Then he told me that it was my picture.
'Well,' said I, and I recognised myself for the first time."

IV

A change — a very natural one to me, because I knew a thing or two; a
startling, strange one to the world — came over our friend, the painter.

"We knew it was in you, old fellow!" I heard a Bohemian say, in con-
gratulating the rising reputation of the artist. Here is his retort :

"Why, then, in the name of heaven, didn't you draw it out of me be-
fore?" He was so solemn that his friend had to laugh to make matters
even. Within a year and a half, Tokio believed him every inch a god, and
a certain school of critics, seeing that Asada was too big for the world, was
already preparing for him a nameless, blank tombstone — just like the one on
St. Helena.

Then, one fine morning came the rumour of his marriage. His foes
sneered at it and enjoyed their "I told you so!" better than most women.
And his friends opened their mouths as if they were inviting him to bury
himself therein, and said with the first breath which came back to them:

"After all a genius is a queer sort of a fool!"
V

He dropped out of the world as suddenly as he was introduced to the
drawing-room of fame. This time his friends had no trace of him. And I,
filled with the spirit of public interest, and in the name of Nihon's art, started
out in search of the lost genius. I took a short cut. I went after O Chika.
And, as is usually the case, I had no trouble in finding her mother and her
home. As for the daisy herself, it was quite another matter.

"Do you have any idea where she is?"

THE FAR EAST J7

"Yes, sir; she went out boating with some girls. Shirobei, our neigh-
bour, took them out. There was his friend with him also."

"May I ask who this friend of your neighbour is?"

"Yes, sir; he is a clerk, I think, in a clothing store in Tokio."

"Thanks. By-the-bye, I saw some pictures, two years ago, don't you
remember, at your tea-house on Sumida bank. Do you knew what O Chika-
san has done with them?"

"A — ah! so you are after the pictures also, young master? So many
persons came to ask after them, and because the honourable masters wanted
to buy them, O Chika sold them — almost all of them."

"So!"

"Yes, sir; maybe there is one left."

She rose, went to her bureau, and brought me a roll. We unrolled it to-
gether. Painted upon it was a dilapidated tramp, sitting in the dust of a
highway, and the threads of his rags were slipping and flying away from him
in the wind, as if they were thoroughly ashamed of the forlorn wretch. He
was talking to his dog. And the dog had a look upon his face which be-
came better a potentate of an absolute kingdom listening to the prayers of a
beggar. At the bottom of the roll were these words, written in the stormy
vigour of a certain pen of which I know a thing or two :

"My Last Picture."

"It was sent to her just about a month ago, now," said the old lady.

"When is O Chika-san coming home? I want to buy this picture if I
can."

"It's past time now. She may be here any moment."

Fully two hours' patient waiting. And in an hour or so after the night
had fallen, she came back — gay as a bird.

When I spoke of the picture, she consented at once to sell it to me for a
price I am ashamed to mention here, .and added :

"Isn't it very strange? He was very nice and sweet to me a long time.
Then one day he came down the road, but when he was within a hundred
feet of me, he turned round sharply, all of a sudden, and went away. I did
not call after him ; I never thought of it. Since then he never came. He went
away without a word. After about a month — wasn't it mother? — he began
to send me pretty pictures and letters which we could not understand ; but our
neighbor Shirobei, he read them, and he said they were very pretty."

"May I ask What were you doing when he came down the road the last
time?" ,

"Oh, I was with Sadakichi, that young fellow you saw just a minute ago
— he works in a big Tokio store — well, we were lying in a clover field near
here and laughing. I did not see him till he was very close to me."

"I see."

18 THE FAR EAST

"Are you going already, young master?"

"Yes; good night!"

VI

Honour, wealth, art-enthusiasm had been blowing on their big horns to
summon Asada. He did not appear. What could a fellow like me do?
I heard that O Chika had married the clerk of the Tokio store, and they
together moved to Kioto.

As for the genius, we heard nothing about him. His parents thought
that he was on his pilgrimage to the art treasures of the empire.
VIII

Five years after his disappearance, —

The artistic public of Japan had cried after him, at his loss, but just like
a baby howling after a piece of candy, it exhausted itself in its lamentation,
and by-and-bye became somewhat sleepy and seemed to have dozed off. But
there were a few unfortunate ones who could not, do what they might, forget
him.

On my way home to my native town, I stopped at the Capital of Flowers,
as Kioto is called.

It was in the season when Nature becomes absolutely wild in her prodi-
gality, even in that island home of simplicity — I mean in matters of flowers,
dreams of purple haze, of perfumes, of coquettes both of feathers and dresses.

One Who is thinking seriously of departing to eternity ought, by way of
preparation, to spend a few spring seasons at Kioto. No, time does not seem
to exist there, and indeed, one who wants to be intoxicated by the sake of
vernal sunbeams has no time to spend in thinking of any such thing as Time.
The whole city decks herself in honour of the flowers, and you will see every
street of the ancient capital turn into an avenue filled with a dense population
in the exaggerated butterfly wings called the sleeves of the Nippon k^ono.

And I abandonded myself completely to the voluptuous seductions of the
Kioto spring. I went from one meisho to another. I flirted with every cherry
tree that was a-bloom and left my tribute in classic couplets penned on a
rectangular card, pendent from their branches.

Colour and perfume; love and sake!

Late in an afternoon I was at the Kiyomizu Temple.

For centuries it had been the rendezvous of pious pilgrims, and the pil-
grims of art, of philosophers, poets, and especially of lovers. The temple is
built on the waist of a hill. One of its verandas looks down into a court
many hundred feet below. They called the veranda "the Lover's Leap,"
because ever since the temple stood there came to it lovers who were unhappy
in this world, and, true to their religious convictions, they took their leap
from that veranda into eternity to enjoy in the realm beyond the bliss of love

THE FAR EAST 19

which this life denied them. They say, and I do believe them, that if the
bodies of all the fair girls who have thrown themselves down from the veranda
could be gathered in a heap, they would more than fill the chasm. But the
reason why the people had not closed the veranda or shunned it altogether was
because there was something there that would more than erase all the un-
pleasant associations. And if you were there with me on that evening, watch-
ing the twilight come home flying on her purple wings to perch upon the
cherry trees, and could hear the far-away melody of the unseen belfries as it
tumbled into the valley over the heads of pines, as if it were the lullaby tq
put the twilight to sleep, then you would not hesitate to agree with me. Upon
my word, it deserves an ode, a hymn. But in that divinely enticing languor,
such a task as composition is hardly thought of — at least by such an idle
hand as mine, and I sighed my compliments and apprecation of that lyric of
a view

"Jumped?"

"Who?"

"Where?"

"When?"

"Where is he now?"

There was a great confusion. And the people rushed from all quarters
to the other end of the veranda. It seems that even while I was admiring the
evening fading on the pink veil of cherries, there was a man on the other
end of the veranda around a corner who thought, for some reason or other,
that life was too distasteful to him.

"He was a crazy young fellow," I heard a voice say ; "I have seen him
hanging about the place for some time. Love? Oh, no! The idea is absurd.
He was in miserable rags, and I know he must have starved a long while.
No love affair in his case at least!"

The following morning I took up a newspaper. A glance at it — and it
fell 'from my hands.

On the first page in large letters:

"The Discovery of the Long Lost Painter!

"Asada — a mangled heap under the Cherry Cloud of the Kiyomizu
Temple!"

And the whole page was devoted to him. It told what a transcendent
genius he was, how the volcanic zeal for his art had been too much for his
frail body, how he had lost his mind; and it commented exhaustively on the
relation between genius and insanity.

The art-loving people of Kioto buried him with all the expressions of
their tender respects. Over where he rests is a marble shaft with some fine
sentences cut into its sheen. Once he had cried for bread, and now they gave
him stone — for such is the way of the world.

20 THE FAR EAST

As I watered the last resting-place of my comrade with a dewdrop straight
from my heart, my thought wandered back to the avenue of cherry cloud of
Sumida, to the tea-house and — to her. I knew she was somewhere in the city
of Kioto, and could not refrain from the idea that the very marble with his
name cut deep into its snowy light would move at the sound of her voice.

With the help of a register and the police it was not difficult to find her.
I recognized her at the first glance. She had grown very much stouter; her
marriage with the c'lerk, her kitchen work, and the long afternoons at her
washtubs agreed with her perfectly. She gazed at me a while, ransacking
the bag of her memory. At last she recognised me. With both of her
plump bare arms in the air, and her eyes merry and round with satisfaction
at recalling a face of so long ago, she cried:

"A — ah, young master, I know you! — I know you!"

I was shocked. But I had the fool-hardy persistence to stick to my plan.

"Your friend Asada — do you remember him? He died yesterday in this
city "

"He did! Is that so? Ha, ha, ha! Well, I'm sorry ... he
was such a funny man, wasn't he, though?"

THE COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL POLICY OF NIPPON
TOWARD CHINA.

BY IJUIN HIKOKICHI.

Minister of Nippon at Peking.

Being a report of the interview of a recent date.

For a western reader this article should be of especial interest. Our
Minister was speaking as a native of Nippon to his friends in Nippon, and
some of the criticisms of his own countrymen were at once pointed and frank.
They are interesting to the people of Nippon — perhaps quite as interesting
to the English speaking peoples — Ed.

V^^^^^ O bring about a more intimate relation between Nippon and
M £"^ China is a matter of first importance, — that is without saying,
M. J — both politically and from the standpoint of commercial and

^^^^ industrial activities. We have heard about it and more than
once. But much of it has been a vague collection of generali-
ties about Chinese conditions — there is nothing pointed or of practical bear-
ing. If one were to ask on what point or in What direction we should strain
our efforts to bring about a better understanding between China and our-
selves, if a tangible answer for any practical question were demanded, I
doubt even among those who plume themselves as being exceptionally well-

THE FAR EAST 21

versed in Chinese affairs and conditions, there be many Who would be able
to answer off hand. This is not surprising after all. So many of our
countrymen make no painstaking or particular investigations along any stated
lines in connection with China and her affairs. It is a matter to be deeply re-
gretted. I believe that one of the gravest as well as most pressing duties at
the present time, is to devote ourselves to the careful and critical study of the
Chinese conditions.

People of Nippon talk cleverly about China and her affairs but that is
largely with their lips alone. It is surprising indeed how poor is our knowl-
edge of China. Among statesmen, merchants, and men devoted to industrial
enterprises, this marked poverty in the knowledge of Chinese affairs and con-
ditions is apparent. Therefore all the loud out-cries about the present ne-
cessity of bringing about a more intimate relation between China and Nippon
is, after all, of little significance. It is small wonder that such a surprisingly
meager result comes out of so much discussion and such loud talking.

The most vital and poignant event which stimulated Nippon interest in
China was the Russo-Nippon affair. Since the war Nippon came to pay a
grave attention to Manchuria. It is a matter over which we should rejoice.
It is also very important. More especially is this so since Nippon has already
achieved a great work at no small sacrifice — it is but proper that we should
pay a great deal of attention to it. It is also natural that the people of Nippon
should extend their activities along the profitable lines of development. It
is also important that while our people are devoting themselves, heart and
soul, to the solution and upbuilding of Manchuria as such, they should not
neglect the reaping of the results of a victorious campaign. There is one
thing to which I should like to call the attention of Nippon more especially.
It is on Nippon's conception of China as a whole. They who dwell so
strongly on the Manchurian work, too often forget that there is any other pro-
vince but Manchuria in China. In their minds, China is equal to Manchuria
and Manchuria to China. This is inevitable perhaps and most natural.

Even in connection with the conditions of Manchuria alone, a thorough
investigation is lacking. Immediately following the Russo-Nippon war, at
one time, there were a large number of our people who went to Manchuria;
but as you know Manchuria is very thinly populated. Commerce and in-
dustry are not developed there. It is hardly out of the primitive agricultural
and pastoral age. Naturally there were a number of people among those
who were very much disappointed. It is true that immediately following the
war, as the result of the presence of a large number of soldiers and of an
enormous amount of money expended therein, there was a time when business
was active. There were some among the merchants in Manchuria who hap-
pened to be in the country at the time of this business boom, and who have
continued in business since then. But the majority are among the disap-

i

22 THE FAR EAST

pointed. Turning away from this disappointed class and these unhappy citi-
zens resulting from the extravagant dreams of Manchurian profits, we see
that the position of Nippon in Manchuria is not the most unsatisfactory. As
the result of the victorious war Nippon is now in possession of the South
Manchurian Railway which reaches to Chan-Chung. In other words we
have already laid the one great foundation of our Manchurian enterprises.
For this reason there is a happy future for us in that direction, and it is im-
portant that we should examine into the conditions carefully and plan in-
telligently on economic development of the Nippon race.

But, as I have said, Manchuria is a portion of China which has been
least developed. The foundation of wealth is in the South China. By
South China we usually include the Yangtse Valley but it is more proper
perhaps to make Yangtse as a dividing line between North and South. The
South China quite as much as the North China offers the field for an ag-
gressive development of the commercial and industrial interests of Nippon.
Is it not true that the people of Nippon, especially among the commercial and
industrial men of our country, are neglecting their efforts in this direction —
the South China? Take for example the showing of the Nippon commer-
cial and industrial men in the Yangtse Valley.

At Shanghai it is reported that their enterprises do not meet with great
success. It is due to our neglect both official and on the part of private in-
dividuals, in the study of China. Of course in this particular case of Shan-
ghai there may be a number of circumstances and conditions which are in-
surmountable. Shanghai is the point where both European and American
merchants have long since planted themselves and laid the foundation early
in the day. It is naturally very difficult for the people of Nippon to enter
into it. Our activity is comparatively recent. Even if some of our people
have succeeded in entering the field, competition is exceedingly severe and it
is difficult to make a decided and immediate progress. But because it is
difficult to enter it would never do for our people to forget this direction in
their race toward Manchuria.

The fountain of wealth in China is beyond doubt along the belt of which
the Yangtse is the center.

And this is no time for the merchants and industrial men of Nippon to
hesitate to enter this treasure house of China's resources because it is difficult
to enter into it.

•By all means let them fight their way in against all difficulties. Let them
advance against all obstacles. Otherwise all our prayers for the extension of
profitable activities in China is of little avail. To pay our attention ex-
clusively to the North China will not do. It is imperative that we should
advance toward the South. Of course after the Manchurian resources and"
wealth will have been developed, it may be found perhaps quite as great as

THE FAR EAST 23

the resources of the South. We are not denying the importance and nec-
essity of making our way into Manchuria at the same time we are adding a
word of exhortation that our people should pay their attention to the South
also.

A word more in the comparative situations of the South and the North
China. According to the general observations of my own on my trip to the
South I believe that our enterprises in the South would meet with greater
difficulty than in the North. At such points as Shanghai, we can see not only
the commercial and industrial activities of Europe and America, but also the
Chinese have laid a firm foundation of their business and they are progressing
side by side. For this reason, if our people wish to purchase warehouses
and real estate along the banks of the Yangtse, they will find it no easy matter.
Business has attained a high degree of organization there — this is entirely
different from Manchuria. When, therefore, our people wish to enter into so
well organized, a field as this and do business they must be prepared to meet
the competition of the well-established interests. Unlike Manchuria, our
people cannot go into such fields with nothing but a pair of empty arms and
expect to do wonders. In order to enter this field successfully it is necessary
that one should have a sufficient, in fact a comparatively large capital. In
addition to a large capital those who would enter into this field must have the
ability of carrying on their business and work against all kinds of competition.
On the contrary the North China is undeveloped. It is easy to enter this
field even without capital and with a pair of bare arms. If one only would
work seriously and be endowed with the virtue of patience, it is not im-
possible for him to build up his business. In this way the North China
differs from the South materially. It is important that our commercial and
industrial interests should have an intelligent appreciation of this difference.
In this work, they should not depend altogether on the efforts of the govern-
ment alone — let the people themselves take this matter into their own hands.
Make provisions for the furtherance of such investigations and let them lay
a proper and ample foundation for their knowledge of China.

People of Nippon thought that since we opened up Manchuria, there
would be an inrush of foreigners who would reap the major benefits from it.
Compared to foreigners, we are poor in capital, and it was natural that our
people should have entertained an idea that it is not well to open up Manch-
uria far and wide for all peoples of the world to go in and compete.

The facts are entirely different however. After the complete and free
opening of Manchuria even to this day there are very few foreign people
who have entered into the Manchurian field. There is a reason for this —
the people of foreign countries know comparatively speaking muchi more
about Manchuria than we of Nippon. Moreover even on the part of the
people of Nippon who are blessed with larger measure of conveniences and

24 THE FAR EAST

freedom to enter Manchuria today, there are but very few capitalists who have
actually entered the field. If the capitalists of Nippon themselves would so
much hesitate to enter Manchuria, it is not to he wondered at that die capi-
talists abroad should, decline to rush into Manchuria pell-mell. Even in (he
heydays of Russian activities in Manchuria when she was ravishing a fabulous
amount of wealth in her Manchurian scheme, there were very few merchants
and industrial men who went there. Of course there were a great number of
penniless working people who rushed into Manchuria at that time. But they
have not succeeded in planting themselves firmly enough and few of them
have laid a foundation for their commercial and industrial activities which
is likely to last for any length of time. Thus it is seen that the foreigners have
entered Manchuria but rarely. And in this day it behooves the people of
Nippon to take advantage of this inactivity on the part of the foreigners to
enter into Manchuria and occupy the field, and in laying the foundation of
economic development and activities.

Along what lines and What methods should the people of Nippon, in th?
future, extend their activities in the South China, is indeed a great question.
In Shanghai which is a commercial metropolis of South China there is no
Nippon concession. The most important portions of the city are now oc-
cupied either by Europeans or Americans. It would be difficult to secure
a concession for the people of Nippon in the future. There are a few large
companies such as Nippon Yusen Kaisha and Osaka Shosen Kaisha which
have secured a footing, but a large number of our merchants and industrial
men have nothing of the kind. If any of our people wish to secure any
amount of space in Shanghai, it would require a large amount of money.
The foreigners in Shanghai are complaining of lack of space. For this
reason I do not hesitate to say that if the people of Nippon would enter into
the commercial and industrial spheres in the South China, they must be pre-
pared to open up a new center that will command the markets of the South
China.

On the Yangtse, our people have already opened a steamship line. The
establishment of a communication and transportation facility has always a
tendency of shifting commercial and industrial centers. Until now, Shang-
hai has been a central market to Which the goods for the South China, have
gathered and from which they have been distributed to the different portions
of it. But with the completion of communication and transportation facili-
ties and with the newly established lines, such cities as Suchau and Hangchau
are gradually increasing in importance and magnitude. The goods which
used to be shipped from Shanghai are now making direct to Hangchau and
Suchau. At both of these points, we have a special concession for our own
people. These concessions used to call down upon themselves forlorn com-
ments from the travelers of Nippon, because they seemed to be desolate tracts

THE FAR EAST 25

of land and nothing more. Now, things have changed. For this reason it
is not absolutely necessary for the Nippon merchants and industrial men to
conquer the difficulties at Shanghai. These men could open up their base of
operation at these two points mentioned for example. It is quite evident that
with the progress in the establishment of communication and transportation
machinery and facilities all over China that Shangai no longer can continue
in occupying her old position of handling the goods for the South China ex-
clusively through her. If only the people of Nippon, therefore, would have
sufficient foresight, enterprise and wisdom in carrying on their plan of oc-
cupying the South Chinese market and show their wisdom in the selection of
a fitting base of operation at some other points beside Shanghi, it would not
be difficult for them to reap a large harvest from their commercial and in-
dustrial activities in the South China.

Take Hankau for example. This point was opened within recent years
and owing to the completion of the Hankau-Peking Railway and the pro-
posed line to Canton and also to the establishment of many another organ of
communication and transportation, both by land and by water, it is now the
center of distribution for the goods intended for the interior of China. Hap-
pily, Nippon has her own special concession in the City of Hankau. It is
awaiting an especial and enthusiastic effort upon the part of the commercial
and industrial peoples of Nippon, for its future development. In short the
first essential element in the command of the markets of the South China
lies in the foresight of our people in forecasting a proper and suitable center
of commercial activity and there establishing themselves at a base of opera-
tion. In a near future Hankau no doubt will be counted among the great
ports of die world, and its future development will be doubtless great, and
even such sections as are looked upon as almost a waste piece of property
now, may become one day and within a near future, one of the most valuable
and one of the most important sections of the city. The merchants and in-
dustrial men of Nippon of today therefore must work with a thorough de-
termination of recovering those commercial and industrial advantages which
they had permitted to fall into the hands of the Europeans and Americans
and recover at least some of them. In this way if our people would establish
bases of operations at many points to Which they go, it will not be long before
they would naturally bring about the one thing desired, namely the closer
and more intimate relations between Nippon and China. Such intimate re-
lations would bring both better understanding and such better understanding
would naturally bring about hearty and friendly co-operation on the day
when the two countries would seize one die other by the hand and conduct
their diplomatic affairs smoothly. For these reasons I have always contended
that it is futile to indulge in the idle discussions of the intimate relations to be
established between the two countries.

26 THEFAREAST

As for Canton, I have never investigated the city personally, and for
this reason, I am not in position to discuss its conditions in a practical manner.
Still I think that a. similar policy to that which is to be applied in the Yangtse
Valley would also be profitable in Canton.

I have been often asked as to the diplomatic policy of Nippon toward
China. To my way of thinking there is no such thing as diplomacy inde-
pendent of the lines of profits and interests. The time was when the terri-
torial expansion or the expansion of the so-called spheres of influence as well
as a question of national honor, formed a great problem in diplomacy. It
sometimes went far enough to bring about a war. All this is a thing of the
past. From the standpoint of the present, there is no diplomacy apart from
the lines of profitable interests. The diplomacy of Nippon, like the rest,
must find its foundation in the same principle of developing and extending
lines of beneficial interest. According to my judgment the work of overcom-
ing obstacles against the profitable activity of our countrymen, is one of the
principal duties of our diplomatists. Still it must not be forgotten that the
diplomacy of today does not depend upon the diplomatists alone. The re-
lation either hostile or friendly between the two peoples, has a vital bearing
and influence upon the diplomacy of a country. For this reason, our people
should aggressively work along the line of increasing an intimate understand-
ing among our neighbors. China is a great nation. Today, there is a large
portion of China entirely virgin of the efforts and enterprises of the foreign
merchants and men of industry. These portions of China will gradually
come in touch with foreign activities as the communication and transportation
machinery becomes more and more perfect. On the day when China shall
have attained full development, there will be no need of any single power
trying to monopolize certain advantages over Chinese markets. At the end
of one or two centuries, we shall come to find in China large opportunities
sufficient for all. We have been criticised for a tendency of monopolizing the
market to the exclusion of others. But such a program is one-sided and
disastrous. For those who would stand in the commercial world of today,
it is highly essential to understand that they must, if they would accomplish
any great work, carry on their several enterprises with perfect co-operation
with those who are in similar lines of activity. Without this spirit of mutual
assistance and co-operation a great economic development is difficult indeed.
Especially is this true when one is facing such great countries as Russia and
China and wish to develop on a large scale. We must have the great as-
piration of facing all the world in competition and at the same time must be
broad enough in our views and conceptions to carry out a great work hand
in hand with Europeans, Americans and the Chinese. In this manner, we
may attain the long desired end of extending our constructive work in many
different directions in perfect harmony and in the most friendly spirit with all

THE FAR EAST 27

the rest of the outside interests. Under such circumstances it is very evident
that diplomacy would have very few difficult questions to solve.

One of the evidences of indifference of our commercial and industrial
men toward Chinese affairs can be seen in this. There are a number of
our merchants and industrial men who make a tour of investigation through
Europe and America. Of course such tour is highly beneficial. It is a
matter to be encouraged. Still, I must say that I regret deeply to see so
small a number of men among our merchants and industrial class Who start
out on their tour of investigation through China. China is, in truth, a great
world market: moreover she is our neighbor. As a great economic stage,
she has a most vital significance for us. Our merchants and industrial men
should by all means make a thorough tour of China and investigate matters.
They should encourage the younger generation in this laudable work in ex-
amining in person into the conditions and affairs existing there. They should
examine into the customs of the country; into the actual condition of things
prevailing there. Another illustration of our ignorance in Chinese affairs
is seen in that the men of Nippon who wish to investigate the Chinese con-
ditions thoroughly, go to the works of foreigners, Europeans and Americans.
We cannot help the past — we shall not say anything about it. In the future,
however, we hope that our people would penetrate far into the interior of
China and carry out their own investigation, find a base of operation for
economic development, so that, one day if a foreigner would desire to know
something of China and her people, he will have to come to the works written
by the natives of Nippon on China.

28 THE FAR EAST

THE HISTORY OF NIPPON CIVILIZATION BY
THE AUTHOR OF THE MIKADO'S EMPIRE.

XN the Autumn of 1907. came to us the most recent work
fathered by a generous and long-standing friend of Nippon,
Dr. William Elliot Griffis. It came in the humblest of garbs
and with little trumpetings. With all that before us is the
history of Nippon civilization which, as far as we can see, is
much riper in scholarship and mastery of treatment than the one standard
history of Nippon in English — the Mikado's Empire.

In fact The Japanese Nation in Evolution is a child which is the father
of its predecessor. I have read it through, as all the natives of Nippon of the
newer generation do read the writings of Dr. Griffis — with admiration and,
what is more, with a pleasure such as one finds only in a message of a friend.
I only regret that the Doctor did not see fit to write his Mikado's Empire
along the plan of the present work, for after all, his great work was a collection
of notes on the history of Nippon — exceedingly interesting and the most com-
plete and exhaustive of the kind ever written in English, nevertheless a collec-
tion of notes.

In the present work Dr. Griffis goes back to the days of the gods. He
flirts with that tantalizing puzzle known among scholars, as the origin of the
Nippon race, places an emphasis on its Aryan origin inasmuch as the Aino —
"Our Aryan kinsmen in Japan" as Dr. Griffis calls them — were the "first
families" in Japanese archipelagoes. This Aryan origin of the Nippon face is a
fascinating one. True, many of us have little illusion. We have been lured
by the tinsel glory that is in the fashionable pastime of tracing our family tree.
All of us have kow-towed before the dazzling halo of our ancestral shrines
and most of us have found it not a whit better than the halo which is easy
enough, according to our proverb, to put round about the head of a dead sardine
provided of course, you made yourself low-down enough and kept your eyes
shut tight enough. To us who have found that our ancestors were in plain
English or Nipponese (of the twentieth century) nothing but Malay pirates
and tartar murderers and everyday sinners from the off edges of earth the
levity with which the Doctor tells the story of our deified ancestors is refresh-
ing.

The Aryan origin of the Nipponese may, however, serve one practical
end. There is a naturalization law in the United States which must have
been written by a gentlemen as mythological and vague in his language as
some of our archaic forefathers. It says something about the people who are
eligible to citizenship of the United States. It says that they must either be
free born whites (whatever the law maker might have meant by "whites")

1

I

\

THE FAR EAST 29

or the descendents of the African race. If the scholarly pages of Dr. Griffis
would command sufficiently popular recognition in America, the natives of
Nippon who, lost in their admiration of the splendors of the "home of the
free" and who wish to aspire to the citizenship thereof may not be obliged to
trouble the august and high sounding temple called the Congress.

In the chapters under "Japanese in the Light of Records" and "Japanese
a Nation," the author gives us what might be called the philosophy of Nippon
civilization. With every few exceptions, Dr. Griffis in his treatment of per-
haps the most difficult theme (because it is at once so apparent and so elusive,
and also because it has so much to do with the task which carries dismay into
all the hearts of foreign students of historic Nippon, namely, the mastering of
the written documents of our country.) writes from the standpoint of a native.
If sympathy is the soul of interpretation, it is small wonder that the author gives
us in this, his latest volume, a work that makes the native of Nippon, slap
his knee, jump from the chair and exclaim: "That's it — here is the one man
who has read us aright."

But incomparably more ample and therefore very much more valuable than
the other portions of the work are the ten chapters which Dr. Griffis groups
under the two major divisions — "Modern Occidental Influences" and "Japan
Among the Nations." Here he gives us the inner story or mind story of
modern Nippon. It is of rare merit.

The author I believe, is the only surviving foreigner who saw our country
in those pregnant years of early 70's; the one foreign student who lived in
the feudal admosphere and stayed long enough to catch more than one glimpse
of the new dawn that was breaking on the land of the gods.

"In 1 870," wrote Dr. Griffis to a young admirer of his from Nippon, "at
the call of Matsudaira Shungaku of Echizen (through the faculty of Rutgers
College who chose me) I crossed our country and the Pacific and reached
Tokio early in January 1871, meeting Echizen, Datte, Uwajima and sev-
eral of the leading progressive daimios and Terashima and several of the
Meiji statesman now famous, spending seven weeks in the newly named
Tokio. Thence I journeyed to Osaka by sea and overland to Fukui, spend-
ing nearly a year, organizing the schools on a modern basis and teaching
science. The feudal system was still in operation, and while I was in Fukui
the abolition of the daimiates, the first beginnings of the heimin army, the
abollition of eta and hinin and the various reforms, of the new era were
among the things I witnessed including the departure from Fukui of the feudal
lord to be a private gentleman in Tokio."

In the Mikado's Empire, Dr. Griffis gives us a record of What he has
seen with his own eyes of the declining days of Nippon feudalism. For a
myriad facts which crowded the birth hour of the New Nippon eloquent with
the prophesies too big for books of a hundred Isaiahs, the author gives us in

30 THE FAR EAST

the present work a proper setting. In the days of the Mikado's Empire, he saw
the facts and recorded them faithfully — that is one thing. And now with
the added light and many years of careful observation, he gives us the relative
value and proper perspective of those many facts which he saw in his few
years of residence in Nippon. Many foreign scholars have lived in Nippon
many more years than the Doctor. A number of them have perhaps com-
manded quite as much scholarship as the author. Some of them even sup-
erior in matter of prose style. Dr. Griffis spent not quite four years in Nippon
but one year of the early 70's in the life of the New Nippon was greater
than 1 00 years before Perry's visit or ten years of today. When we reflect
sufficiently on what a magic span of time, which the residence of Dr. Griffis
in Nippon covered, it is quite enough to make us over-religious: and after all,
it is not so very wonderful that a foreign scholar, about the only one who has
had the acquaintance of Matsudaira Shungaku (and Lord Shungaku with
Shimazu of Satsuma towered Fuji-like against the dawn sky of the New
Nippon) should be and should remain the only historic interpreter of our
country for over 32 years.

Throughout the book, almost in every chapter, you will hear a voice of
a prophet crying in the wilderness. For since the Russo-Nippon war there
has been a veritable wilderness of lettered display of ignorance in matters
Far Eastern both in the dignified reviews as well as in the yellowest of news-
papers and such splendid defence as he gives us of the memory of Rai Sanyo
"whose name in company with those of Michizane and the other literary
stars of the first magnitude in all ages and countries he had caused to be in-
scribed on the western side of the granite walls of the Boston Public Library"
and for which, he himself tells us, he has been ridiculed by the mob. A man
reads Nihon Guaishi (the outline history of Nippon) by Sanyo in translation
and he wonders what on earth made such work immortal. I can understand
him. A man reads Poe's Annabel Lee in Nipponese translation and prompt-
ly delegates the memory of the one poet of America into the limbo of nursery
rhymesters. I can understand him also. But of him who puts on airs on
his translation-erudition and sits in judgment over his superiors, I have an
opinion of my own. He is simply a common ordinary everyday idiot and to
that class the critics of Dr. Griffis belong.

Another example: His defence of the Ronin for whom his British
Majesty's first minister to Nippon, Sir Rutherford Alcock, had no particular
affection, is to my mind superb — also touching.

"Another much misunderstood character, in the twilight of modern Japan,
was the Ronin scholar. . . . Over against the smug salary^drawing,
self-satisfied samuria, basking in his lord's favor, shutting his eyes from
truth, and armoring his conscience against qualms, a hidebound conservative,

THE FAR EAST 31

is set the noble Ronin scholar, artist, and though outside of official approval,
the doer of righteous acts Without them, the great awak-
ening books, that came as trumpet calls, could not have been penned. Had
these glorious heretics kept silence, the orthodox philosophy of Yedo with its
enginery of prison and torture, might have made it impossible for Japan ever
to produce an Okubo, an Ito, a Togo, a Kuroki, on an Oyama." And to
the spirits of Yoshido Shoin and Hashimoto Sanai and other authors of the
New Nippon, a few pages following 289th of this book must be more than in-
cense— more than all the garlands which could be heaped upon the empty
shrines.

Dr. Griffis after taking you through the drama which is sometimes called
the Restoration, tells you the inner story of the New Nippon down to those
years following the Russo-Nippon war, — the years overfreighted with as-
pirations and big with prophecy. He concludes the book by even taking
more than a glimpse into the future of Nippon and in so doing he answers
perhaps the most vital question in connection with the Far East:

But what are Japan's ambitions? About this, the world is thinking,
and various are the answers given, according as they spring from
guilt rather than righteousness, ignorance rather than insight, and out
of emotion instead of science. Legacies from the Crusades, memories
of the Mongols, seared-conscience shadows, nightmare dreams of a
"Yellow Peril," fears that raise a skeleton at the banquet of earth-
hungry European marauders, destroy clear vision of the future and
confuse the prespective of history. The avaricious Yankee fears for
his share of plunder. The untempered alien, anarchist, or fanatic, who
abuses his freedom in the United States, outdoes the dog in the
manger.

To those who know well Japan's story and the relentless cosmic
conditions imposed upon her people, and who are even moderately
free from prejudice, taking science instead of instinct as the point of
view, it is difficult to see in Japan's purpose anything more than the
first law of nature. Self-perservation is her highest ambition. By
making the food-supply for the nation sure, by securing honorable
commerce and open markets, and in longing for a fair share of the
produce of the earth she would hold her own in the competition of
the nations. "Second to none" is her motto. To secure victory in
the splendid race, she will make herself worthy of the crown.

This is the view of things outwardly. Japan must make her
position sure. So long as it is the way of the world, even among the
advanced nations that pose as her exemplars and teachers, to choose
the battle-ship, the army corps, artillery, powder, and bayonets as
final arguments, Japan will follow, for she must and will keep step

32 THE FAR EAST

with humanity. She knows well what its still sad music is. No
nation in Europe is older than she or has a richer experience.

But if, on the other hand, reversing the order of the ages and
ushering in the reign of reason in place of brute force, the nations
rear tribunals of arbitration, lessen their armaments or even disarm,
Japan will be quick to keep step, follow example, and be eager to
run in the race, as hopeful rivals for the crown of peace.
And the Doctor knows how to play a surgeon. His critical scalpel
cuts deep also.

Eager to discharge their teachers, to get rid of their yatoi, and
to raise the exotic seed to consummate flower, that they might them-
selves hold every shred of power, the Japanese moved quickly to
success that too often was illusive and disappointing, as much of their
seeming success to-day is. There are many sloughs of despond and
pathways of sorrow yet to be traversed. Their experiences have re-
vealed the national excellencies and limitations. Herein, during the
past decade or two, they have seen themselves in a mirror, and as the
discerning critic beholds them. As soldiers and sailors they excel.
Quick external success that dazzles especially the onlooker seemed
easily won ; but in education, in morals, in social uplift, in the virtues
of truth, chastity, stability of marriage, in all that makes the real man
apart from the noise of war, and as something other than what is
appraised in uniforms and breast medals, how slow the advance!
How difficult to find thoroughly good teachers in the schools, honest
merchants, who will keep a contract against a falling market, men,
that swear to their hurt but change not, who love truth for its own
sake, or bestow freely their wealth for public good! How slightly
scratched is the soil of paganism — that is, paganism from the point
of view of any religion on earth that has lofty ethical ideals! How
priestcraft still dominates the villages ! How low is still the status of
women! How licensed obscenity still smells rank in Japan, Korea.
Manchuria, and the southern Asiatic ports! How glorified are still
the moral poltroonery of suicide and the false heroics of the assassin!
How slight has been the real advance of truly representative govern-
ment! Bureaucracy and military oligarchy form the real power be-
hind the Throne. Japan's "Kitchen cabinet" is a disgrace to a
nation professing constitutional monarchy. True party government
seems yet far off. Domestic morals seem to be at that state of evolu-
tion which shows that Japanese are ethically yet in the group, rather
than in the individual.

To get at the facts we need not read missionary reports or the
criticisms of hostile and unsympathetic aliens. Confining his reading

THE FAR EAST 33

to native literature, official and private, to his observation rightly in-
terpreted, to such books as Lafcadio Hearn's final work — so radically
different from all his others — "Japan: An Interpretation," a subtle
but terrific exposure, one can sympathize with those patriots who bear
their country's burdens on heart and mind.

The purest lover of Nippon is not neccessarily found in govern-
ment pay, uniform, or decoration. Very, very far from it! (The
italics are mine). By a real Japanese patriot, we mean an unselfish
one, less anxious for favor, rewards, and promotion than to give ser-
vice and help, in harmony with noble spirits who loved their country
more than life, who toiled and even suffered on in life rather than
sought easy death in battle or stooped to cowardly suicide. Whether
pagan, agnostic, or Christian, if living to-day, such a patriot knows
the reality. The kind of success that Japan has already won sobers
him, because of its rapidity and its deception. He knows too well
how great is that part of his country's debt which is not expressed in
treasury notes. The sort of national success yet to be gained is what
he hopes for. The true glory of such men's labor makes stars and
medals ridiculous.

But "We Japanese," wrote the brain of the Japanese army, the lamented
General and Chief of Staff Kodama, only a fortnight before his death, to
the writer, [Dr. Griffis] "do not fear criticism; we welcome it most search-
ingly, provided it is just."

34 THE FAR EAST

THE HOKKU OF BASHO.
BY PORTER GARNETT.

^^ M ^ HILE the art of Japan is being variously exploited, her

0 M ^ft literature, not less rich in interest, remains comparatively un-

1 i I known. Sir Edwin Arnold and Lafcadio Hearn have been
V^^,^ strongly influenced, and Japanese writers who have essayed

English have brought to die Western World some of the
flavor and fragrance of their native lore. But aside from the investigations
of a few scholars, such as Chamberlain and Satow, and the casual quotations
by a number of writers on Japanese subjects, the great volume of Nipponese
literature has yet to receive a just recognition abroad.

It is the object of the present paper to give to English readers an insight,
or rather a glimpse, into one phase of the lyrical literature of Japan. This
is the hokku- The hokku, or haikai, as it is sometimes called, is a Japanese
verse-form consisting of seventeen rhythmical syllables arranged in sets of
five, seven and five, within which meagre compass is expressed an essentially
poetic thought. It differs from the imperial uta in the fact that it is written
in the vernacular of everyday speech, while the uta — which is also, of greater
length, having thirty-one syllables — is cast in the rigid classical idiom. The
hokku found its highest expression in the compositions of Basho (1 643-1 694),
who wrote in this form with a refinement that has never been equalled. It
may seem strange that within such restricted limits there should exist a
standard of style, that would distinguish the work of a master from that of
all others, but such is the fact. The very minimitude of the form is a
challenge to the imagination, and Basho's mastery was little short of the
miraculous. Much of the charm and interest of these l'yrics-in-Iittle lies in
the fact that in their brevity they are made to connote a wealth of aesthetic
and philosophic significance, condensed to the utmost degree and expressed
in the simplest possible terms. The hokku is an abstract epitome of poetic
conception; a single drop of attar of roses, distilled in the alembic of the
poet's mind to be diluted in his reader's soul.

That these slender "impressions" should convey so much to the Japanese
consciousness is perhaps difficult to understand, but there is one factor in their
composition which goes far to explain it. This is in the cadence of the verse,
in the musical sequence of the syllables. There is in the Japanese language
a quality similar to the onomatopoeia of the Greek, but infinitely more subtle;
that is, the sounds of the words themselves produce an emotional suggestion,
which, at once, stimulates and soothes the imagination. By virtue of this
quality the writer of hokku is able to invest his verse with a harmony of
subject, and tone as intimate as the musical treatment of an emotional theme

THE FAR EAST 35

by a modern composer. As the thought is grave or gay, so are the phonetic
values of the sequent syllables delicately adjusted to the sense. The appeal
of the hokku is both subjective and objective. It induces meditation; it con-
jures up images concrete and cognate and unfolds vague vistas of the sublime.
Poe achieved something analogous in his "Annabel Lee," the beauty of
which depends so largely upon its haunting melody.

Literal translations of hokku have been made, but it was inevitable that
they should fall short of what they sought to express. The accidental mind is
incapable of assimilating the alien nuances of Japanese poetry without the
training of tradition, or the subtile sensitiveness to sound and suggestion, which
the Japanese have in such a rare degree. It is patent, therefore, that some-
thing more than a mere conveyance from one language to another is necessary ;
something more even than a paraphrase. With this conviction, the writer has
attempted to transmute the thought, which he finds expressed in the poetic
manner of Japan, and clothe it in the poetic manner of our own tongue,
preserving, as far as possible, the feeling and spirit of the original. Although
our verbal floriation may be regarded as meretricious when measured by the
Japanese ideal — the elegance of simplicity — yet the divergence of media
seems to be imperative if the sub-literal significance of the text is to be
expressed.

The huitaines which follow are based upon literal translations of two
hokku of Basho.

Tare yara ga
Sugata n't nitari
Kesa no haru
Ah whose presence could it be that the Spring of this morning put me in
mind?

The word sugata, which is here translated as presence, can not be
rendered by any single locution in English. Its full meaning would include
form, color, grace, beauty as well as the personality or atmosphere and the
endowments of the mind.

In this hokku the poet expresses his sentiments as he gazes on the fresh
landscape of a Spring morning. The Earth is resplendent with herbage,
bedecked with flowers, redolent with perfume. As he stands entranced by
the witcheries of the scene, it seems to him that the beauties of the young year
resemble the perfections of the one most dear to him.
Awake! the Night has gone with Winter's gloom,

The Mom and Springtide greet us at the door;
Fresh flowers smile from fragrant fields in bloom,

A Golden Carpet clothes the Earth's wide Floor.
Meseems that Spring this morning holds a store
Of memories that mind me much of one

Beloved, so like her beauty 'tis, yea more,
Her Spirit speaks from Nature to the Sun.
Uta no aio
Touya Izumo no
Yae gasumi.

36 THE FAR EAST

The eight shelving mists of Izumo hunt and encompass the foot-prints of
poetry.

In Japan, the month of October is known as the No-god Moon, because
in that season of the year the eight million gods are supposed to assemble
in the Province of Izumo. Here the Spring mists, which have ever been one
of the chiefest subjects of Japanese poetry, circle about the hillsides in eight
filmy layers. To the poet's fancy as he contemplates them in their undulating,
opalescent beauty, they seem to embody the records of poetry.
Above enchanted Izumo behold

The eight-zoned mists are wreathing far and fast
In quest of poetry, yet they enfold

The rarest riches gathered from her past!
Robes radiant wrought on Heaven's Loom and cast
Upon the hills in drifting diaphanes, —
No volume ever written such a vast
And deathless dowery of song contains.

Porter Garnett.

THE NEW EAST IN THE MAKING.

BY ASADA MASUO.

^4^^^ HE reading of history both ancient and in the days of its mak-
M CT*\ mg 's apt to ma^e one religious. The visit of the American
^L \ battleship fleet to Nippon is an example both timely and to the

^^B^r point — somewhat more eloquent because of the particular point
of time it happened, and 'because also of the peculiar com-
bination of efforts on the part of the yellow newspapers headed by the
New York Herald. CflThe battleship fleet of America came and went;
and now not even the New York Herald seems to be eloquent over the
sinister and fiendish designs of the people of Nippon against America.
Here is one historic incident that a fact actually was louder than even
the yellow newspapers. Iflln the course of demonstrations of friendliness
of the people of Nippon toward America, and the paternal fondness of
America toward Nippon, there was one thing that touched the hearts of
the Americans abroad. ^[There is a stretch of yellow sand not far from
the harbor of Yokohama — it is called Kurihama. The beach of Kuri
sprung very suddenly into historic notoriety. That was in 1854. On
its unpretentious beach the officers of the American navy under Com-
modore Perry made their landing. That was where they were received
by the officers of the Shogunate. ^J Years back, in 1900, when Rear
Admiral Beardsley of the American Navy paid us a visit (and you may

THE FAR EAST 37

recall that the Rear Admiral was one of the young midshipmen under
Commodore Perry on his historic visit to us) the association of enthus-
iasts over men and institutions, American, and who had gathered them-
selves together under the pleasing title of the "Association of the Friends
of America" took up the work of marking the historic beach with a
token somewhat worthy of the memory of the American Commodore.
The work commenced while Admiral Beardsley was visiting us, was
completed on the 14th of July, 1901. €flln passing I may be permitted
to add a word as a native of Nippon. This monument which was one
of the very first of any type reared in Nippon in memory of a man of
foreign birth, is pregnant with varied and deep significance. We, the
people of Nippon, call the American Commodore blessed today. Our
forefathers of the days of '54 did not think so. To the eminent Nip-
ponese of those days Commodore Perry was about as rude a man as
they had ever known in or out of history. In the first place our fore-
fathers did not extend any invitation to the Commodore to come to visit
us. Frankly, although they were too polite to tell him so, they did not
wish to see him. They threw at him all the world of hints, and some
of those they thought were as apparent as "brick bats." But the Com-
modore seemed to have not the slightest perception of so gentle a thing
as a hint. With his dignified bearing and not altogether too courteous
an expression but which was very clear as to meaning, he told our an-
cestors What he wished to have and even before the honored officers of
the Shogun could make a decent bow in answer, he never once failed to
point to the black muzzles of his guns aboard his ships. CJAnd our
forefathers of '54 hated him as cordially as a helpless victim can hate a
powerful enemy; and with the officers of the Shogun, an overwhelming
majority of the Nipponese paid him a similar compliment. CJTimes have
changed. With them, the hearts of the Nipponese also. Like a man
looking back upon the early days wherein the rod played so prominent a
role, the people of Nippon came to remember the memory of the Ameri-
can Commodore with gratitude and appreciation. The memory of the
stem master who opened us willy-nilly when we so dearly loved to play
the oyster, has come to shine in the beautious light of a benefactor. Hence
the monument. CJNow, when the American guests visited the historic
spot marked today with the monument reared to the memory of our
national benefactor, they saw something more than the monument. The
monument in question stood in the center of a small park. The area of
this park is 1,200 tsubo (one tsubo equals about four square yards).
Now, in Nippon a farmer raises enough sustenance for himself and family
on a farm of the size of your lady's handkerchief. CflAnd this 1,200

38 THE FAR EAST

tsubo was contributed by the villagers of Kurihama. Tbey are more
eloquent than 1 ,200 volumes of eulogium upon the splendid achievements
of the American Commodore. All the more striking, almost touching,
because these villagers who contributed this very great amount of real
estate in honor of the great American are exceedingly simple and primi-
tive. They belong to the same class against whom our San Francisco
friends give their boot heels so freely under the generous and semi-Chinese
title of Coolies. <|The monument bears the inscription in the handwriting
of Prince Ito: — "Memory shaft marking the landing spot of Com-
modore Perry of the United States of America."

ON THE EDUCATION OF THE KOREAN.

CJThe education of the Koreans — so Lieutenant General Usakawa who
had been despatched to Korea by the government on a special mission of
investigation, is reported to have said in his recent interview with a repres-
entative of the Tokyo Ashihi — the Korean education has reached the
state of greater perfection than hitherto. The whole duty of life with
the Korean, it seems, is to secure a government position. This is the
reason why there is an astonishing increase in the number of men who are
clever with their words. The increase of men of words hardly con-
tributes an iota to the cultivation of soil and the development of Korean
resources. Moreover, the Korean is very poor in his desire for saving.
He has no idea of the accumulation of wealth and property. The
Korean works, but only to a certain extent. Beyond that limit which
would give him food and raiment for one day, he will not take a single
step. If the Korean agriculture be carried on on a profitable basis it
must depend altogether on the efforts of the Nippon farmer.

ESTABLISHMENT OF A CHINESE LINE.

^ A great deal of talk and agitation on the establishment of a steamship
line by the Chinese has at last taken shape. Read in connection with the
railway building by Chinese engineers and capital, the establishment of a
steamship line adds another emphasis to the seriousness of the awakening
of Chinese nationalism. According to the report of the Nippon Consu'
General at Shanghai, nine prominent Chinese merchants there have act-
ually organized a company under the title of the Middle Country Com-
mercial Steamship Company capitalised at 250,000 taels (one-half of
which has been paid in). The line of service is between Shanghai and
Fuchau touching at Ningpo and between Shanghai and Tientsin touching
at Tintau (Kiauchau). They have bought two steamers one of 1,018
tons and the other of 2,000 gross tonnage.

=■*. -

THE FAR EAST 39

THE DECLINE OF THE TRANSPORTATION BUSINESS BETWEEN EUROPE
AND THE FAR EAST.

•flFor sometime past die European service has been showing a radically
different almost opposite tendency from the American service. Especially
has this been true in connection with the business handled by the Nippon
Yusen Kaisha. They had twelve steamers of about 6,000 tons each on
their regular service between the European and Far Eastern ports. They
found them insufficient for the amount of business. They chartered as
many as six freighters to handle the cargo for which their regular steamers
lacked facility. Now, however, owing to a sudden decline in the impor-
tation of machinery and metal manufactures in general, even their regular
steamers are not freighted to the utmost capacity. Most of the ships on
their return trip from Europe are now carrying about one-third to one-
fourth the full cargo they used to carry a few months ago.

THE FOREIGN PROFESSORS IN THE IMPERIAL UNIVERSITY, TOKYO.

€][In the earlier days of the new regime, following die Restoration of 1 868,
almost all the leading chairs in what has now come to be known as the
Imperial University were occupied by foreigners. The number of foreign
professors at die Imperial University has steadily declined, however. For
the past ten years it has been the policy of the Nippon Government to
replace the foreign educators by men of Nippon who are thoroughly
trained for the position. lIThe prevailing impression in America is that
there is not one foreign professor left in the service of the Imperial Uni-
versity at the present time. Like so many American impressions of
Nippon, it is wrong. There are nine foreigners occupying chairs in the
Imperial University at present. Three in the College of Law, one in
the College of Engineering, four in the College of Letters, one in the
College of Agriculture. Besides these there was until July 1 908 another
in the College of Law, but since his return, his successor has not been
decided upon. Besides these professors there are five foreign lecturers
who deliver special lectures to the students. The average salary paid to
the foreign instructors is comparatively higher than that paid to the native
professors. Most of these foreigners receive above 500 yen a month
($250.) In the College of Law the professors receive 675 yen
($337.50) ; in the College of Letters there are two who receive 500 and
550 yen respectively; and one 625 yen and another 300 yen. The pro-
fessor in the College of Agriculture receives 550 yen per month. Be-
sides the monthly salary to those professors who are compelled to live
outside of the government quarters, 70 yen per month is allowed for house
rent. The government allows also 975 yen ($487.50) travelling

40 THEFAREAST

expenses to those who come from Europe and 675 yen to those who
come from America. The lecturers, however, receive very much smaller
pay as they devote only certain hours per week, and it ranges from 1 00
yen to 450 yen. tjjln the first years of Meiji the contract terms were
comparatively long but now it scarcely goes beyond three years. The
professor who has been in the employ of the University longest is the
gentleman who is now teaching in the College of Law.

A VISIT OF AMERICAN BUSINESS MEN TO NIPPON.

<JAt about half past four on the morning of the 12th of October, the
most recent and best appointed steamship in the Trans-Pacific service, the
Tenyo-Maru of the Tokyo Kaisan Kaisha steamed into the harbor of
Yokohama. At once she became a target for innumerable steam launches
and boats freighted with people from the shore. Aboard, the Tenyo-
Maxu carried a company of business men from the Pacific coast of the
United States, 57 in all, including 15 ladies. They represented the
business interests of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Tacoma, Eureka,
Portland, Oakland, Spokane, San Diego, and some other Pacific coast
towns. <fln the early light the people turned out to welcome these
business men from the United States in great numbers. Fire works of
various designs spoke cleverly of the friendliness of the Nippon people
for the American visitors. At the pier, they were greeted with a regular
brass band, so dear to the hearts of the Americans, Which struck up a few
popular American airs. Some 50 members of the Chamber of Commerce
of Yokohama and Tokyo, all in the inevitable silk hats and frock coats
presented a formidable front in their discharge of the kindly function of
welcoming the American visitors in due form. As soon as Mr. Dohrmann,
spokesman of the American contingent, stepped upon the pier, the Chair-
man of the Welcoming Committee, Mr. Nakano Buei took him by the
hands and a moment later our American friends were lost in a veritable
cyclone of greetings, and interchange of introductions and exchange of
congratulations for the safe arrivals etc. <|"We have the honor of
welcoming you, here at the pier of Yokohama," — so ran the first sentence
of the formal address read by Mr. Nakano, President of the Chamber
of Commerce of Tokyo, and translated by Mr. Okada Chief Secre-
tary of the Committee, and the address of welcome recalled to the
memory of both the Americans and the Nipponese present that the
harbor at which they were meeting was opened as the result of Commodore
Perry's visit scarce 50 years ago. It told the American visitors that it
was their country that opened our imperial land to international intercourse
and led her in the new path of progress and civilization. It was the

THE FAR EAST 41

United States also which urged our country into the international activity
of trade. For these, Mr. Nakano and his fellow countrymen thanked
the Americans and assured them that the friendship so happily opened
increased in strength and intimacy as the years came and went. The
address pointed out also that even at the present time the trade between
the United States and Nippon shows all the tendency of being greater in
scope and especially richer in its future outlook than that with any other
country with which we have tradal relations. The address of welcome
ventured also to add that in the judgment of the Nippon men welcoming
the American friends, there was one thing necessary to maintain the friend-
liness between the two countries which has lasted and waxed so strong and
increased the respect and regard of one for the other, and that one thing
necessary was the knowledge of the condition of affairs of the one country
by the people of the other. That was the reason why certain bodies of
business men in Nippon took the liberty of extending an invitation to the
gentlemen connected with the Chambers of Commerce of America to
pay them a visit. And the business men of Nippon — so the address of
welcome went on to say — wished to take this opportunity of expressing
to the best of their ability the profound respect and deep-rooted friendliness
which they entertained toward their neighbors across the Pacific. They
wished also to take this occasion of emphasizing the amicable relations
between the two neighboring states. <ITo which Mr. Dohrmann answered
in equally friendly terms. CJThe bitter paragraphs of the Pacific coast
newspapers were nowhere in the memory of either the American visitors
or the Nippon hosts. Indeed it would have been most difficult to con-
ceive that so amiable a company of business men should have come as
the representatives of a section of the country made famous, as far as the
American-Nippon relation is concerned, by its determined stand "and
hostile attitude. tjJThe one paragraph of the address of welcome strikes
the keynote — it is a better and more intimate understanding between the
two peoples that would do infinitely more than all the bitter attacks on
either side. Some of us think that there are many bad people, but it is
remarkable how few bad men there are among one's intimate friends.
In other words when you come to know your neighbors pretty well you
are very apt to find them just about as good and just about as bad as
you yourself are. <JMay the day soon come when the people of Nippon
and the people of America reach that point of mutual understanding
and frank exchange of views when they could look each other in the face
across the Pacific and say, "We of Nippon are a common ordinary
set of sinners with common everyday weaknesses and with certain
aspirations common to ordinary viril races. We fail in many things ; but

42 THE FAR EAST

then, you must acknowledge that we are facing certain peculiar com-
bination of circumstances and that we are doing the best we can. You
must acknowledge also that if you were in our place, you would be very
apt to do something very near what we are doing today." <JFor one, I
say that, if we could get to that point we have won and the kingdom of
heaven of mutual understanding and peace will be nigh at hand.

THE FUTURE OUTLOOK OF NIPPON'S REVENUE.

«JThe revenue for the fiscal year of the 40th, Meiji (1907-1908)
showed an increase over the preceding year of 60,000,000 yen. In the
years to come, however, it is questionable whether our annual revenues
will increase at this rate, says T o^o-Ashihi, and then quotes the follow-
ing expression from an official of our finance department: The annual
revenue of our state should certainly increase from year to year according
to the progress and development of national enterprises and resources. It
is not correct, however, to infer that the national revenue of our country
would go on increasing forever at the rate which we saw in the fiscal
year of die 39th and the 40th Meiji. Those years show a tremendous
and sudden increase of national revenue owing to the aggressive economic
expansion after a great war. The present year, for example, would show
the result of the financial depression which the country has suffered. The
customs returns as well as the general taxation on articles of consumption
would necessarily show a decrease in revenue. Moreover, the estimate
on the revenue for the current fiscal year seems to show a slight tendency
of having been exaggerated. If we could realize die estimate for this
fiscal year to the full, nothing would be happier. There is a possibility,
however, of the estimate not being completely realized. True, our
financial circles show many signs of recovery from the panicky conditions
through which they have passed. Still the effect of such financial depression
cannot be overcome in a single day. According to past experiences we
have seen that our country suffers the effect of European or American
financial depression about one year following the most acute stages of
panics abroad. It is therefore very probable that we shall suffer the
consequences of American and European depressions in the fiscal years
of the 42nd and the 43rd Meiji. At present there seems to be a num-
ber of bankers who are desirious of having the government pay back its
indebtedness. In one or two years from now, however, when they will
begin to feel the real effects of the financial depressions abroad these
very same bankers will find it difficult to place their funds in active
operation, and we may hear from them many a suggestion on the suspension
of payment on national debt. In short it would be safe to say that the
revenue of state would not show extraordinary increase within a few years.

THE FAR EAST 43

INTERNATIONAL BASEBALL AS A PEACEMAKER.

<JWe take pleasure in quoting from the editorial column of the Shanghai
Times the following, which affords another incident pleasing to the friends
of both America and Nippon: The International baseball matches
recently played on the Waseda ground in Japan afforded an object lesson
on the national characteristics of America and Japan — a lesson which
the "Japan Times" considers spoke eloquently to both nations. The
manner in which the Americans took their reverses at their own game
awakened admiration in the Japanese minds and their manly attitude was
understood and appreciated by thousands of Japanese present. It is
ever thus on the field of sport. International contests have ere now done
much to strengthen the amity of nations, and the present visit of the
Americans to Japan will do much to draw the two nations closer to-
gether in a bond which will gradually be drawn tighter and tighter until
the most perfect accord is reached. Disagreements are rare on the arena
of sport, that they do occasionally arise is inevitable where the rules
■governing the contests are at variance, but this is only a small matter,
considering the importance of the greater issues at stake, and needs very
little consideration to avert. The Japanese will learn to appreciate the
Americans more and more as they meet them in friendly rivalry at sport
and when the visit of the American team is returned, as it undoubtedly
will, the Americans will have an opportunity of seeing the finer points
of the Japanese nation displayed and will be better able to understand
itheir national characteristics. All this can tend to but one end and that
is the cementing of a friendship between the two nations which cannot
but be for the general good of the world at large and America and Japan
in particular.

THE SUBSIDY FOR THE MERCANTILE MARINE OF NIPPON.

•SThe total amount appropriated for the encouragement of mercantile
marine of Nippon in the fiscal year 1908 amounted to 3,453,955 yen.
This amount is now being disbursed. It has been reported that in the
fiscal year 1909 the amount to be disbursed for the same purpose is to
reach 5,100,000 yen mark. In the year 1907 there were only twenty
new vessels built which were qualified to receive governmental subsidies.
But in the coming year there will be over forty vessels of the total tonnage
of 2 1 7,000 It is exactly one hundred per cent more than the number
of vessels for 1907, and in tonnage very much more than one hundred
per cent.

EDUCATION IN CHINA.

flFrom the city of Kueilin, in the Province of Kuangsi comes the great

44 THE FAR EAST

news of a great scheme. In the heart of the city of Kueilin there is a
historic spot; it is some ten acres in area. Years and years ago, so runs
the tradition, this ten acre spot was enclosed by a stone wall, very strong
and heavily built. Within the wall stood massive buildings, and in them
once, long ago, lived a member of the Imperial family. He had incurred
the displeasure of the Emperor, and was doomed to spend his exiled days
in that distant city, within the strong stone wall, and the townspeople
pointed to the walled enclosure and spoke of it as the "King's City."
One night, so runs the tale, the Prince escaped. About a hundred miles
north of the city of Kueilin, he was found dead. The historic buildings
occupied by the exiled prince had been converted into examination halls,
in which the aspirants of official China struggled in the desperate assent
up die questionable ladder of Chinese scholarship. After the abolition
of the time-honored examination system, the buildings were abandoned to
weeds and to intruders, the winged and four-footed. flNow — the great
scheme. The historic buildings are now to be translated into a Normal
College. It is proposed to establish an institution that would afford suffi-
cient facilities to educate no less than three thousand students, and to be
given a two or three years' course in normal school education, and after
graduation, they are to be scattered broadcast, all over the great Empire
of China, as the instructors in elementary and secondary schools. fiThe
move is full of significance, especially of prophetic significance. As in
Nippon of forty years ago, China is beginning to take her first step in her
re-birth in doing a very effective work in the education of her people,
for, after all, the foundation of state is in popular enlightment. flAnd
China is generous; it does not stop with the common schools. The
government is not neglecting the technical education of her people. Wit-
ness the inauguration of a telegraph school in Peking. The establish-
ment of this institution was proposed by no less a personage than His
Excellency, Shen Pih, who is the Minister of Post and Communication.
It is in these movements that the studious are invited to read the future of
that great Empire, flln the same historic city of Kueilin, toward the
close of the year of grace, 1907, there was a sight that would have made
the most progressive of Americans rub his eyes, and doubt their testimony;
it indeed was, enough to turn the celestial ancestors in their century old
graves. Perhaps careless people do not even know that Kueilin has an
athletic field with a racing course of eight hundred English yards in cir-
cumference. A grand stand commands it, also the ancient city walls and
the moss-covered graveyard, beyond. And upon the grand stand. . .
. . An English correspondent of the North China Herald abandons
himself in wordy hysteria; — fl"AH round this half-mile circle were the
seats of the fair and mighty — for not only had the great ones of the city

THE FAR EAST 45

lent their countenance to the doings of the day, but for tl\e first time in
history, 'Kueilin and his •wife' went out together. Row upon row of
'China's daughters* painted one section of the ring with brilliant-hued col-
ours, and blue, red, black and green silk, blended with the dark fur-lined
full dress costumes of the officials, interspersed with the bright blue neat
uniforms of the officers and cadets of China's modern army, with their
glistening swords and sheaths." Verily, the earth does move — even China.
flThe gossip of a newspaper correspondent had it that the Empress Dow-
ager drives through the streets of Peking in her automobile. It is not the
Empress Dowager and her automobile, alone, nor the loss of pig-tails
among the worthy citizens of Hankau of which we also have heard,
which are telling us that, a few years more or less and the picturesque
filth and the classic quaintness of the ancient city will be as civilized
and as vulgar as a department store.

THE TAKAO HARBOR WORKS.

flThis work has been in contemplation for many years. The railway
between Kiirun and Takao has been completed, and along this line rice,
sugar and camphor, and a number of other principal products of the
island find outlet, which makes the Harbor of Takao the most important
harbor of the entire island. In spite of this fact, the harbor is very
shallow, and not at all suitable for active shipping, so much so that the
ships of over two or three thousand tons must anchor about two ri (one
ri equals about two and one-half miles) out. In bad weather the ships
are compelled to take shelter in Hoko Islands, and there wait for fair
weather to return to the harbor and proceed with their loading and un-
loading. This causes no end of inconvenience to transportation work of
the island, and the harbor work of Takao is now considered to be one
of the most important measures to be taken in connection with the
Formosan enterprises. *f[The estimate for the improvement work of this
harbor is placed at 4,700,000 yen.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE DAITO RAILWAY.

flThe three sections of Formdsa, namely, the south, west and north,
Which face the continent, have in years past enjoyed constant communi-
cation with China and come under the influence of continental culture,
and for that reason they are comparatively more civilized than the other
sections, and that is why the district of Daito is much behind the other
three sections in progress and civilzation. But the actual investigation
of the Daito district shows that there is a level stretch of soil from one
ri to three or four ri in width, and some thirty to forty ri in length,
bordering upon the water, commanding therefore the facilities of water

46 THE FAR EAST

transportation. This district affords a considerable advantage and con-
venience for water transportation, and promises a good deal for the fu-
ture development of it, and this is the reason of the railway project for
this part of the country. flThe estimate for the building of the railway
is about 4,200,000 yen. In the future there is an evident need of
building a railway from Daito clear to the western shore of the island,
cutting the island in two, but of course at the present time there is no
particular scheme of this kind on foot. flAll told, the three undertak-
ings which are deemed imperative and which have urgent necessity,
would call for the outlay of about 40,000,000 yen of expenditure.

1

Sfo iEaftafoia Jjeattt

3$g (#hjbe Agneiu GJristuell

o

eep-tjearteh singer of ilapan, 3 knoro
3fl|at wtjen in turiligljt garbens lan-
terns glow,
2fl|g spirit manners in tlje fragrant
mist,
g>igtjing frail melobies of long ago.

n& rofyen some breaming cl|ilb afcuen-
tnres far

Sforoarb ttje soft glimmer tuyere tlje
fire-flies are,

All nnafraib, tje sees tljee in tlje gloom—

A smiling. lominoos, bim Aoatar.

W

onto 3 migljt see wtjat Ijis clear gonng
eges see,

|let, as for l|im, so gon take form for
me,

en in tl|e imsk faint memories anil
sweet

glir at tlje shrilling of tl|g cicabae.

aft*

3Par-3fattttb
Sapifca of tt\z
ijozu %mt

an&
Atasljigama in tlje
Ancient Sfloumr Capital
of 2Cgoto.

!

Bill

Ik-

■K !

0'

tiS jBh

!

Just Published

In Korea with Marquis Ito

BY

George Trumbull Ladd, LL. D.

Illustrated. $2.50 net. Post paid, $2.70

THE CONTENTS
Rulers and People
Resources and Finance
Education and the Public Justice
Foreigners and Foreign Relations
Wrongs: Real and Fancied
Missions and Missionaries
July, 1907, and After
The Solution of the Problem
The Invitation
First Glimpses of Korea
Life in Seoul
The Visit to Pyeng-Yang
Chemulpo and other Places
The Departure

Personal Reminiscences and Impressions
The Problem : Historical
The Compact

Undoubtedly the most important work on Korea and Japan, as far as their present relations are
concerned, that has been brought out. Professor Ladd had, through his relations with Marquis Ito,
very exceptional facilities for personal observation in Korea, and unprecedented opportunities for
obtaining inside information and accurate knowledge as to the past and present conduct of Japan
and her present intentions. Much hitherto unpublished
_. material was placed in his hands enabling him to estab-
" lish beyond reasonable doubt the truth about certain
matters which he discusses in his book. The book is
partly the account of personal experience described in
a readable and interesting way, and in part a serious first
hand discussion of a weighty political problem, and it is
consequently of interest both to those who want merely
a surface picture of conditions and to those who want to
study the problem seriously. No one can, in the future,
write history of these events or discuss them with author-
ity, without making himself familiar with the views and
conclusions of Prof, Ladd in this book.

"Written with great care. It is one of the most in-
forming books on the East that has yet been published.
—Philadelphia Inquirer.

'It cannot fail to be of interest"

— Louisville Courier-Journal.

King and present King ofKo

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/OL. II.

JANUAR

'o. 2. I

THE
FAR
EAST

Productive Indus
tries of Nippon

Autobiography ot
Prince Ito.

Colonial Policy /of
Nippon in Asia.

cBy Baron Goto,
Minister of Communication.

American Fleet in
Nippon.

Up the Fuji.
Pap'er n.

Fundamentals of
our Diplomatic
Policy Toward
China.

3?J> Count Okuma.

The New East in
the Making

Sfte gat 6M fiuhtiaijma Qa.

DETROIT, MICH., U. S. A.
THIRTY CENTS THE COPY. THREE DOLLARS THE YEAR.

The Far East

Adachi Kinnosukt,
Proprietor and Editor

JANUARY, 1909

CONTENTS

THE DAUGHTER OF A SOLDIER OF

NIPPON AT THE FAMILY SHRINE FRONTISPIECE

TEMPLE OF HEAVEN D. M. BRUCE

(Illustrated)

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF PRINCE ITO HIROBUMI
Being an account of his life as told by himself, to
and recorded by AHASHI ATOWA

AMERICAN FLEET IN NIPPON

The American Battleship Fleet . . (Illustrated)

COLONIAL POLICY OF NIPPON IN ASIA

BARON GOTO

Minister of
Communication

PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRIES OF NIPPON
By Mr. Kume, the Second Secretary of
Agriculture and Commerce.
Being a free translation of a speech made
by the Second Secretary recently. MR. KUME

SAKUMA SUKENARI

The Story of a Japanese Outlaw. ADACHI KINNOSUKE

UP THE FUJI— Paper II HARA TORO

(Illustrated)

FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR DIPLOMATIC

POLICY TOWARD CHINA COUNT OKUMA

AMERICAN NIPPON UNDERSTANDING

THE NEW EAST IN THE MAKING ASADA MASUO

(Illustrated)
China and Her Nai/y.

. The Future of the Iron Works in Nippon.
New Puritanism in the New East.
Establishment of Nippon Lead Pencil

Manufacturing Co.
On Korean Railways.
The Passing of Field-Marshal Marquis Nozu.

THE PICTURE STORY OF THE CULTURE

OF RICETN NIPPON TITLE PAGE

Copyright, 1908, by The Far East Publishing Co

Entered as second-class matter July 9, 1908,
at the post office at Detroit, Mich.

Published Monthly by
The Far East Publishing Co
The Addison,

Detroit, Mich., U. S. A.

THE DAUGHTER OF A SOLDIER OF NIPPON AT THE FAMILY SHRINE.

■——■■■ urn hi—iiiiimiih

TEMPLE OF HEAVEN.

5[lj£ tytmph nf ipatten*.

% 9. H. Icuce

Sftet} raised a Sample, all of marble uiljite,
Uitlj roofs of deepest blue, tl|at ma&e tlje skg
Hook pale at noontide,- built it trouuh auh

Sfo guarb tlje tablets for tlje sacreb rite;

Aui> uear it staufcs tlje perfect marble sljriue,

UljoBe tljreefotfn terraces are Ijolg grouub,

illjiclj guarleft aufc aucieut cgpress-trees
surrouub,

©u tutjiclj tt|e raiu mag fall mh suu may
sljiue.

Bjere, at tlje solstice of tlje comiug gear,

Ufjile iuceuse burus iu sacrificial feast,

JCueeletlj tl|e louelg ruler of the J;ast,

Sfo worship for Ijis people far auft uear,™

ije fastiug, till across tlje bark a rag

©f golbeusuusljiue floois tlje hreakiugfcag.

C^

The Far East

Vol. II.

January, 1909.

No. 2

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF PRINCE ITO HIROBUML*

Being an account of his life as told by himself to and recorded by

OHASHI OTOWA.

IX.

FTER the return of Kido from his European trip, he drew up
a memorial — I have not a copy of it here and therefore cannot
enter into its details but in the main it embodied the resul*
ri. *«j European observations. He h*"1* read carerully tne
progress of Luroptdi* civilization; he drew valuable lessons
from his analysis of the origin and cause of the fall of such states as Poland.
He took the ground that unless Nippon would develop the intelligence and
promote the culture of her people and lay the foundation of State in education,
there was a grave danger threatening the future of our country. Unless we
succeeded in increasing the knowledge of our people, it would be difficult
to make our country stand shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the great
powers of the world. He emphasized also the unity of our people between
the higher and the lower classes as one of the essentials. From this, it is
evident that in the mind of Kido the inauguration of a constitutional govern-
ment in Nippon through gradual and natural processes had its inception. I
think this memorial of Kido appeared in one of the Yokohama foreign
papers in its English translation.

Working out his conviction that the matter of prime importance, at that
time, was to develop the knowledge of our people; immediately after his
return from abroad covering the years of the 6th and the 7th of Meiji
(1873-4), he published a newspaper; I have forgot the name of it. The
paper in question went through repeated change of names, but managed to
continue its publication. In those days there was no newspaper in Nippon
in the proper sense of the word and there was no governmental assistance
given to such an enterprise.

In the 9th year of Meiji ( 1 876) His Majesty, the Emperor, made his
tour through the provinces of Ou, (in the northern part of Nippon). At
the time Kido had resigned from the office of Sangi and was the Counsellor
to the Cabinet. On this imperial tour, Prince Iwakura and Kido received
command to accompany His Majesty, and I think Okubo who was at the

* Translated by Adachi Kinnosuke.
Copyright 1908, by Adachi Kinnosuke.

'

/&

5 THE FAR EAST

time Minister of the Interior was ordered to be his Imperial herald. Now
Kido admu-ed Prince Sanjo exceedingly; as for Prince Iwakura, owing to
die Taiwan (Formosa) affair, for which Kido resigned his cabinet position,
his relations with the Prince were not the most pleasant. On the occasion of
the Impend tour however, they had many opportunities for frank exchange
of ideas and this tour removed the misunderstanding between the two com-
pletely.

His Majesty boarded the vessel at Aomori. The entire northern section
of Nippon was included in this Imperial tour except Hokkaido and the pre-
fecture of Akita. It was ordered that we should cover the portions not
included in the Imperial tour. Therefore Prince Sanjo, Yamagata and
myself and Terashima took up the journey. Both Mutsu and Ozaki ac-
companied this «^'.;s,?n- While we were stopping at Fukushima, o" jur trip
home, after having finished our toiif uh^igV Hokkaido, we received a tele-
graphic report of the Kumamoto uprising (which has passed into history
under the name of the rebellion of the Shimpuren*). It made us return
suddenly. Immediately after the pacification of the revolt, we had the affair
of Maebara and of Higo which was followed by the Satsuma Rebellion of
the 1 Olh of Meiji.

My relations with Okubo were not of long standing. Our intimate friend-
ship dates back to the European embassy of the 4th of Meiji (1871).
Since that time until his death, I always consulted Okubo on almost all
matters. In Okubo was the combination of careful thought and decisive de-
termination. He was not a man to do anything thoughtlessly. He was rich
in that ability of weighing everything seriously. At the same time whenever
any difficulty arose, he was the very first man to face it. In those days
preceding the Restoration, there were many affairs in which Okubo took
prominent part in behalf of his own clan. At the time of the Restoration —
it was largely due to the decision of Okubo and his comrades that the forces
of Satsuma and Ohoshu fought the second entry of Tokugawa Keiki [into
Kyoto]. Up to the fourth of Meiji his achievements were signal both in
clan affairs and in the affairs of the nation. Then his visit to Europe and his
observations of the affairs of different countries widened the scope of his vision
exceedingly. His European trip aroused within him a conviction that it was

*Shimpuren (Divine Wind-Party) or Keishinto (Revere-gods Party) as it was some-
times called, were conservatives who disliked the progressive policies and tendencies of the
Meiji government. Some two hundred of them under the leadership of Ono Teppei, a
samurai of the Kumamoto clan, rose in revolt. It was in the month of October of the 9th
year of Meiji (1875). They set fire to the city in the night and attacked the unsuspecting
garrison of Kumamoto and succeeded in murdering Lieutenant-Colonel Takashima and 64
men. A little later in the same night, they murdered the Commandant Taneda Seimei at his
home. They also attacked the house of the governor of Kumamoto, wounding hire severely.
But the following day the soldiers of the Kumamoto garrison were ordered out and sup-
pressed the insurrection speedily.

ft—-—-^

THE FAR EAST 51

imperative for Nippon to adopt the European culture and civilization. The
result and upshot of it all became apparent in his determined stand against the
Korean Expedition policy.

At the time of the Rebellion of Saga, Okubo himself, as the Minister
of the Interior, shouldered the work of suppressing the rebellion. He went
to the front. Following that, when the Taiwan (Formosa) affair arose, he
begged again to face the difficult situation himself. At all times under every
circumstance, one can see that Okubo always threw himself into the most
difficult situation and never once thought of shirking responsibility, and
perhaps he was distinguished among men for this one peculiar and heroic
trait.

Okubo, in those days when he served as the Minister of Interior, projected
a large number of enterprises with the idea of encouraging the industrial and
productive activities of the country. Unhappily in the 7th year of Meiji,
there was the uprising of Saga and the trouble with Taiwan and in the 8th
of Meiji, we had the Kokwa affair in Korea, and in the 9th year of Meiji,
there were the disturbances in the country of Higo and the Rebellion of
Maebara. In short, those were the days when our country knew not what
peace meant. Naturally all his efforts in encouraging industrial activities of
our country were ineffective. This failure was also due to the primitive con-
condition of the knowledge of our people.

In the Rebellion of the 10th of Meiji*, Okubo and myself went to

*The Civil War of the 10th of Meiji which has passed into history under the name of
Seinanno-et(i was the last expression of the discontented element among the Satsuma samurai
against the policy of administration of the time. In 1873, their great leader Saigo Takamori
resigned from office. It was over the Korean Expedition question. Almost since the days
of the gods Korea had always been the source of trouble. The peninsula had always
occupied the anomalous position of serving two masters. It was subjugated by Nippon and
China by turns and for some time was wont to pay tribute at both courts at one and the
same time. Since the first year of Meiji, however, our government after the restoration of
the Emperor to power, made repeated advances with the view of recognizing her as a
sovereign and independent state. As long as she remained independent, our country was
comparatively safe. In those days, the greatest enemy we feared was China. As long as
Korea continued to be a dependency of China, the one formidable antagonist of ours of
those days could have placed a large army in the Korean Peninsula before we could find out
what was happening. Our advances, however, met with nothing more kindly than the
Korean contempt. The Koreans seemed to take special delight in heaping all sorts of
indignities upon us largely through the Chinese inspiration. Then too, Taiwon Kun, the
reigning King of Korea at the time, was violently anti-foreign in his views and did not
think much of the new changes which were being made in our own country. The act of
opening our country to foreign intercourse was the one unforgiveable sin in the eyes of His
Korean Majesty.

In November of the first year of Meiji (1868) our government, through Mune, Lord
of Tsushima, tried to present an official communication announcing the restoration of power
from the Shogun to the Emperor. That was a beautiful, almost providential opportunity for
his gracious Korean Majesty to give us a piece of his royal mind. Our envoy was subjected
to all manner of indignities and our official communication treated with utmost contempt.
Koreans refused to receive it point blank and sent it back. Soejima, who was in Pekin,
sounded the Chinese on their attitude toward the Korean government. He found that China
was not in the mood of taking over the troubles of Korea, although she was perfectly willing
to receive tributes from her and claim Korea as her dependency. Here then, according to

52 THE FAR EAST

Osaka and attended to all the business of the government. After peace was
restored, we summoned the convention of the local authorities and were about
to open the first chapter in the systematic improvement of local administration.
It was just at that critical hour, unhappily, Okubo was assassinated. Of
the many great powers with which Okubo was endowed, the ability of main-
taining the most difficult situations in tact was prominent, and he lived in the
days which might be called the most critical in the life of Nippon.

The first of January of the 10th of Meiji (1877) was the day appointed
for the commemoration feast of the late Emperor Komei, [the father of the
reigning Emperor]. His Majesty was to visit Kyoto [the ancient capital
city of the Mikado until 1868]. At the same time the railroad between
Kobe and Kyoto had just been completed and it was decided to take advan-
tage of this imperial visit to Kyoto to carry out the opening ceremonies of the
railway. After the august ceremonies attendant upon the memorial service
of Emperor Komei on the 5th of February, His Majesty made his entry into
Kobe on his way back to the capital. It was there that the first news of the
Satsuma Rebellion was received. At that stage however, it was not quite
clear as to the nature and scope of the uprising. We were told that the
rebels seized the arsenal; the report showed the gravity of the situation. In
his imperial visit to the shrine of Yamato, Prince Sanjo and Kido accom-
panied His Majesty. Yamagata and myself remained at Kobe and the
rebellion developed.

During the progress of the war of the 1 0th of Meiji, Kido took ill and
died. Meanwhile communication with the Kamamoto castle was opened and
the rebels retreated in the direction of Higo. From that time on, the work
of subjugation was considerably simplified. Therefore His Majesty departed
from Kyoto and returned to Tokyo and all of us had the honor of accom-
panying him home. The Kogoshima Rebellion was completely pacified and in
the spring of the 1 1 th of Meiji, we opened the convention of the local au-

Soejima and his colleagues, was the one opportunity of solving the difficulty. Saigo was the
dominant personality in those days in all affairs. He was the leader of the Korean-
Expedition party. Saigo was more than a soldier; he had the eye of a political prophet;
and he saw that Korea was the source of all evils, political, as far as Nippon was concerned.
It was the contention of Saigo that we must have Korea if we wished for permanent peace.
He held that unless we were well entrenched in Korea, we were forever at the mercy of the
tremendous power of China when, any day, she sees fit to crush us with her countless
millions. In the light of later history it is not difficult now to read the wisdom of the
prophetic vision of Saigo. Had our country adopted the measures of Saigo and the Korean
Expedition Party it may have taxed us a good deal for a time, but certainly our country
would have saved the two great wars of recent years.

Saigo begged to shoulder the responsibility of facing the difficulty: he himself would go
to Korea. Not necessarily to fight, but if need be, he was perfectly willing to put his life
and the fate of his country into the hands of his Satsuma boys. Korea had been a
dependency of Nippon; let her acknowledge now the sovereignty of Nippon over her. Let
her make befitting apologies for her insolence and acknowledge, in due form, her dependency
on Nippon. It was at that juncture that the European Mission headed by Prince Iwakura
came home. The leading members of the European mission, especially Okubo and Kido,

THE FAR EAST 53

thorities. It was while the convention was nearing its close that Okubo was
assassinated. In this manner the great leaders passed away. I succeeded
Okubo and received the portfolio of the Minister of the Interior.

The question that arose at the time was how to meet the violent fall in our
paper currency. Opinions were divided on whether or not we should redeem
our currency by raising a foreign loan. My views did not coincide with those
of Okuma — my idea was to effect the redemption by economy and finally
we did not borrow any money because my views were adopted by His
Majesty. I think that was in die 13th year of Meiji. In the following
year, the 1 4th, there was an imperial tour through Hokkaido and the estab-
lishment of the Kaitakushi [a commission for the development of Hokkaido],
It was in this year that the imperial rescript was issued announcing the in-
auguration of the constitutional government nine years hence or in the 23rd
year of Meiji [1890]. In the 15th year of Meiji, we felt the necessity of
investigating carefully into the details of the constitutional government; the
administration therefore, entrusted me with the work of investigation. I made
a tour of study and investigation abroad, and devoted myself to a great deal
of detail study. In Germany, first of all, I took up the investigation under
the guidance of Prof. Kneist. He was one of the greatest scholars of
Germany and was then a professor in the Berlin University. His lectures
and explanations helped me much. Having shouldered upon myself boldly
the task of laying the foundation of political Nippon, I spared myself no
pains. From the German constitution, I passed into the study of that of
Great Britain. After that, I went to Austria. There I met Mr. Stein and
I studied under him almost every phase except the details of local adminis-
tration. I had Mikiji [Baron Ito Mikiji who served as our special envoy at
the Chifu Conference where the final treaty of peace between China and
Nippon was ratified concluding the China-Nippon War] take down the
lectures of Mr. Stein which he delivered to us and preserved them in a book

undoubtedly the two greatest personages of the day except Saigo, opposed the Korean
expedition measure. Their reason was that the domestic reforms of Nippon called for
immediate attention; that the country was in no condition to carry on a foreign war. They
were drunk with the splendor of European achievements which they had just seen. They
wished to graft the flower of Western culture with all the eagerness and impatience of a
new convert. They could not see how any men of ability in the Nippon of those days
could find time to discuss an expedition to Korea when they had so many things to do at
home. And the peace measure of Okubo and Kido won the day. Saigo at once resigned
his office and retired to his native clan of Satsuma. With him a large number of eminent
statesmen and soldiers of the time. After his retirement, Saigo established a private school
where he taught the youth of Satsuma. It was more than a mere school; it was the school in
the most correct and vital sense of the word; it was the factory where were manufactured
two of the rarest commodities in life: man and the ideal. Some have accused Saigo of
turning his private school into a nursery for his political ambitions. An error. He has ever
been ready and anxious to hang up his official cap, as the Chinese would say. The great
work of Restoration done, all that he asked was to devote his life in peace to his favorite
pastime, — of teaching his boys and enjoying his leisure in the company of his gun and his
dogs on his happy hunting ground. When Maebara rose in revolt, it was evident that he

/£

54 THE FAR EAST

form. It made an admirable work on the philosophical discussion of the
fundamental principles of state; but somehow I have misplaced it. In con-
nection with this, I also gathered a large quantity of material as the result of
my investigations into the foreign affairs, the financial, legal, naval, military,
educational and judicial departments of state.

One might look upon this period covering from the first to the 1 0th year
of Meiji, as the period of the restoration of imperial power. The period
from the 10th to the 22nd year of Meiji can be styled as the preparatory
period for the constitutional government. In this period immediately after the
pacification of the Satsuma Rebellion, the government opened the Convention
of the local authorities and adopted the policy of training the people in the
ways of representative government. At the same time it attempted to restore
order in every department of domestic administration. In our finance alone,
exceeding difficulty was experienced. At the time when the wealth of the
people was still undeveloped we had the misfortune of meeting a great war
and after expending so much national treasure, it was natural that we re-
quired a deal of time to recover from disastrous effects. And it was in those
difficult years that we succeeded in completing the preparation for the intro-
duction and establishment of the constitutional government.

depended much on the assistance and co-operation of Saigo. But Saigo would have none
of it. In the revolt of Saga, it was due to the great personal influences of Saigo that his
men under him kept away from the insurgents. Among the Satsuma men, however, under
Saigo, there were many who were not at all pleased with the manner in which the govern-
ment of the time treated their master. Those malcontents among Satsuma men under Saigo
were watching for the coming of an opportunity to rise against the administration. Such
opportunity came to them when the government sent down a prominent officer to Satsuma.
They accused the government of sending this officer for the sole purpose of assassinating
their beloved master, Saigo. At the critical hour Saigo was, as was his wont, afield with his
gun and dogs. The great hand of Saigo was lacking to stay the young blood of his men.
They rose at once and lost no time in attacking and occupying the arsenal. The news
reached Saigo; he hastened home. He was too late. He saw it; things had gone too far.
Without a murmur, the great and generous leader shouldered the odium and took upon
himself the fatal consequences of his young boys' faults. All that he asked of life was that
he be permitted to share in the fate of his men whom he loved. The great heart of Saigo
was not in the struggle; he saw only one result at the end of the mad cause his young men
had espoused. And he took the defeat with a smile. On the 24th of September, 1877, he,
in company with his boys, at Shiroyama, died with his own sword. And the Rebellion of
Satsuma passed into history.

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THE FAR EAST 55

AMERICAN FLEET IN NIPPON.

^J^^S HE Sunday, October 18th of the year of Grace, 1908 places
m C""\ another white stone on the pleasant path of ever growing
^L J friendship between the two great neighbors of the Pacific, —

^^^^^ America and Nippon. At ten o'clock on the Sabbath morn-
ing, the battleship fleet of the United States steamed into the
harbor of Yokohama. Men, women and children by the millions embroid-
ered the heights of Yokohama Bluff with their bravest holiday-best. It was
the magic hour — one would almost say a providential point of time— that
they saw the American Fleet make its entry into the bay, made historic half
a century ago by the visit of Commodore Perry. For this reason: He Who
reads certain type of the newspapers of the United States, (the New York
Herald and its fellow yellow-brass-band tumult makers) would suppose, and
as a matter of fact did suppose that every newspaper in Nippon was tooting
its brass horn on the nightmare of the coming war.

And at this junction of time came the American Fleet. At another time,
the outburst of enthusiasm of spontaneous good will — not from the official
representatives of the government but — straight out from the hearts of the peo-
ple of Nippon, may not have spelled much. Coming at this hour, in the
heyday of the international mischief makers (or what they themselves had
supposed to be their heyday) the Nippon hospitality which literally over-
whelmed our American friends and made them drunk with the heady wine of
almost excessive cordiality, is more eloquent than a thousand volumes — than
even the yellow shrieks of sensational sheets.

One would have said that the fashioner of destinies of the races of the
world had deliberately steered the course of the American Fleet into the
harbor of Yokohama at the very moment when the war talk is reaching its
height in America and threw die men of the American Naty into the arms of
Nippon people as the one final irrefutable answer to all the war shoutings
of mischief mongers. We confess that we are at times over religious and this
is one of die occasions.

That our American friends may read just exactly what Nippon news-
papers are saying (not the reports which are carried through some of the
American newspapers as what they are accused of saying) we take pleasure
in reproducing the following. We have not translated it from Nipponese.
Happily for us and for our readers, the following was published in English — ■
to be sure it is not a model page of English prose style but we take pride in
reproducing it with all its grammatical blunders and rhetorical shortcomings,
with all its quaint phrasings which tell better than anything else the genuineness
both of its source and its sentiment: — Editor.

t&

56

THE FAR EAST

We issue to-day, the day of arrival of the naval visitors, an illustrated
Fleet Supplement in English in celebration of the occasion and also in token
of our hearty greetings to them. The Supplement contains, among others,
official programme for the reception of the Fleet, pictures in connection v>ilh
Commodore Perry's visit to this country some fifty years ago, photographs of
the officers and ships of the Japanese reception Fleet, a map of the city of
Tokyo Vtith a detailed guide to places of interest, etc.

THE AMERICAN BATTLESHIP FLEET.

To-day there arrives in Yokohama a welcome guest from a most friendly
nation, for whose coming the Japanese people, high and low, have waited over
half a year. It was at 1 0 on the morning of the 1 6th December, last year,
in the midst of great roar of guns at Fort Monroe, that the American Fleet of
Battleships weighed anchor and left Hampton Roads for its cruise in the
Pacific. This morning at 1 0 o'clock, again in the midst of great roar of guns,
the Fleet drops anchor in the waters of Tokyo Bay, greeted with the most
enthusiastic welcome. Ten months, or more accurately, 306 days have sped
by from then till now and the distance covered by the Fleet has been 28,000
miles. We know of no other instance in which such a great fleet has .success-
fully accomplished such a great voyage. Not only that, the fact that the
Fleet without the least mishap and strictly on schedule time, not affected in
the least by the state of the weather or by changing climes, has accomplished
its unprecedented cruise with unparallelled success, proves the perfection of
organization and discipline of the American Navy and shows how highly
competent a corps of officers are the Commander of the Fleet downward and
what training and discipline is maintained among the crews. It goes without
saying that the heroes of such a wonderful feat, no matter to what country
they belong, are entitled to a most cordial welcome from our people.

But the Fleet, the heroes are those from the land of our most trusted
friends, who have come great distances to pay us a visit, and it behoves us that
we receive them with the most hearty welcome and utmost hospitality. As
with H.M. the Emperor himself, so the whole Japanese nation, Government
and people, have for months past been busy completing the preparations for
the reception of this great guest, and this is only as it should be. As to the
Jiji Shimpo, it was among the first of those who strongly hoped for the coming
of the Fleet. Indeed, as soon as it became known last year, that the Atlantic
Squadron of the United States Navy was going to pay a visit to the Pacific
Coast of America, this journal expressed the hope that the Fleet might ex-
tend its cruise to those waters so that we might be given an opportunity to
exchange friendly greetings, and this in spite of the circumstance that the
general understanding at the time was that the Fleet would confine itself to

■ —

.+ 1 *■*• « * < • m .»

• « «.;* < «■ ri JUS t. W »

THE FAR EAST 57

a cruise to San Francisco and neighborhood. The same hope it expressed
more than once afterward in its columns. Last spring the American Govern-
ment decided that the Fleet extends its voyage to the Philippines, and subse-
quently in response to the cordial invitation of the Imperial Government, the
President of the Republic, ever ready to reciprocate our friendly wishes,
ordered the Fleet to pay us a visit. Thus was secured a beginning for the
realization of this journal's earnest hope, which culminates in the present
arrival of the Fleet. This journal has therefore, the greatest of reasons to
note the present occasion with the deepest of satisfaction.

This day as the Japanese nation rises to welcome the great Fleet, it can-
not help recalling the past. It was an American fleet, which, half a century
ago, rousing us from the sleep of seclusion of 300 years, explained to us the
benefits of foreign intercourse and paved the way for the introductbn of an
isolated island Empire of the far Orient to the family of civilized nations. In
1853 Commodore Perry of the United States came to Uraga, Soshu, with a
fleet of four warships and bearing his President's letter sought to negotiate
/or the opening of this country. The following year he again came and this
time succeeded in concluding a treaty of friendly intercourse with the Shogu-
nate Government. This was the very first treaty that Japan ever exchanged
with any foreign country. Three years later in 1857 the second American
Envoy came to us in the person of Townsend Harris and through him a treaty
of commerce was signed between the two countries. Mr. Harris was sub-
sequently appointed the first Minister of the United States to Japan, and he
moved to Yedo, the name at that time of the present capital. This was again
the first treaty of commerce Japan ever concluded with a foreign nation and
Townsend Harris was the first foreign Minister to reside in the metropolis,
It was, thus, by America that the first chapter of the history of Japan's open-
ing to foreign intercourse was written. As we recall the events of those days
we cannot but be struck by the kindly, painstaking manner in which the early
American representatives to this country persuaded and initiated us into the
mysteries of foreign intercourse; their attitude was like that of a father to his
son and a teacher to his pupil. Their ways were totally unlike those of the
representatives of some other Powers who were wont to have recourse to
threats and intimidation. It is these things that have appealed to our appre-
ciation and which will be gratefully remembered by us in our remotest
posterity.

In going over President Filmore's letter which Commodore Perry brought
to Japan on his first voyage, one can see the real motives of the American
Government in sending out the mission. The letter intimates that in dispatch-
ing Commodore Perry the American Government harbours no intention other
than to tell that Japan and America should cultivate friendship and enter into

58 THE FAR EAST

trade relations. It emphatically says die Constitution and law of America
forbid interfering with the religion and politics of other nations and that Com-
modore Perry is strictly instructed not to allow any of his officers and men
to engage in any act disturbing to die peace and tranquility of Japan. In
another passage referring to the importance of international commerce, it pro-
poses that, if Japan does not wish to abandon her long established policy of
seclusion, she might still consent to an understanding for five or ten years and
if she should find the arrangement of disadvantage to herself she might at die
end of that time again close her doors. It will be seen, thus, that the Ameri-
can Government was from the first actuated by the spirit of kindness and
nothing else. Consequently the first treaty signed was far more liberal in
protecting Japan's interests, than those which were afterwards concluded with
other countries. As for Townsend Harris, it is remembered he was most
candid and sympathetic in counselling and advising our authorities, while on
the other hand he stood between our Government and die other foreign repre-
sentatives and was most painstaking in persuading the latter to exercise patience
toward our uninformed authorities. It was a time of troubles within and worries
without for Japan and had it not been for such friendly attitude as was shown
by the first American Minister, no one knows what might have befallen Japan.

Every time our thoughts return to this point we as a nation cannot help
being made intensely conscious of die boundless obligations we owe America.
In fifty odd years great changes have come over the affairs of the world,
especially over those of Japan; but the friendly relations of America and
Japan have suffered no change. Instead they have grown closer and more
cordial with the years that come and go. What Japan is to-day and why
Japan's relations with America are so felicitous all come, it may be said,
from the awakening given by Commodore Perry's fleet to Japan's long night's
sleep. Now we see 1 6 battleships of 230,000 tons in all, representing the
power and grandeur of the American Navy steam into the Bay of Tokyo
and along side our Reception Squadron, the pick and flower of the Imperial
Navy take berth in the waters of Kurihama, a place which will forever be
remembered as the anchorage of Commodore Perry's fleet and where he
negotiated for the opening of the country, and also Kanagawa, where the
first treaty of foreign intercourse was signed. The sight cannot but transport
us into the realm of revery on the past and present. We feel assured that
the visit of Admiral Sperry's fleet will have die effect of making still more
closer the friendly relations of the two countries which have been growing
closer and closer since the days of the visit of Commodore Perry and the
thought fills us with a feeling of irrepressible joy.

Practical training is, as we understand, die main object of the American
Fleet; but since its departure from its home waters the reception it has 'been

IJI SHIMPO FLEET SUPPI.

GREETINGS FROM
THREE ADMIRALS

The three Admirals, Togo, Yamarrtdto and Saito send greetings
to the Fleet, specially through the columns of this journal, as will
be found below.

Greeting from Admiral Count Togo.

■ I heartily rejoice in welcoming the visit to these shores of the magnificen
fleet of the great country whose cordial and friendly relations with us are
traditional, after a successful cruise unprecedented in the aunals of the world.
I avail myself of this opportunity to express my sincere hope that the navies
of the two nations may serve as links to further cement the ties of mutual
eeteem and affection already existing between us.

{autograph)

Admiral Count Yamamoto's Warm Welcome
to the Fleet

It fs extremely gratifying that we now have the chance to welcome the
magnificent fleet that has been sent by the United States to strengthen the
already existing close friendship between the two countries. The fine ships a^d
the brave sailors of the Fleet will call forth th,e profound admiration and
esteem of our people and -they will be received everywhere with heart and
bou1. We can not but feel deep joy when we think of the happy future which
^hould naturally follow this pleasant call.

Admiral Count G. B. Yamamoto,

•

THE FAR EAST 59

accorded in South America and Australasia has been a series of ovations and
there can be no doubt that its call has had the effect of promoting the friendly
relations of America with ev^ry country it has visited. As to the Fleet's
visit to this country it is almost entirely apart from the main object of the
cruise and forms a matter of friendly courtesy. It is, therefore, all the more
acceptacle and will undoubtedly be most conspicuously happy in its result.

The cordiality of the friendship of America and Japan is based on the
traditional and historic relations of the two countries as above stated. None-
theless it is an impressive fact that the two have between them the great Pacific
which nothing can remove, and being joined together by this excellent geogra-
phical bond they are naturally guided by similar state principles and policies
thereby leading to the sincerity of their mutual trust and reliance. The un-
surpassed channel of friendly intercourse providence has provided for the two
countries will forever remain unaltered. The peace of the Pacific and the
knot of fellowship between the East and West which is tied in this part of
the globe are to be maintained and promoted by the joining of hands between
America and Japan and we firmly believe that they will not be affected by
any local incident of a temporary nature. The meeting to-day of the navies
of the two countries in friendly embrace may well be said to be emblematic
of the embrace of the two peoples over the Pacific. Warships are, indeed
weapons of war ; but saluting and saluted, the two fleets to-day, become instru-
ments of peace. The American Fleet may be said to have come on a great
mission of bringing a message of peace. We rejoice in the thought that this
visit will add a new chapter to the history of the traditional friendship of the
two peoples. Let the welcome and hospitality we extend to this rare visitor
be the most elaborate and lavish, that we may only regret we cannot do more.
Be that as it may, our Government and people, high and low, will, neverthe-
less, do their utmost Our fear is, however, that, the visitors' stay being only
for a few days and their number unprecedented, being over 1 0,000, may find
our preparations very inadequate and the differences of language and manners
and customs may prevent us from conveying to our guests our sense of joy
and good will in all its fervour and sincerity. But it is our fervent wish that
the Commander in Chief of die Fleet and all his officers and men will accept
not so much the form of our welcome and hospitality as the spirit in which
they are extended to them.

We shall take great pleasure in presenting souvenir post cards, with our
compliments, to the officers of the Fleet and their wives.

60 THE FAR EAST

COLONIAL POLICY OF NIPPON IN ASIA.

BY BARON GOTO, MINISTER OF COMMUNICATION.

XT goes without saying that the fruit of our victorious campaign
is to place in the hands of our country the territory in which
she may work out her imperial colonial policy. In using this
expression, I do not mean the restricted portion in our neigh-
boring states in which we could plant a small colony. The
sphere in which Nippon is invited to carry out her colonial policy includes all
that section of the Asian continent which has come to us either under tha
terms of lease, or as a protectorate, or as a newly annexed territory. The
one stereotyped and iron clad policy cannot be carried out in any and every
section of these territories which have come under our influence. Neverthe-:
iless, we may be permitted to discuss the general colonial policy of our
Imperial Government, throughout the entire territory within our sphere. -

In discussing the colonial policy, one must always bear in mind that the
program must of necessity vary ; not only that but also it will be ever-changing,
because the conditions prevailing in the different sections of the country to
which the colonial policy is to be applied are constantly changing. More-
over, the expansion program of Nippon at the present time is such that it
cannot be stated with any accuracy, or even probability, as to what to-morrow
may bring forth.

To start with, it is evident that the one thing upon which the harvest of
a victorious campaign depends, is the right solution of the colonial policy.
The full discussion therefore and right solution of the colonial policy of the
Imperial government is by far the most important question that is calling for
serious consideration of the country after the war. Let us review in brief
the attitude of the public toward the colonial policy of our government.
Public indifference on this vital question is surprising. It is unexpected and
utterly bewildering. There are many financiers, many economists; they say
many things, write a good deal, and pray, what do they discuss, day in and
day out? Principally, it is the national debt, or the revenue, or the economical
conduct of the administration. Some of them go into the discussion of pro-
ductive industries, of transportation facilities and of communication. All
these are important topics. But why this singular silence on the vital question
of our colonial policy. It is all the more surprising, because among these men
who are writing on economic and industrial "topics of our country, there are
those Who are rich in experience, broad in their views. If you wish to read
the indifference of our people you need not go farther than a book-shop.
Scarcely can you find a work of any importance published by a man of ability
integrity and authority, embodying the result of careful study on this point.

THE FAR EAST J>1

There are a few books, to be sure written on the colonial policy of Nippon,
but they are mostly technical work or bear on the general aspects and princi-
ples involved. They talk whether it is right or whether it is wrong, whether
we have a right or whether we do not have a right to colonize this, that;
and the other portion of Korea and Manchuria. And even these are written
by men who are unknown and incapable. We have never heard of a village
school-master or a clerk in office who brought about the right solution of the
world's problems. I have often asked the question; why it is that this
paramount question, the right solution of which should be one of the pillars
in the construction of a Greater Nippon after the war, should thus be delegated
to such a hopeless limbo of indifference. This indifference on the colonial
policy of our country is fatal, because the indifference strikes at the root.
One would laugh at a farmer who did not take the trouble of examining
into the quality of soil, who is utterly indifferent as to the nature of the seeds
he sows, indifferent to the soil in which he sows the seeds, and who at the
same time expects a splendid harvest in the seasons to come. The Nippon
of to-day can be likened to such a farmer. Before us is an imperative duty
of paying back an enormous national debt, which the war has forced upon
our backs. Moreover, we owe a debt of duty to those men who paid, and
so generously too, the high price of their blood, in the critical hour of our
state, that she may become great in the days to come. We must reap the
greatest harvest out of this tremendous expenditure both in money and blood,
and How? is or should be the question of the day. Is it by discussing ever-
lastingly how we can cut down the expenses of State, how we could manage
what little money we have left, and always taxing our minds and attention
with the negative side of the administrative functions of State? Such policies
in my judgment, would bring forth a harvest meet for the small hearted, and
those of small courage.

If it is true that the first duty of State in these constructive years following
the war, is to make the result of the victorious campaign tell, and tell to the
utmost for the betterment and for the enlargement, not only of our national
prestige, but of national resources, I hold that the prime attention should be
paid to the discussion, and to the discovery of the right solution of the colonial
policy of our government

First of all we must plan our colonial policy on a large scale. We
expect a great deal, let us sow rightly and extensively. We must not be
cowardly, we must not be shrinking. We must command, bstead of being
enslaved by the order of things, by what the days are bringing to us. It is
necessary that we should throw into this enterprise without stint, no small
amount of capital. Wherever we find an opportunity on any section of our
territory calling for extensive investment, let us not hesitate. Wherever there

62 THE FAR EAST

are dormant resources, let us expand them. Wherever we find the fountains
of wealth, let us not stop too long in discussing how limited are our powers
in dealing with such sources of wealth. We have placed ourselves in such a
situation that we cannot go back, neither can we tail off the world procession,
which is traveling at no slow pace.

In stating my position in this manner from the outset, I am aware that I
shall not be happy enough to command the instant approval of the economists
and financiers of our country. When Formosa came under the control of
our Imperial government and became a portion of our country, we saw the
attitude of the people. It was clearly shown then what difficulties there were
in settling the colonial policy of our country. There were men in those days
who looked upon Formosa as a burden, as a great tax on the mother country,
a burden and tax which disordered her financial and economic conditions, and
in fact were a telling blow on the resources and the financial ability of the
mother country. Such misgivings have not been confined to our country
alone. The same dread that the colonies would tax the mother country be-
yond her ability, was seen in England also. At any rate, there was a certain
humber of financiers and economists who not only looked upon Formosa as a
tax upon the mother country, but who tried their best to agitate and propogate
their views among the people, and created a national skepticism on this question.
This unrest and skepticism over die ability of the mother country in conducting
the affairs of the dependency, threw endless obstacles in the path of successful
solution of the colonial policy of Nippon in Formosa. To such an extent
has the skepticism of the people prevailed, that at that time it forced the men
in office to pay their entire attention to the right solution of the Formosan
problem along only the one line, namely, — to bring about the economic and
financial independence of the colony. Instead, therefore, of looking at the
colonization problem from a larger standpoint of view, instead of throwing
into the colonial undertaking the adequate attention and capital Which were
absolutely necessary to bring about sufficiently great results from such an
undertaking, the government was compelled to devote its entire attention to the
plan of working out a financial and economic independence of the colony
with as little expenditure as possible, and as quickly as possible.

The crime of having forced such foolish and short-sighted policy toward
Formosa is entirely due to the class of financiers and economists who did
their best in alarming the public confidence in the ability of the mother
country in solving her colonial program. At present time, Formosa
has worked out her financial independence. There are people who look upon
it as a great success and triumph.

But the mere fact of having attained a financial or economic independence,
does it really spell the success of a colony? In my judgment, this view of our
administration in Formosa is not only a serious blunder, as far as Formosa in

THE FAR EAST 63

particular is concerned, but such conception of affairs, leaves a great and
fatal precedent that would affect not only our policies toward Formosa, but
toward all the other colonies and sections of the territory open to our colonial
enterprise.

In the second place, let us say, and very kindly, one thing: The sphere
in which we are today invited to carry out our colonial policy, is indeed such
that we must look upon it as an arena of international competition. The
sphere we are discussing, is one in which we are of necessity compelled to
struggle in competition with a number of other powers which are also trying
to exert their powerful influence. The section of territory under consideration
is of the nature wherein the people are not at all partial to any one country.
On the contrary, they are ready to be up in arms against any country, if
they see a sign of unfriendliness from such state. These are the territories
in which the fittest who succeeds in satisfying the people and the market, is
likely to survive. Look at Cuba, Hawaii, Philippine Islands, and look at
Korea and Manchuria; one and all they are the territories in which the inter-
national competition of more than one power, is admitted. Between them
and the mother countries which claim the dominant influences and interests
over the territories mentioned, there seems to be no end of misunderstanding,
no end of complication. Difficulties are arising from taxation of various
kinds, from different conditions that are purely local. In these territories
where such conditions prevail, the narrow and small policies of everlastingly
bringing about the financial independence of colonies is the mother of all evils
and misunderstandings. It put the people of such territories in opposition to
the mother country. The period of disorder would naturally and necessarily
be prolonged; such prolongation would mean additional expenditure, and in
the end become more expensive to the mother country than a broader policy.
Moreover, all this expenditure would be powerless to nullify the hostile senti-
ment and attitude of the natives. On the contrary, such expensive period of
delay would bring about evil results. One may suggest the application of a
legal process by which to suppress and awe the sentiments and wishes of the
natives, and thereby bring forth order. That by no means establishes how-
ever, the prestige of the mother country among the natives. It results only in
driving a simple and child-like race to taste the curious doctrine of personal
rights, while they do not understand, neither do they digest. As the result
of it all they develop a power of resistance against the authority, on the one
hand, and on the other, a quarrelsome habit among themselves of going to
court for everything. In short, such regime usually ends in creating a people
very difficult to administer. That is the reason why in the colonial experiences
of different powers, much useless expenditure has been wasted in soothing
or suppressing hostile natives of different colonies. The victims in most cases
are a simple and ignorant people who commit no crime, but suffer all the

64 THEFAREAST

evil consequences of ignorance and blunders of the colonial policies of different
powerful States. This unhappy result comes from the simple fact that the
mother countries failed to apply the right methods in the very beginning of
their different colonial enterprises, and more particularly because they failed
to see that in order to lay the foundation of happy and prosperous colonies,
the expenditure, which is comparatively large at the outset, is unavoidable.
Of course I am not one of those who look upon the expensive policy of
throwing an enormous amount of treasury into a new territory as the only
successful solution of colonial enterprises. The first essential element in the
right solution of the question is to frame the policy in perfect accord with the
demands of the colony, and proportionate to the opportunities which it offers.
To put it more practically and to the point, the first essential element upon
which depends whether the colonial policy would work in perfect harmony
with the conditions of the territory, is to find the right men for the leading
positions of a colonial administration. I doubt if, without such a man or set
of such men, any amount of capital devoted to the development of a colony
would bring forth desired results. After finding right man, it is highly im-
portant that die State should put absolute confidence in his administration and
judgment, to give him fair freedom and to support him in the measure he
proposes, and back him with appropriation, of funds without stint or narrow
limitation. So supported, die man placed at the head of a colonial admin-
istration should find no difficulty in bringing the territory over which the
nation is carrying out its colonial policies, into such friendly mood of voluntary
and enthusiastic co-operation with its mother country

As for Nippon, both the empire itself and its colonial territory are both
limited, in comparison to other powers and their colonial spheres. Moreover,
the experiences of our imperial country in matters, colonial, are quite young.
Neither would it be well for Nippon to copy in entire the policies of larger
countries and their methods, in colonial enterprises.

In the past the powers of the world did not look upon the colonial matters
as one of the most vital of the duties of State, and for that reason the colonial
policies in so many cases were miserly and near-sighted; the colonial enter-
prises, have never had the advantage of commanding a large fund, which was
essential for the reaping of a large harvest, from this source. For that
reason, I am for a broader colonial policy.

We ought to make it tune with the tendencies of world-movements in the
Far East. We ought to have at heart the future of our country and its
fortunes. In this day, which calls for the laying of the foundation of a great
future, we ought to summon all our courage. The hour is ripe for our
imperial country to lay the foundation of a great colonial policy. If not the
entire foundation, let us lay at least a foundation stone, of which we need
not blush in the days of our posterity.

THE FAR EAST 65

PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRIES OF NIPPON.

By Mr. Kume, the Second Secretary of the Bureau of the Interior, Department
of Agriculture and Commerce.

Being a free translation of a speech made by the Second Secretary recently.
MR. KUME.

INGE the olden days, agriculture has been the foundation of
our State. Its prosperity or its decline has had an immediate
and direct bearing on the development and destiny of our
country — for that reason agriculture has been studied care-
fully. New methods and improvements have, from time to
time, been tested and utilized. Agriculture is more conservative, however,
than any other branches of productive industry of our people. It has always
had a tendency of holding on to old usages with tenacity. So much so that
agriculture in our country has always given distinct signs of disregarding the
progress of things in general and falling to the rear in the march. Agriculture
has therefore called for repeated efforts on the part of national leaders to
stimulate its progressive tendencies.

Rice is the principal food product of our country. The average yield
per annum for the past five years is about 44,000,000 of k°ku (one koku is
about 5 bushels) amounting in value to about 600,000,000 yen. The con-
sumption of rice in Nippon has been steadily increasing in amount. Take the
average for the past five years; we see that our people consumed rice to the
extent of 48,000,000 koku per annum. They consume, therefore, about
4,000,000 koku more than the country produces, and 4,000,000 koku is
valued at about 50,000,000 yen. To this extent the people of Nippon are
compelled to import foreign rice, it is readily seen then that this matter
of the importation of foreign rice is an item of importance to the national
economy. True, the amount that we are compelled to import from abroad
for the present time amounts to about 1 0 per cent, of the entire yield of the
country. It may be said, as indeed has been repeatedly said by many, that
we may be able to improve our agricultural methods sufficiently in the line
of rice culture to make good the deficit of this ten per cent. It is claimed
that there are many acres of land in the empire still uncultivated. The im-
provement of such unutilized land should easily give us what we lack today,
all of which may be true but even if we could make good the deficit, i. e.
the ten per cent, of the present yield, which we are importing from abroad,
as the result of improvements in our agricultural methods and the utilizing
of unused land, that is not sufficient — it only satisfies us for the present point
of time.

66 THE FAR EAST

Raw silk is one of the principal articles of export from our country. It
occupies an honored place among the products of our country. The demand
for raw silk all over the world seems to be steadily increasing. The world's
consumption of silk is increasing at the rate of about 4,000,000 pounds per
annum. Nippon, China and Italy are the three principal countries which
produce raw silk. These three countries yield over eighty per cent, of the
entire products of the world. The amount of silk produced in our country is
being increased at the rate of about 1,700,000 lbs. per annum. At the
present rate of increase it can scarcely satisfy a perceptible portion of the
world's ever increasing demand for silk. Our government is doing its utmost
in its fight against the different forms of pest among the silk worms, in the
improvement in mulberry culture and in the study of improved methods in
sericulture. It has expended a considerable sum in the training of experts
in sericulture also.

Associations among the men engaged in different industrial activities have
proven useful in Europe and America. Such associations have a distinct and
special value for farmers. Through such an association a farmer may solve
with ease and comfort the most annoying item of their business, namely,
securing sufficient capital to run his business smoothly, and the purchase of
materials and necessary machinery, etc. Moreover such an association may
assist the farmer in disposing of his products. Acording to the latest statistical
reports (which were issued at the close of May, 1908) we have throughout
the country more than 3,800 associations of industrial men. These associa-
tions are proving their usefulness almost every day. Still we have a number
of prefectures wherein we do not see 30 organizations of this kind. It is
highly important that our farmers should realize the importance and useful-
ness of such associations and take advantage of them.

Foreign trade has developed in a marked manner. It has in truth kept
pace with the development and progress of our commercial and industrial
activities at home. Of late years, in different sections of the empire owing
to the increased activity in our productive industries, we have seen a marked
increase in the importation from abroad of raw materials. Such
importation, moreover, is showing a steady increase from year to year.
While the importation of raw materials is on a steady increase the exportation
of manufactured articles from our country is also showing a proportionate
increase. This is a matter of satisfaction. Still there is room for the improve-
ment of industrial economy of the country in that we should be able to export
manufactured articles in a greater ratio than the importation of raw materials.
This should be borne in mind always and should claim the utmost interest
and attention of our industrial circles. In order to accomplish this result I
may be permitted to make the following suggestions :

THE FAR EAST 67

First: Let the advantages offered by the Chambers of Commerce of the
different sections of the country be utilized to the utmost and let their activi-
ties tell on all the industrial and commercial enterprises and activities within
their respective spheres. The Chambers of Commerce should be of distinct
and practical assistance for the development and progress of different indus-
trial products.

Second: Let the experimental stations and commercial museums in
different sections of the country have a mutual connection among themselves
as well as with the central experimental station and commercial museums of
a province. Let the exchange and intercommunication of different experi-
mental stations and commercial museums enrich the members of such bodies
with the experiences and knowledge gained by their neighbors and thus fulfill
the true function of such stations and museums.

Third: When a great industrial enterprise is inaugurated, it affects con-
ditions, activities and market of a smaller enterprise in a similar line. There-
fore it is always wiser to bring about the union and combination of many
similar enterprises into one larger enterprise. In bringing about such union
among many small enterprises, all of them gain in the purchase of raw materials
which will be done on a larger scale. They also gain in marketing their
manufactures through one channel. Moreover they will also gain in utilizing
machinery on a larger scale and in common. Moreover such unity would
afford convenience among the working men. The laborers can also unite as
the companies which they serve, and form a co-operative organization which
will attend to the purchase of the necessaries of life on a larger and more
economical basis. It is important therefore that such an organization and
such unity be encouraged.

Fourth: The associations and unions among the people engaged in
manufacturing the more principal products of their provinces throughout the
empire are increasing steadily. There is room for a further increase, how-
ever. The rise or the decline of such associations controlling the productive
activity of the principal articles of manufacture in our country, affects not
only the domestic but the foreign trade of our country gravely. It is highly
important at this time following a great war when our country is passing
through a critical hour of extraordinary expansion in all its various activities
to pay an especial attention to the conduct of such organizations.

Preservation of forests affects national economy seriously. It also has
an important bearing on the preservation of the soil. It was on this account
that die government has taken the steps in revising its forestry laws and
regulations. The forests in our country which have suffered the greatest
degree of negligence are the government properties. It has an extensive area
of 1,600,000 cho (one cho equals about 2'/2 acres). In the management

68 THE FAR EAST

and development of this public timber land effective measures have been
taken this spring. It was embodied in a note of instruction from the Minister
of the Interior to local officers. The associations of timber men have been
organized, based on the revised forestry regulations. The associations are
composed of the owners of timber lands and for the mutual benefit of carry-
ing on their work. The benefits accruing from the organizations are not few.
Especially would this be the case where a tract of forest is used by the people
of different villages.

In all the different prefectures the work of planting trees has been steadily
increasing. It is a matter of satisfaction to see that the work of planting
trees throughout the different provinces of the empire has been steadily in-
creasing, and when this work will be extended to a large tract of timber
land Which is still in a somewhat virgin state we shall reap a gratifying result.

For the encouragement of planting camphor and other trees, the govern-
ment has provided the "Encouragement Fund" since 1 907 which is expected
to yield a satisfactory return.

Following the Russo-Nippon war our industry in different branches
passed through an expansive era. Mining, among others. In 1903, our
mineral products were valued at a little over 57,000,000 yen. It rose in
1 906 to 1 08,000,000 yen and a little over. In 1 907 the amount rose to
109,000,000 yen. Ten years ago the total mineral output of our country
was valued at about 34,000,000 yen. Within ten years, we have increased
the mineral products threefold.

The marine product occupies one of the highest positions of honor among
our products. The geographical position of our country favors us in this re-
spect. With all that, it is a matter to be regretted that the progress along this
line has fallen far below the high standard of attainments in other lines of our
productive industries. It is imperative therefore that we should examine very
carefully into the marine product experimental stations, and to the work of
training stations for the men engaged in fishery. It is also necessary to in-
troduce improved methods in our fishery and in the construction of our
fishing boats. Also, the inauguration of such protective measures for the
increase and propagation of aquatic animals and vegetables. And farther,
it is necessary to foster the industry in this line by establishing a more efficient
channel through which the capital for this branch of industry could be
secured. In short it is necessary to put our fishery on a more independent
basis. To attain this result the establishment of the associations and unions
of different fishery interests of the country may be considered as one of the
most effective.

Since we have established laws for the protection of industrial patents,
we have seen some twenty-four years. Every year of this period has marked

■^

THE FAR EAST 69

a distinct and steady advance in patent protection. The last three years
have marked a special and distinct advance in this line. In 1907, the
number of applications for patents amounted to 4,758. It shows the increase
of 1 1 00 per cent, over the showing of 1 885. The application for copy-
rights on designs numbered 1,515 in 1907, the nine-fold increase over that
of 1889 when it was first inaugurated. The application for trade marks
amounted to 5,941. It is about seven times as many as those of 1884 when
the laws regulating trade marks were inaugurated for the first time. This
almost violent increase in the number of applications for patents, trade marks
and copyrights on designs came from the appreciation of the necessity of
putting a large number of industrial activities on a thoroughly stable and well
protected basis. The necessity for such protection is keenly felt and we can
thoroughly appreciate the reason why England, America, Germany and
France are doing their utmost for the protection of industrial patents. The
protection in patents is one of the most effective ways of fostering the very
foundation of industrial activity. It is highly important that a country should
afford utmost facility in encouraging useful inventions and exploiting it in its
practical operations and affording it the widest application possible and
thereby realizing the greatest amount of profit in the development of indus-
tries.

In the winter of 1906, the governors of different prefectures received
instructions to establish special department in connection with commercial
exhibitions based on this idea. It was for this reason also that new laws
were inaugurated in connection with the Grand International Exposition that
we are to have. In recent years foreigners received a large number of patents
from our government. The increase in the number of patents granted to
foreigners is marked. In 1907 there were 659 patents granted to foreigners
out of a total number of 2,076. The foreigners therefore received nearly
one-third of the total patents granted. The total number of trade marks
registered last year was 3,328 of which 599 or almost one-fifth of the total
number were granted to foreigners. This increase in the number of foreign
patents and trade marks taken out in our country, comments pointedly on the
degree of importance which foreigners place upon our empire as a commercial
and industrial country. This also would induce the proprietors of patents
and trade marks in our country to appreciate the necessity of protecting the
rights granted them and also those granted to the foreigner and make them
realize that the violation of such rights becomes a matter of grave international
importance.

As for the protection of copyrights and patents in China and Korea,
America and Nippon have entered into a treaty understanding. Prior to the
inauguration of this treaty, the industrial patents in the two countries men-

70 THE FAR EAST

tioned were practically unprotected but hereafter we shall unquestionably see
the terms of the treaty carried out for such protective measures as are specified
m the treaty between the two contracting parties and may see new regulations
inaugurated for the mutual protective measure.

SAKUMA SUKENARI.

THE STORY OF A JAPANESE OUTLAW.

BY ADACHI KINNOSUKE.

I

Ns4^^^»/ HE godown No. 4, in the palace compound of Yamaguchi,
M C*\ was hWed with perhaps the oldest and the choicest treasures
^L I of the princely house of Matsudaira. Three officers of the

^^^i^^ palace were present at the opening of it, and when they found
it as empty as a cicada's shell, the colour of their faces changed.
They rushed into it — and filled the empty godown with their bewilderment.
There was no sign of a thief here, no hint of an ingress or egress that had
evidently been made. All the treasures were gone; how? They did not
know. Through what hole? That, they could not find. By whom?
Heaven only knew.

"Gompachi — Shiro — is that you?"
"What's that?" whispered the officers among themselves.

"Say, who is there above; is that you, Shiro?" the voice repeated.
Evidently it came from under the stone floor of the godown. The officers
did not answer. By-and-by, one of the flags which paved the floor lifted
up gently; a man's head emerged.

"Sakuma Sukenari!"

A palace Officer recognised the grey-haired man. Then, all of a sudden
he disappeared like the twinkle of a spark. All rushed to the stone and tried
to raise it; it did not yield. A moment more, and that portion of the floor
gave in. There was a fearful sound of falling bodies, and the still more
fearful screams and groans of the doomed men. The floor closed up again
over the wall. Then a sound as of the rushing of a mighty stream drowned
the complaints of the lost.

The whole clan was aroused at the news. They dug open the entire
space whereupon the godown had stood. They found an immense deep well,

THE FAR EAST 71

and it was full of water. However, after a painstaking search of many days,
they could not recover the remains of the palace officers and men.

All this happened in the early autumn, and, as I have said, in Yamaguchi
of Choshyu Clan. And Choshyu is one of the southern provinces of Nihon.

II

Sakuma Sukenari looked out from a cave not far from the foot of the
mountain, and greeted the death of the day. He was there because he knew
that many hundred armed men were out hunting him on the coast of Choshyu,
where the southern waves rippled.

AH admired him, and most of them loved him. Every one knew that he
was a robber; and every one knew that robbery was dishonourable — wrong.

"Well, I will tell them Where I am, the imbeciles!"

Then shading his eyes, he looked afar. The evening rays were going
away from the hillside, and the dust, like soft black rain, was falling upon the
Kameyama Castle Town.

"Yes, by to-morrow morning they will find out my whereabouts."

The lonely man smiled again and caressed his sword — this was the one
friend that never disappointed him.

Ill

A little past midnight.

A touch or two on the stone wall, and he was within the enclosure of
perhaps the wealthiest house of the town. There was a fortune in that feat,
and a cat might with profit have learned something from his agility. At last
he reached the principal bedchamber. He ungrooved a shoji, and under his
magic touch it would not utter a single squeak of protest. He was within
the room as gracefully as a sportive fairy.

At the head of the bed, a seed-oil, pithwick lamp was almost falling
asleep over the dreams of things and men.

Suddenly he stopped, and a smile, such as you see on a flower-enamelled
field of May, came and united the last knot of care and made an amusing
fun — a rather sad sort of fun it was, too — of that stoic indifference of his
face.

A sight — so unexpected, so bright, so unearthly, so innocent, so godlike —
met his scrutinising eyes, and the tender humour of the situation quite over-
whelmed him.

A baby smiled at him. It held out its bud-like fist, Which by-and-bye
opened into a flower full of dimples. Sakuma stuck his naked sword into
the mat. Stooping down with that gracious pose which was natural to him,
and with the sweetest smiles, he acknowleged his defeat on his knees. He
was completely, absolutely vanquished.

72 THE FAR EAST

At that time, when he was putting those ruby petals of the baby hand
between his lips, it never occurred to him that, not quite a year before this,
in the town of Wakamatsu, he had treated some thirty armed men, single-
handed, to handsome, and, according to those men who had been entertained,
miraculous sword-feats. But it was a fact. A hundred men might have
attacked him just as well, for it made no difference to Sakuma. And this
man, who could fairly dance on the sword-blades of his enemies — and what
is more, enjoy the dance — he who had convinced the select men of ten
clans by turns that he was a cloud, an apparition, a visitation of an oni, a
ghost, a ma; he whom no iron cables, no prison bars could hold, this genius
of a robber was caught. The baby was holding him with its dimpled finger.
Forgetting all — forgetting for what he had broken into the house; for-
getting that his visit was rather unexpected on the part of those two people,
the master and the mistress of the house who were sleeping there before his
eyes; forgetting that he came without any invitation; that the human eyes
were not made to sleep on forever; that the night was not going to last as long
as a year — he gathered up the child (and a mother would have loved him
just for the manner wherewith he had caught up that baby in his arms),
and sitting cross-legged, he began to play with the baby. He made faces at
it; for it he twisted his fingers into the shapes of a hundred different animals
and flowers and men. Then the baby, raising its fat arms, beat the air as
if it wanted to tell him what it had been before it came into this world, and
whence if came, and that it had not been away from its former home so long
that it had forgot all about the mode of its pre-existence — which, in truth,
seemed to be a happier one than that of the present. After winnowing the air
vigorously, and seeing itself still in the lap of Sakuma, it opened its large,
wonder-pregnant eyes. "Why, in the name of sanity, don't I rise into the
air?" they seemed to query, those eyes. Just then it was evident that the
humour of the situation struck its merry understanding.

"Aaaa — aaaa — aaaa — 'boo — oo — ah — brrrrrrrrr ! " it shouted at the top
note of its baby pipe. That jolly note from the baby throat, however, seemed
to have aroused a fiend in the sharp eyes of Sakuma. They had been so
childlike but a second ago! Now they were as forbidding as winter. He
put his finger on the lips of the baby; shot his eyes at the sleepers. They
were sound asleep yet. No danger — and his face melted again into
amiable sweetness.

But in a short while, it seemed that the baby was much pleased at the
mouse which Sakuma formed out of his fingers and which he made crawl
under the arms of the child. The baby appreciated the treatment noisily
and with a vehement enthusiasm. This time the shrill scream was so loud

THE FAR EAST 73

that Sakuma bit his lips, rose with a start, made a rush toward the sword he
had stuck in the mat. Even that, however, did not disturb the wonderfully
sinless sleepers. And when he saw himself safe again, the ridiculousness of
his situation came upon him and shook every bone in him in a silent convulsion
of laughter.

All of a sudden he stopped laughing. Sharply he turned his eyes on
the sleeping woman. The mother began singing a lullaby — sweet, plaintive,
dreamy. She was still sleeping ; but somehow the cry of the child was heard
by her, and she was singing, trying to soothe it to sleep with the melody.

Sakuma looked at the woman till he could see no more because of the
blinding tears. He still held the baby in his arms. Many things came into
his head. He, too, had a home once. Yes, his wife was with him, then.
He also had a girl baby — twenty-two years ago! His wife went ahead of
him to meet her Buddha, for as young as she was, her heart was pure enough
to see the holy lord. He lost his baby daughter in a festival crowd. And
now his hair had turned grey, and after taxing to the utmost the sagacity of
his brain — which the people declared to be either that of a demon or simply
a miracle — in search of the lost child, and after twenty-two years, he could
not find as much as a suspicion of a trace of her.

"Time was when I was the model of devoted husbands, when I was
loved by a woman lily-pure and lovely as a smile, when I was perfectly
happy!" — so he told the baby in a whisper. He confided many more secrets
to it. And the little confessor took in, without the least alarm, all the
astounding revelations of the greatest robber of the age.

Providence willed that this touching scene should not go on forever, and
on the ice-edged air was heard the first matin of a cock.

They were very quick, his movements — a little more adroit than the
nervousness of electric flashes. But the baby could not understand why
Sakuma should leave it on the mat, since it had such a jolly time on his lap.

"A — aaa — ahiiiiiii!" it cried to him.

"Sayonara!" he said, politely, to the baby. "Good-night, Innocence!"

He waved his hand at it. But at the parting he weakened. Well, he
wanted a little souvenir which would recall to him — in after-days of worry
and torment — this night which came to him as unexpectedly as a patch of
sunny sky in the dead of night.

Oh, how he would have loved to carry that baby away with him! He
faltered. He knew that dawn would whiten on him very soon, and yet if he
were to hesitate a few moments more he would be forced to spur his beloved
steed to death in order to save his life.

There stood a treasure chest on the top of the bureau. He slipped it

74 THE FAR EAST

under his arm. Bowing sweetly to the baby, as a gentleman of court bidding
a farewell to his lady-love, he took a few steps away, his eyes still reluctant
upon the child.

The baby stretched forth its hands.

"Aboo — aboo — oo!" it said, and at once falling on all fours crawled
toward Sakuma. It stopped : looked at him. Sakuma did not come toward
it, and then clouds and storm fell upon the little dimpled face.

How could he leave it? Of course he went back to it.

"Dear one," he whispered, "sayonara!" He took it up in his arms once
again. He pressed, in a long caress, its soft pink cheeks against his, weather-
beaten and callous. It felt so tender to him.

Then the mother turned in her sleep with a faint groan.

Like an apparition he was gone!

IV

There were a few gold and silver coins in the treasure chest. As was his
wont, he would dole them to the freezing and the starving. The lonely life
he led gave him the habit of soliliquising.

"Poor wretches — they must be freezing to death, this icy day."

Then he took out a mamoribukuro, and a mamoribukuro is a small em-
broidered sack worn on the girdle of a child, wherein an o-fuda, a sacred
card of a guardian deity, is kept along with the address of its parents.

Sakuma threw it out on the ground absent-mindedly. And then took it
up again with a smile.

"The baby's!" he said, brightening. "I'll keep it as a memento!" But
when his attention was struck with its old, wornout condition, he looked at it
again. Suddenly he leaped up with it; looked around as a squirrel with a
nut, and then at once opened the sack — his fingers all in a tremour, and im-
patience burning his eyes.

Yes, he was sure of it — the recognition came like a flash — he had given
this to his little daughter twenty years ago. Inside it was the sacred card
of the guardian deity of his native town — but of course there was no address.
Might he yet be mistaken? He looked at it again. No, there was that family
crest wrought with silk within a fold where none could see.

"What, what, what!"

This cynic, this misanthrope, this rider of the most perilous adventures,
he who had always been stone-calm at the very fury-vortex of events, this
man was in a flutter of excitement like a girl of fifteen at the death of her
lover !

And all this for no other reason than that old mamoribukuro. He
wanted to thank heaven — and tears were cascading his cheeks — and at the

THE FAR EAST 75

same time he was, in his heart, cursing the gods for keeping his daughter away
from him so long.

"That was she, then, that mother!"

He was as happy as if he had read his name on the golden roll in the
blessed Lotus-Land of the holy Buddhas. "And the baby my grandchild!"
It was too much — it quite melted him.

So his daughter, lost on that festival day of so long ago, was stolen by
some one. She was brought up by heaven alone knows whom, and now she
was the wife of a wealthy chomn !

At last! at last! he had seen his lost daughter. And as he sat in a
little, mountain-deep deserted shrine of Jido at the foot of Atago Mountain,
he recalled the oath he had made to the gods. It was to the effect that as
soon as he would find his lost child safe and happy he would offer his life on
an altar. And now since the gods had led him — although it was after many,
many weary years — to his life-desire and prayer, there seemed but one path
for his feet to tread. Moreover, he was feeling the weight of snow that was
on his head a little too heavy, in spite of all his brilliant wit.

He robbed the rich enormously, and giving everything to the poor, lived
himself the severe and simple life of an anchorite. The law of the land could
not for a moment tolerate any such crime, and so it sent many an army of
men after him. And, to tell the truth, those men afforded him many pleasant
diversions.

Now that his days were numbered, be should be seated peacefully in
front of the shrine, like a pious grandfather who had spent all his life in
domestic beatitude about a hearth. Thus at the close of his ripe age he would
start out on a pious pilgrimage, that he might die on his way to a sacred temple
of a holy Buddha. This, they say, is the most blessed of deaths, seeing that
such pilgrims shall find the shortest cut to the Holy Land of the Absolute
Bliss. His mind was made up. He would die in peace, and yet

Wealthy, but she was now the wife of a chonin; she had been a daughter
of a samurai Ah, if he could but see her a samurai! This last wish of his
was the greatest, and since he knew that he could never see it fulfilled in his
lifetime, this was the most pathetic of his longings as well — nevertheless, it
was not an absolute despair with him.

In fact, he knew by heart what the placards were publishing abroad at
almost every entrance of every city, town, village, or shrine, and at every
crossing of country roads.

His death — and perhaps that alone — would bring about the sole and the
greatest longing of his heart. What a happy death he was going to die after

76 THE FAR EAST

all! A smile came and made his face look kindly, as the ripples make the
deep, solemn, awful ocean playful.

"Oh, daughter!" he stretched out his arms. The passion of fatherhood
was sweeping him off his feet.

Oh, just to clasp her once in his arms — and lo tell her what he was to her;
what she was to him, just once — to be recognized by her — to claim that baby
with whom he had played the night before, as his own, as his grandchild!
He would have given three kingdoms; his life three times over for it. But

no ! That could never be. And since it could not be They say it is

harder to conquer one's self than to take a walled city. Indeed, there is no
comparison at all.

But, at any rate, he must see her — when she was awake and in the full
light of day. Life or death — he must! How? His brain, as I have
said, was very fertile.

With the shower of the earliest rays the next morning, there fell — straight
out of heaven, to all appearance — a mendicant before the gate of the wealthy
chomn.

A servant girl responded to him with a handful of rice.

"As the reward of many meritorious acts of this household," said the
pious voice, "the Buddhas are pleased to give the master of the family a
token of their approval. Tell him, at the break of day to-morrow, to hasten
to a little shrine of Jido under the pine tree at the foot of Atago Mountain,
beyond the village of Hozu."

He walked away a few steps, and then, as if he had forgot something,
he turned round and came back to the gate.

"Is there a child in the family that the humble mendicant could bless?"

"Oh, yes, august priest."

The maid brought out a baby in her arms.

"The humble one would rather bless it in its mother's arms," said the
mendicant.

After a while, when a young mother came out, the deep shading ka$a
(a mushroom-shaped hat) of the priest tilted a little.

It was a long, lingering blessing, in a voice that trembled with emotion.
It was as reluctant as a lover's farewell. It was as moving as the last song
of a bird that is dying.

The mother, very much touched and pleased with it all, added a few more
sacks of rice and coin to the contribution. But when the mendicant wiped,
very hastily, with all the nervous awkwardness of embarrassment, something
off his cheeks, the mother wondered.

The mendicant again started to depart. A few steps, and once more he
was back and addressed the mother:

THE FAR EAST 77

"To-morrow, early in the morning, before the sun, if your honourable
husband were to go to a neglected little shrine of Jido at the foot of Atago
Mountain, on the Hozu road "

"Yes, august priest, the humble one knows the shrine," the mother told
him.

"There — let him go there, and the Buddhas have prepared a reward for
him, and his heart will be made glad of that token of approval from the Lord
Buddha."

The mother, hearing the solemn voice of the holy man, wondered again
at its meaning.

VI

As the wealthy chonin turned into the shrine of Jido, at the gate of it he
read the ever-present placard:

"Whoever shall deliver into the hand of authority, Sakuma Sukenari,
an outlaw, alive or dead, renders a service to State. In recognition of the
merits thereof, for the maintenance of peace in the land, he will be raised to
the rank of samurai with the annuity of 3,000 fcoiju, and will be made a
retainer of the lord of Kameyama Clan.

"The prince will be pleased to honour him with the gift of a sword."

To this was added a minute description of the robber, more famous than
princes.

Under the sacred cedar tree, close to the entrance of the inner shrine,
there was a man bowing over his naked sword. The chonin walked up to
him; stopped short, and examined him from a distance.

"Dead!" he gasped, and jumped away.

However, curiosity compelled his second glance over his shoulder. At the
righthand side of the dead man he saw a treasure chest.

"What!"

Yes, it was his — it had been stolen a few nights before. How did it
happen that it found its way to this out-of- world shrine of Jido? Naturally
his spirit of investigation got the upper hand of him. As he reached down to
lift the chest his eyes fell upon the characters traced on the sands of the
shrine court in front of the dead man:

"I am Sakuma Sukenari, the noted robber. Examine my face!"

"So it was he who broke into my house the other night!" he said, with
satisfaction. Then he thought of the great reward offered by the lord of the
clan for the head of the outlaw.

He thought: "It was by the punishment of the Buddhas that the robber at
last was caught!" Pious meditations filled his heart, and tears his eyes. He
seized the head of the dead by its snow locks and lifted it up. It was he.
There were those scars, one over the left eye and the other across the left

78 THE FAR EAST

cheek. His massive chin and his mouth, which was an emphatic line of
firmness, bulldoggishness, power — every particular given in the placard was
there. But as the chonin lifted up the head of the robber he saw upon his
lap a mamoribukuro, made of brocade, and which was very familiar to him.
It had belonged to his wife, and she had given it to the baby. So the outlaw
was stupid enough to look for the treasure in a bag where the card of a
guardian deity is kept! He laughed to himself and speculated on the doltish-
ness of the world in general. What a joke! So they thought that this
wretch was the sharpest of human wits !

VII

At home, when he told his wife all the circumstances of the discovery, she
became very tearfully pious, and there was much praying in the household.

The stray orphan, whom the wealthy merchant married for her beauty
and personal charms, died a wife of a samurai; but she never found out who
her parents were.

UP THE FUJI.

BY HARA TARO.

PAPER II

T the close of the first chapter, my brush, (since we paint our
ideas not with pen) I fear, entered the spirit of the ascent too
freely. It outraced the orderly progress of the story of the
climb. Let us therefore recall it to the hospitable door of the
Fujiya Hotel. Upon our arrival, long before the cushions
were warm underneath us, came the all important query: — "August guests —
your preparations for the ascent?" And the writing brush that would
chronicle the heroic tale up the Fuji must possess its soul in patience — for does
not the tiger crouch before it springs? — and address itself in all grace to the
exacting labor of cataloguing a bewildering array of men and things who and
which enter into the making of a successful ascent of the noblest of Far East-
ern heights.

First and foremost then, the goriki. He is at once the guide and often
the staff of your life. When you see him at the inn at Gotemba you do not
think much of him. My telltale face must have betrayed my estimate of
the simple man of muscle. For the whisper of Forty-Seven Years said in
my ears: "Never, nrind, wait — you will change your mind about him. Up

THE FUJI FROM THE INLET OF UKISHIMA.

'

THE FAR EAST 79

the god-haunted blue, in the blinding, choking, soul-searching limb-tearing
snow storms, this simple fellow would improve immensely in your estimation —
mark what I say to you."

Second. The long pole capped with metal which the people call the
diamond staff — the kongo-zue of immemorial pilgrims.

Third. The huge mushroom helmet called suge-gasa.

Fourth. The rice cakes of strength famous as chikaramochi.

Fifth. The portable luncheons packed doubtless by the builders of the
modern apartment houses or by Nature through her ancient method of petrifi-
cation.

Sixth. The cold-fighting garments, thick-padded quilts putting up the
brave bluff at being a garment.

"August guest will you deign honor the goriki " asked the boy.

"Yes."

"Will you have the staff — "

"Yes, yes."

"Rice cakes of strength?" "Yes, Oh, yes!" "Portable luncheons?"

"Yes, yes, yes, everything. In the name of Heavens everything you can
think of."

When we think of it, it is a splendid name, the gorily — Titantic Strength
or Tower of Strength would be a faint English equivalent of it. About it,
is the perfume of an old time romance. Since however, civilization smote
us, high and low, with the common-school curiosity we will not let romance
alone, the bitterness of uncalled for disillusionment has so often been the diet
of our enlightenment. I have been punished particularly cruelly. Our goriki
proved to be, on examination, nothing more romantic than a common black-
smith. In summer months, he takes a pious fit — largely through the persua-
sive argument of a larger gift of Mammon — and our saintly friend climbs the
immaculate height of Fuji, and abandons the lowly beatings on anvil. Cheap
curiosity urged me to take the peep at the freight towering high on the back
of our goriki There were four quilted garments called dotera, four lunch-
eons, twenty pairs of straw sandals, and for the breakfast of the morrow, the
rice-cakes-of-strength. M. Alphonse Daudet was the photographer in let-
ters. Who talks of his creating his immortal Tartaran on the Alps? Why
all that he did was to catch our friend the goriki with all his marvelous outfit
and put him in his paper prison. But why should I be talking of our goriki?
Behold us in all the splendor of our mushroom helmets, diamond staves in
hand, screened in with straw overcoats, straw sandled, important with the
counterfeit piety of the pilgrim. A splendid procession of scare-crows !

Past Ichigome, we were closing upon the second gome. Stars had faded.
Suddenly, as at a magic signal, all of us came to a halt. Above us into the

80 THE FAR EAST

dream-soft sky swept the noble lines of the Fuji the Peerless; and out of the
eastern sea, without a herald, without salute, without saying boo, neither in
haste nor too slowly, rose the sun. The earth blushed, turned into purple,
crimson, ashen grey. We had talked much; now we could not say a word.
We wished to say something; felt too foolish to say it. Meanwhile our
hearts filled with wonder and thrilled with piety.

"Your forefathers" spoke the Wisdom of Forty-Seven, and somehow we
heard a ring of the oracle in his voice, "Your forefathers were wont to climb
the hills at the break of day. Look! It was at a sight like that, that they
struck the earth with their brows! Do you wonder at it? Wonder is that
we today don't do the same. We of today are frivolous and foolish; our
fathers were simple, wiser than we and were full of noble thoughts; that is
the difference."

And we saw his eyes fill with tears of rising emotion. We passed the
rest cave of Nigo-goshaku ; our pass joined die much older pass of Suyama-
guchi at Third gome. A little beyond — and there came down to us a
singular sound; it rose and fell in rythm unutterably soft; it was the human
voice, the feminine voice; aye, there were many voices — wonderful! "O-
yama Tea seiten" and "Mojiki chojo," they chanted. Soon we overtook the
authors of rythmic voices; more wonderful far than the soft voices was the
sight. It seemed that the dear ladies of one of the girl's schools in Toyko
(very young and modern is the school) who in all truth had long since risen
to the height of any man, now wished to rise level with the highest
height of the Empire. Hence the heroic ascent of the gentle company. That
you might appreciate to the full, die depth of meaning of this accent of our
fellow climbers, permit me to quote here verbatim the words of our goriki
spoken, I beg you to believe, with tearful and awful seriousness: "Ah,
august guests, woe, woe are we, we are undone, undone." Peels of laughter
from the younger members of the "august guests."

"Divine spirit of the Tree-flower-blossoming Goddess! How angry it
will be. Indeed to what are we coming anyway, women on the sacred Fuji!
Laugh, august presences, laugh! We shall have such a storm of both wind
and of hail, of snow and of rain. And it will be through special mercy of
the gods, if we ever be allowed to see the soil of our birth. What are these
ladies thinking of. I know, yes, yes I know, we are living in a new age;
but the gods are there all the same; you will see; you will see." And
ominous indeed was the shaking of his head.

Another peal of laughter. Piety is a good thing but in case of our
friend the goriki, it murdered the sense of humor. It was a great pity. Poor
fellow! he missed it all. Huge bamboo-scale helmets and the straw hats of
the year-before-last-New-York fashion, breaking the monotony of the mush-

THE FAR EAST 81

room shades here and there. And some of these angels were feathered with
straw wings! Nothing short of the American expression "perfectly killing"
would give the slightest idea of our ladies' get-up. And our good guide
could see nothing funny in that masterpiece of unconscious humor almost as
delicious as the "Russian advance" of a certain young American senator,
garnishing the historic path of Fuji of a midsummer's day! And the young
ladies shouted one to the other the same "Mojiki chojoi" (soon the top) over
and over again in their dear efforts of keeping up the courage. And after
all what a splendid prophecy of future motherhood for Nippon, these school
girls told in their odd costumes as they toiled up the Fuji! If not any the
healthier or fonder of out-of-doors than their mothers, they certainly told the'
story of a much higher altitude of freedom they had climbed — the height
never known, not even dreamed of by their mothers.

Now, I have not told you this but I might as well confess it: Gotemba
Way is the coward's way. It is the easiest to climb. Even so, by the time
you make your way up to the Second gome, you breathe much quicker than
you thought you would ; you would no longer despise the sight of the accom-
modating bench; you even begin to thank the thoughtfulness of some enter-
prising people in dotting the ascent up the Fuji with tea houses. You at once
find it convenient to forget all the anathemas with which you, in your Tokyo
school dormitory, withered the insolent commercial defamation of the sacred
Fuji. And always the splendor of the Fuji towers above you — no tree, no
rock, nothing shuts out the awe-inspiring vision. I have said that Gotemba
Way or Naka'hata Entrance is the coward's road. It is not always kindly,
to the coward all the same. Unlike other passes, the very fact of the ever
persisting presence of a peak before you, the monotony of grandeur, tells on
you. That perhaps is the reason why there are more people who suffer from
mountain sickness — quite as disagreeable as seasickness — up the Gotemba
pass. These things doubtless must have been in the minds of our father who
said, "You are wrong my boy. Laughing at the girls? They are doing
wonderfully well ; the youngest seems to be not more than fifteen."

"But Master," protested the goriki, "In the old days no women dared to
pollute the sacred mountain with their presence. They were modest. Women
are not meant to climb heights, much less such sacred heights as this, made
awful with the presence of the gods!"

"Do you know my good man whose divine presence makes this noble
mountain sacred?"

"Ei, master, it is the deity of the Sengen whose shrines are everywhere all
over the Fuji. We shall see the main temple at the top of the peak, Master.
Ei, it was in the 7th year of the Period of Teikwan (865 A. D.) in the

;

82 THE FAR EAST

august reign of Emperor Seiwa that the deity was invited to dwell in die
shrine of Sengen, etc.

"Since you are learned, tell us" said the Wisdom of Forty-Seven, "who
is the deity of the Sengen shrine?" "It is Konohanasakuya-hime-no-mikoto
— " "That sounds to me like the name of a goddess" interrupted Forty-
Seven. We laughed, hut silent was our guide.

"I suppose then that after all the ladies have better right to grace the
sacred height of Fuji than the homelier sex."

Shigome: I came to a halt. The rest-cave looked so inviting. "Al-
ready?" This from Forty-Seven Years. "I am cold" I said, not knowing
what else to say. And indeed as I paused, I shivered. In the early hour
of this summer day we had plunged into the spray-pool of the waterfall, but
we had all forgot it. We had been streaming with perspiration a few
moments ago. All that also we had completely forgot. I felt as if I had
plunged into the artic sea from off the midsummer island.

Here at the improvised restaurant, we were treated to the famous pickeled
fruit called hamanashi, called also koketnomo. They grow on stunted
bushes scarce a foot tall and which carpet the height. In the ancient days —
so runs the time honored legend — there lived a sage in China called Jofuku.
He sailed out upon the eastern seas in quest of an island where men never
die, in search of the death-vanquishing herb. When he saw the Fuji he
hailed it as his long sought Eldorado. On his way up the Fuji, he met a
stranger who gave him the ruby-like berries, the hamanashi. The sage never
returned home to China. He stayed; hair of snow, but face of a child, he
never grew old. At last he was translated and today is eternal as the peak
of Fuji. The hamanashi bush is one of those stunted growths which we can
see almost in any mountain at certain altitude. The good people of Fuji
will not believe you, however, if you were to tell them this. Beautiful is their
faith. Firmly, they believe in spite of all modern books of botany that the
ruby berries are only to be found along the slopes of Fuji. Most piously do
they believe every word of the legend, the translated, child-faced sage and
all. Happy people!

Fifth gome — A little beyond that at the point called Gogo-goshaku-me,
midway between fifth and die sixth, there is a cave. "Amida and Rakwan"
with which pious exclamation our goriki came to a sudden halt. The jaws
of all of us dropped, I confess without shame, and our eyes as well as our
mouths were wider open than were becoming. Before us, was a company
of strangers, strangers from over many a far sea. And both men and women.
The scene would have been heartrending almost gruesame. But nature is a
master dramatist. The unutterable drollery of their costumes and general
makeup were wonderful to behold. Instead of shoeing their feet with straw

THE FAR EAST 83

sandals, they shod their leather shoes with them. The ladies were cloaked
with straw over-garments. Perhaps they were on their way to join the
ancient sage of China, Jofuku and his winged company who are eternal
with Fuji; otherwise these straw wings were not very pleasing lady-like orna-
ments. Wonderful as was the sight of the strange company, much more
marvelous than the sight, was the effect which it produced upon our goriki
The silence which had continued unbroken since the remark from our father
about the ladies of the girls' school, fairly exploded: "We are undone,
danna, we are undone! There will be a terrific storm before this day be
done, such as we have never seen, such as we shall never see again!" muttered
our guide, "The desecrating presence of men of strange land never has failed
to anger the deity of Sengen. But master, there are women, women among
them!" Three explosions of heretical hilarity from us. "Good morning"
came the pleasant greeting from one of the strangers, and in Nipponese. He
told us that he has never failed to climb the Fuji every summer. On this
occasion he was accompanied by his guests from New York. American
ladies were not used to mountain climbing, hence the trouble.

"How beautiful they are, the ladies of America" reflected the oracle
of Forty-Seven- Years as we climbed on, "America must be the land of the
fair as well as of the free" "But the August Sengen-sama is not pleased
with them. We will have the storm. "You will see, you will see" repeated
our goriki.

Our path lost its sandy and gravelly complexion. It became rocky and
grim of aspect. "The snow!" One of our party exclaimed. And sure
enough, hidden in the crevices of rocks, smeared with ashen dust was the
snow. And we borrowed the quilted over-garments from the back of our
guide. We were now above the Sixth gome.

84 THE FAR EAST

FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR DIPLOMATIC POLICY TOWARD
CHINA.

BY COUNT OKUMA.

The following interview was given on the 1 2th day of October,
1 908, to a representative of the Taiyo of Tokyo.

Count Okuma is by far the greatest personality of Nippon, out-
side of the official circles, and there are many who look to him as the
strongest and ablest man of any living statesmen of the Empire.
Count Okuma has been out of office since his resignation as Premier
in 1 898. Ever since he has retained his commanding position — this
simple fact is eloquent as it is apparent to every one who is versed
in the conditions of Nippon. The expressions of the Count in the
following are much freer and very much more sincere than any ex-
pressions from an official of the Imperial Government could possibly
be. There are no fetters which enslave such expressions on the part
of the Count. Moreover the following expression is of especial value
because it voices the sentiment of a large number of thinkers and
political students of the Far East of which the Count is the distin-
guished leader.

XT seems that the Chinese question is attracting an ever growing
attention of the rest of the world. America is not alone in
her studious altitude toward the Chinese question. England
which has had her dealings with China for well nigh seventy
years past, has not neglected China. She has a greater, more
extended and vital interest in China than any other foreign power. It is
naural that her enthusiastic interest in China outshines that of the rest of the
world. As is well known the first power which entered China in the more
modern days, was England. The Opium "War and the famous Canton
Affair passed into history some seventy years ago. It was then as you know
that Hongkong was ceded to Great Britain by China as the result of the war.
Since then about one-half of the entire trade of China has fallen into the
hands of England. The remaining half has been shared among such coun-
tries as America, Germany, Nippon and so on.

The aggressive activity of Germany of late in China has done much in
fostering and developing her trade rapidly. Germany has occupied Kiauchau
Bay; in her hand she holds the Shantung Railway. German capital is
flowing into die interior of China in a no modest measure. Naturally Ger-
man investigation of Chinese affairs has been assuming greater and greater

THE FAR EAST 85

proportions every day. France is in Tonking; she is not 'blind to the swift
drama in China proper. In this manner, all the leading powers of the world
have come to take active part in the investigation and study of China, the
country and the people. That China has commanded so much international
attention comments well on the greatness of that country.

While Europe and America are thus studiously investigating and studying
China on the one hand, it is somewhat surprising that, on the other hand, her
close neighbor, Nippon, has been exceedingly slow and idle in her investiga-
tion and study of China. We have seen fifteen centuries since the culture of
China took us by the hand and led us out of darkness. Since then we intro-
duced bodily into our country, the court ceremonies, customs, die institutions
of China. We adopted the Chinese institutions and culture in just about the
same wholesale manner as today we are taking the institutions and civilization
of Europe, — to such an extent indeed that we ended in becoming a country
of similar culture. Down to the days of the new regime, the education of
the Nippon race was largely based on the four books and five suttas of Con-
fucius. Our educational system was very similar to that of China. We are
the closest neighbor of China; moreover from the standpoint of the race,
there is a great similarity also. From the commercial standpoint, especially
of late, Nippon has been doing a great deal of business with China. Our trade
with China ranks only next to that of Great Britain. However great may
be the efforts Germany put forth, or however strong may be the aggressive
measures of America, we are fairly confident that they could hardly rank
above us in the command of Chinese trade. And we do not hesitate to believe
that in the future, Nippon shall continue to hold her position which today
is second only to that of Great Britain. We believe also that she will hold
her position against all comers. In spite of all these facts it cannot be denied
that the people of Nippon are exceedingly idle in their study and investigation
of China and the Chinese affairs. True, the number of men who are study-
ing China is increasing every year. We have seen the growth of such organi-
zations as To-a Dobunkai and Nisshin Kyokai and other associations of
similar nature. In the Imperial University, the students of ethnology, of
geology, of architecture and economic sciences have also gone into painstaking
study of the people and country of China. Still if we compare the efforts of
our students in this line to the work done on the part of European scholars,
it must be confessed that our enthusiasm for the study of China is cool indeed.

There is another very striking defect in connection with our knowledge of
China. China has not entered as yet into the full community of the powers
of the world. The powers of Europe and America exercise in China and
over China what is called the exterritorial jurisdiction. In spite of this, these
powers interpret the exterritoriality in the most generous manner. In their

86 THE FAR EAST

personal associations with the Chinese, Europeans and Americans are com-
paratively intimate. On the contrary we, the people of Nippon, treat the
Chinese with something akin to contempt. We treat them with very much
greater measure of disrespect than do either the European or die American.
Now and then I have heard of incidents in connection with our relations with
Ohina that to me had more than a hint of unnecessary rigor, of an appearance
of the stronger abusing the weaker, and now and then we have also heard
of an affair or two which made us doubt whether we were always generous
toward our Chinese neighbors. Take, for example, the Tatsu-maru affair and
the boycott which followed it. Doubtless the Chinese were in the wrong.
Still one may be pardoned to question whether the diplomacy of Nippon
were either the most skillful or the wisest. We have received more than
one criticism from both our European and American friends on our diplomatic
attitude in this unfortunate affair which, as a matter of fact, did excite hostility
among the men of South China. We are forced to the conclusion that perhaps
there was a mistake ; not only that but perhaps the blunder was committed not
only once but repeatedly. Of course there is no necessity here to recount, in
detail, these unfortunate cases. Men of the world have guessed at the truth in all
these matters but when one pauses long enough to ask the reason why such
incidents should occur at all, we shall discover that while the rest of the world
is placing so much weight on the investigation and study of China and things
Chinese, we of Nippon have so little comparatively of the true knowledge of
China. It is the same old case of the darkness under a lighthouse. We
have been reading the books of China for the past fifteen hundred years, so
we naturally say unto ourselves that we know a great deal about China, and
it is true we do know a great deal of the China of the ancient days. As for
the China of the present day die condition of her government, of her commerce,
her sentimental attitude, these we have not studied and we are reaping the
sad fruits of our ignorance.

We have heard much of the reforms in China. Still it is a far cry to
the day when China launches herself fully on the highway of progress and
succeeds in making the world tremble at the very mention of her name. As
she stands today, there is nothing to fear from China as far as might is con-
cerned. This idea I believe is ever present in the minds of the Nippon people.
Time was when the countries used to carry out diplomatic measures through
force and through force brought about international amity, promoted com-
merce and so forth; but that time has passed. Moreover the position occupied
by China is such that it is no longer possible for one country to dictate
to her through force pure and simple. As for Nippon her attitude toward
China is well defined through the Anglo- Japanese Alliance. Through this
alliance, it is not possible for us to act independently toward China every time

THE FAR EAST 87

difficulty arises. We must at once consult the wishes of England. More-
over, we have entered into an agreement with France. There is the Russo-
Nippon Commercial Treaty also. As far as the open door policy in China
is concerned our country received an open letter from America while the
late Mr. McKinley was President, and in answer to the circular letter of
America we expressed our hearty co-operation. From this, it is very apparent
that it is impossible for us or for any other one power, to decide the destiny
of China at its own pleasure. On this one point of respecting the integrity of
China and encouraging her in her efforts of civilizing herself and thus share
in the commercial advantages accruing from the Chinese market with the rest
of the powers there, is only one policy that is practicable. It may be true
that there be a country or two which may entertain certain ambition secretly
in the future disposition of China but no powers of the world however great,
at present dare to carry out such a scheme openly. In short, it is impossible
for any one power to set at naught the policy enunciated in the Anglo-
Japanese Treaty. From this it is clear that he who dreams of dominating
China through force alone, is suffering from a serious blunder of judgment.
Indeed there is no necessity of intimidating China through a show of force,
since through the Anglo-Japanese Treaty and through approval of all the
powers which have vested interests in China such as America, Germany,
France and Russia, we may at any time bring about sufficiently effective
measures whenever we find that one single power is trying to carry out its own
selfish program in China for its exclusive advantage, commercial, political or
otherwise, to the exclusion of the rest of the powers interested.

While China is not to be aroused suddenly and to the full, it is quite
evident that China is awakening rapidly. She is straining her efforts to bring
about effective reforms. She is extending (her new educational system
through the Empire. She has already sent Nippon several thousand students.
She is sending great numbers of students both to Europe and America. Al-
ready the edict promising the constitutional government has been promulgated.
Of late, she has sent her eminent ministers to Nippon and Europe for the
investigation of constitutional states of the world. Just as the outside world
takes great interest in the future of China, so the future China is to have a
large influence on the affairs of the outside world. She is in short claiming a
very serious international attention today. It is therefore high time for us
both as a government and as a people to adopt a new attitude toward China,
to change our old conceptions a little toward her and promise ourselves that
we shall not repeat our blunders of the past. To the utmost we should adopt
the policy of friendship toward China. Since China is now seriously pro-
gressing in all her diverse reforms, it should be our determination at all times
to assist her in this good work. Such attitude toward China will be produc-

THE FAR EAST

tive of much benefit. The Chinese boycott against us seems to have now spent
itself. Still the fact remains that we have done great violence to the
friendly sentiments of the southern Chinese toward us. The hostility of the
Chinese in Hongkong, Canton and other cities abroad is not to be easily moli-
fied. The loss that we have suffered every day through the Chinese hostility
has been very great. There are those who do not place serious emphasis on
commercial matters, and on commercial relations, still it is idle to deny the
fact, that the international relations are founded upon economic relations.
Without a stable economic base the international relations become exceedingly
weak.

From a political standpoint the powers of the world have a well defined
understanding as far as China is concerned. In all their economic activities
they are to act on the principle of equal opportunities. China is therefore a
race course open and free for all. In this sphere of free competition, there
is no country in the world which commands as much advantages as Nippon.
Our customs and our view points are more or less similar to ihose of China.
Speaking from a geographical standpoint of view, we are closest to China
on point of distance. It is to be hoped that our people should adopt the policy
of entire co-operation with China. Unfortunately there have been too many
cases of irresponsible adventurers of our country who have succeeded in
joining Chinese merchants and inflicted loss upon them. We have heard
of other incidents where our people have insulted the Chinese or treated them
with insolence on the slightest provocation. Even though in many cases the
Chinese are at fault, I do not see why our people should not treat them with a
special mark of generosity. When there is a difference between a man and
a child it is expected that the grown-up should make all allowances for a child
and even if a child be in the wrong a man should treat him with a sufficient
measure of generosity and forebearance, and because we are not always
generous to our Chinese neighbor, the attitude of the Chinese toward Nippon
is not always most friendly. At the time of the Boxer trouble, we have
seen a striking tendency on the part of the Chinese to show his enthusiastic
friendship toward Nippon. Since the Russo-Nippon war the Chinese should
show a greater measure of friendliness toward us but the fact is quite to the
contrary. Instead of increasing his friendliness toward us, he seems to have
turned to the European and the American. We of Nippon have not been
pleased by this hostile attitude of the Chinese. Perhaps the Chinese are in
the wrong; in fact they are decidedly in the wrong, still there is room for
questioning whether the attitude of the Nippon people toward China in the
days following the Russo-Nippon war were altogether correct. Were there
not a tendency of treating the Chinese with a more or less contempt? If our
people and our country were to deal with die Chinese in the spirit of frankness

THE FAR EAST 89

and friendship and a great measure of generosity and Whenever China commit-
ted a blunder had we gone to them and said, "Now we shall not say any-
thing about this for this time but such attitude on your part is highly detri-
mental not only to our own interests but to your own as well," and had we with
patience pointed out where they erred, we certainly would have reaped a much
more kindly fruit however obstinate and ignorant the Chinese might be. The
Chinese are not, as a race, the most obstinate or the most insolent to those
who do them good. As a proof of this statement, let us recall the incident
of the Boxer trouble. When in 1900 we occupied Pekin, the soldiers of
Nippon above all the soldiers of other powers, did most to protect the Chinese
and their interests. Now prior to the Boxer trouble, we had not enjoyed
among diem the best of reputations. The Chinese remembered well the war
they had had with us. They remembered more especially the enormous
indemnity which they had paid to us at the close of the Chinese War. In
spite of their exceedingly unfavorable opinions of us prior to the Boxer trou-
ble, as soon as they saw with what care and with what sincere friendliness
we tried to protect the Chinese interests in the time of trouble, they were not
slow in abandoning their hostile attitude of old and began at once to place
a surprising measure of confidence and trust in Nippon. As the result, the
Chinese entrusted the education of her army, the training of her police and
other educational work into the hands of Nippon instructors. They began
to say they should carry out the reforms in their own country after the man-
ner and pattern of Nippon. This confidence of the Chinese should have
inspired among our people a large measure of friendship toward China. In
the early days of foreign intercourse, Nippon herself had many a bitter ex-
perience and many trying humiliation. We should have said to ourselves
that since we suffered in the early days of foreign intercourse and now our
neighbor China is passing through similar experiences, we should do everything
in our power to assist her in the trying ordeal of the days of the beginning of
things. We should have dealt with the Chinese with all sympathy of a fellow
sufferer. Instead of that and a short period later when once we succeeded
in defeating Russia, we somehow were unfortunate enough to give the Chinese
an impression that we became swollen with pride. This did great injury to
the friendliness of the Chinese toward us. The Chinese began at once to
entertain suspicion toward our people and were not slow to say that the
people of Nippon are crafty. They are full of tricky designs and what we
took to be their friendship in the past, was really not true friendship but was
a means to an end. I believe that the misunderstanding under which our
Chinese friends suffer today comes largely from just such conception of the
people of Nippon. I sincerely believe that this is merely a misunderstanding
on the part of the Chinese. There is no question in my mind that no such

90 THE FAR EAST

idea as to assume an insolent attitude toward the Chinese exist on the part of
our people. Our actions Which were taken to he Iblack and full of guile by
our Chinese friends, were really quite unintentional on the part of our people.
They were of those unfortunate incident which happen without any evil intent,
but, in the disorderly days which follow every war in every country. It was
purely temporary in nature. There was nothing studied or 'backed by evil
intent in all our actions which the Chinese interpreted to be exceedingly hostile
to them. In those war days when people were more or less excited Chinese
committed a blunder or two and I believe it is very likely that our people
exaggerated die gravity of the offence committed by them. There is no
special efforts on the part of the Nippon people to despise the Chinese or to
take advantage of their national weakness. Both high and low, our people
believe in the Chinese spirit of making every effort for advancement and pro-
gress. We believe that the China of today is but half developed and we
sincerely hope that she will realize the fruits of civilization to the full. What-
ever friction we have experienced with the Chinese has been largely the out-
come of temporary misuderstanding or collision but in the excitable days
following the war one thing is so apt to lead into another and since we our-
selves are well aware that we are far from being free from blunders ourselves,
I hope most sincerely that we shall treat the Chinese with utmost friendliness
and make the Chinese thoroughly understand our sincere good wishes toward
them.

THE FAR EAST 91

AMERICAN NIPPON UNDERSTANDING.

On Monday, the 30th of November, 1 908, the following note of agree-
ment were exchanged between Baron Takahira Kogoro, Ambassador of
Nippon at Washington and Mr. Elihu Root, Secretary of State.

The note from Baron Takahira contained the identical articles of agree-
ment with the following preamble:

And the dream of the triple alliance of America, England and Nippon
has, at last, been realized.

Department of State,

Washington, Nov. 30, 1908.

Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note setting forth
the result of the exchange of views between us in our recent interviews defining the under-
standing of the two Governments in regard to their policy in the region of the Pacific Ocean.

It is a pleasure to inform you I that this expression of mutual understanding is welcome
to the Government of the United States as appropriate to the happy relations of the two
countries and as the occasion for a concise mutual affirmation of that accordant policy
respecting the Far East which the two Governments have so frequently declared in the past.

I am happy to be able to conform to your Excellency on behalf of the United States
the declaration of the two Governments embodied in the following words:

1. It is the wish of the two Governments to encourage the free and peaceful develop-
ment of their commerce on the Pacific Ocean.

2. The policy of both Governments, uninfluenced by any aggressive tendencies, is
directed to the maintenance of the existing status quo in the region above mentioned and to
the defence of the principle of equal opportunity for commerce and industry in Ghina.

3. They are accordingly firmly resolved reciprocally to respect the territorial
possessions belonging to each other in said region.

4. They are also determined to preserve the common interests of all Powers in
China by supporting by all pacific means at their disposal the independence and integrity
of China and the principle of equal opportunity for commerce and industry of all nations
in that empire.

5. Should any event occur threatening the status quo as above described or the
principle of equal opportunity as above defined it remains for the two Governments to
communicate with each other in order to arrive at an understanding as to what measures
they may consider it useful to take.

Accept, Excellency, the renewed assurance of my highest consideration.

Elihu Root.

His Excellency Baron Kogoro Takahira, Japanese Ambassador.

Imperial Japanese Embassy,

Washington, Nov. 30, 1908.

Sir: The exchange of views between us which has taken place at the several inter-
views which I have recently had the honor of holding with you has shown that Japan and
the United States, holding important outlying insular possessions in the region of the Pacific
Ocean, the Governments of the two countries are animated by a common aim, policy and
intention in that region.

Believing that a frank avowal of that aim, policy and intention would not only tend
to strengthen the relations of friendship and good neighborhood which have immemorially
existed between Japan and the United States but would materially contribute to the preser-
vation of the general peace, the Imperial Government have authorized me to present to you
an outline of their understanding of that common aim, policy and understanding.

92 THE FAR EAST

THE NEW EAST IN THE MAKING.

BY ASADA MASUO.
CHINA AND HER NAVY.

X

T is reported that China has opened a negotiation with the
British Government for the return of Weihaiwei. As
our readers may recall, at the time Russia occupied Port
Arthur, Great Britian succeeded in securing Weihaiwei
which is the naval base facing Port Arthur across the mouth of
the Gulf of Pechili. It is one of the important naval stations in China. The
negotiation opened with the British Government for the return of Weihai-
wei is significant at the present time. China is now trying seriously to re-
organize her navy. The central government at Pekin decided to entrust the
management of the navy into the hands of the Ministry of War but in order
to facilitate the work of reorganization of the navy, the Pekin government
appointed the viceroys of Chihli, of the Liangkiang and of Manchuria to
assist the president of the Board of War in this important work of the
rebuilding of her new navy. <|At present the Chinese Navy is negligble — <
it has a few light cruisers and a few new gun boats but after the Chinese
War of 1894-5, the Chinese Navy has been practically non-existent.

THE FUTURE OF THE IRON WORKS IN NIPPON.

ffThe Imperial Iron Works in particular and the iron industry in Nippon
in general, commanded a lengthly editorial in the issue for 23rd, October,
1908 of the Tokyo Asahi. The future of the iron works in Nippon
seems exceedingly black. In the first days of the establishment of the
Imperial Iron Works, our people thought, — light heartedly enough — that
five million yen was a sufficient amount to lay its foundation. In that
picturesque kaleidoscope of murdered hopes, called government enter-
prises, the most serious disappointment perhaps, has been the Imperial
Iron Works. Instead of five million yen, it has already taken thirty
millions in the ten years of its existence, and the whole story has not yet
been told. In sooth, even financial prophets — none too famous for their
conversatism — seem to hesitate to say just how much more money will be
needed to establish it firmly. A few years ago the government felt the
necessity of appointing a commission to examine into the conditions and
workings of the Imperial Iron Works. It was composed of both private
business men and governmental officers. In the judgment of the com-

THE FAR EAST 93

mission, the Imperial Iron Works should have worked to the point of
paying its own bills in the year, 1907. The actual fact has turned out
to be very far from it. In the year 1 907, it showed the loss of 1 ,800,000
yen and it is expected that in the fiscal year of 1 908, the loss will not be
less than 1,400,000 yen. That is merely in the operating expenditure
of it. In addition to this, the initial expenditure for the establishment of
the iron works itself has been showing greater and greater deficit every
year. For the fiscal year of 1907, 5,900,000 yen was devoted to
make good (he deficit, and it is estimated that not less than 3,000,000
yen will be applied in this fiscal year of 1 908 for this one purpose. CflThe
contention of the apologist for this unsatisfactory condition of the Imperial
Iron Works, is in the tremendous rise in the price of coal. The sudden
rise of coal since the war is a fact. That this high price of coal would
have a tremendous effect upon the iron works goes without saying. Since
last year, however, the price of coal fell from twenty to thirty per cent,
but fall in the price of iron manufactures has been nearly 50 per cent,
causing another disappointment Which threatens to be much more disastrous
than the high price of coal.

NEW PURITANISM IN THE NEW EAST.

^[Puritanism is seeing its apotheosis in the Nippon of today. The key-
note of the Imperial rescript of the 13th of October 1908 is: "Above
all, excel in frugality." In his speech before die governors of different
prefectures, Premier Marquis Katsura, at 10 o'clock in the morning of
the 14th of October, 1908 said: "The foundation of the development
of national destiny is to destroy the tendency and customs of frivolity
and mere show; it is a matter that should engage our most serious at-
tention in this hour of national ascendency." On the same day, the
Minister of the Interior addressing the convention of local governors and
discussing the fundamental element in the work of upbuilding the state
and its interest, urged them "to shave down useless expenditure, to tighten
the leakage of public funds and raise the warning against the sad tendency
for luxury on the part of the people; encourage vigorous application of
the principles of economy and sobriety and, at the same time, foster by
every energetic effort productive enterprises among the people etc. The
above may come as a brand new bit of news to the American readers of
the thousand and one entertaining articles on the Japanese menace which
are appearing almost every day through American newspapers. It would
be a happy day for us, if our good friends in America, would on a fine
morning, awake and discover one great and monumental fact — that a

94 THE FAR EAST

certain type of American newspapers is one titantic fairyland of illegiti-
mate extravagances in news — especially in foreign news.

ESTABLISHMENT OF NIPPON LEAD PENCIL MANUFACTURING CO.

<IOn the streets of Nippon, you hear this common saying — "The particles
of dust, if only they would heap high enough, will make a mountain,"
and very few people who pay out a few cents for a lead pencil have any
idea that the empire of Nippon every year expends 1,000,000 yen for
the foreign-made pencils. From the huge executive offices of the Nippon
Yusen Kaisha and die different governmental departments down to the
smallest school room in a mountain village, all the pencils that one sees in
Nippon seem to bear the imprint of a foreign manufacturer. It is a
strange and anomalous sight in these days of vigorous awakening of in-
dustrial Nippon. The stock company lately organized at the capitaliza-
tion of 800,000 yen (25% of which is to be paid in at the start)
is perhaps the most pointed comment on the attitude of Nippon manu-
facturers in this particular industry.

tflGermany, America and France largely cover our demand for lead pencils.
The increase in the importation of lead pencils has been dramatic, almost
sensational. Sixteen years ago the total importation of lead pencils from
abroad into Nippon was valued at 50,000 yen. It rose to 130,000 yen
in 1 908 and last year it reached 920,000 yen. In short, within fifteen
years it has increased 2,000 per cent. Some six years ago, Mr. Fujita
Toichiro did the honor of paying a studious attention to that insignificant
article of commerce not more than five inches in length. While his fellow
capitalists were hot in their chase of securing interests in cotton factories,
spinning factories, sugar refineries, flour mills, etc., he established a private
factory which has grown with the increasing demand every year. The
present Nippon Lead Pencil Manufacturing Company will purchase the
entire factory of Mr. Fujita at the price of 95,000 yen, and follow out
their campaign of manufacture and marketing on the lines which have been
laid down by Mr. Fujita himself.

ON KOREAN RAILWAYS.

<JIn a recent interview with a representative of Tokyo Nichi-Nichi Mr.
Oya chief of the Railway Administration Bureau of Korea, is reported
to have said: — "The increase of revenues of railways under the admin-
istration of the Residency-General in Korea has been satisfactory. Up
to last year, it showed the annual increase of 50% over the preceding
year. Things have been different this year. We have all felt the

THE FAR EAST 95

effect of the financial and economic inactivity and no doubt the unfav-
orable conditions will tell on its revenue. Still the wise would refrain
from prophesying — prophecy is always risky and especially is it so in
connection with the railway revenue in Korea before the transportation of
grains has been completed. Last year both the revenue and expenditure
averaged about 16 yen to a mile. In this year it is expected that 20
yen would be nearer the average and the estimate for the coming year,
places it at a litttle higher than that amount. <][The Seoul- Wiji line is
now being constructed. The work will be completed, according to the
present calculation, within about two to three years. Independently, this
line as well as most of the Korean lines are of a comparatively small
importance. The reconstruction of roads perhaps should be placed on
point of importance before the railway construction. Of a minor im-
portance when taken by itself, it tells an entirely different story when it
forms part of a great transcontinental system. On the day when the
Antung and Fengtien provinces will have been developed, this Korean
line will make its connection with the Antung-Mukden line forming the
highway through Korea into Manchuria and that in turn will make its
connection with the Trans-Siberian line. The influence of such an inter-
national highway will be enormous upon the future of a country. ^Be-
tween European centers of trade and the principal ports in central and
southern Nippon, this Korean-Mukden line should afford the shortest
transportation line. Compared to the Vladivostok or Tairen lines, this
Korean line will cut off when completed many hundreds of miles of dis-
tance. Within a short while, therefore, both rapid passenger and the
freight traffic between Nippon and Europe will be forced to pass through
this Korean line. Therefore, the true significance of the Korean railway
is in its international aspect and it is clear that in the future we should get
greater transportation facility on the Seoul- Wiji line than on the Seoul-
Fusan line. ^fThe reconstruction of the Antung-Mukden line and the
completion of the work upon it will open a new era for the Korean line.
Upon the completion of the Antung-Mukden line depends, the life and
death of the Korean line. At the present time, we are trying to negotiate
with the South Manchurian railway with the idea of facilitating the
transportation of small baggage in connection with the passenger traffic
so that we could afford the travelers, through service to Mukden. ^[We
have been told that there is to be established a new line between Tairen
and Ninsen, chiefly for the purpose of utilizing the cheap Fushun coal
in Korea. This, however, is nothing more than a rumor. It is true that
we are anxious to arouse the interest of foreigners in Korean affairs,

96 THEFAREAST

especially those foreign visitors in Nippon, and we also wish to have our
men who are employed on the Korean railways, become accustomed to
the details in the proper treatment of foreign guests who may pass through
Korea on the day of its through connection with the Manchurian System.
To this end, we desire to establish a special express between Fusan and
Ninsen connecting it with Tairen with an especially equipped and speedy
passenger boat. We have talked this matter over some time ago with the
tourist agencies such as Thomas Cook, etc., and our negotiations are still
pending. <][The fever for railway construction seems to have seized
a number of Koreans in certain districts. At the present time the
agitation for the establishment of Korean line — a branch to the Seoul-
Fusan Line — seems to be at its height. The territory through which this
branch line will pass is exceedingly fertile and rich in agricultural products.
It is a question, however, whether this branch line could independently
•maintain itself from a financial standpoint. Still it must be admitted that
the establishment of a branch line of this type is highly profitable to the
main line — the Seoul-Fusan.

THE PASSING OF FIELD MARSHAL MARQUIS NOZU.

CJWith the death of Field Marshal Marquis Nozu, Nippon has lost
one of die few surviving soldiers of the older school. To the splendid
company of Oyama, Kuroki, Nogi, and Oku belonged the late Field
Marshal. He was a Satsuma samurai born in the historic City of Kagos-
hima, reared and fostered on the heroic ideal, Which the great personality
of Saigo inspired in the youth of the Satsuma Clan. The late Marshal
took an active part in the war of Restoration; made a splendid record
through the civil war of 1877 when he with Oyama and Kuroki were
forced to take the field against their former chief, the idol of their as-
pirations— Saigo Takamori. His achievements through the Chinese and
Russian wars are still fresh in the memories ^rif us all. We pray most
devoutly that his spirit-presence may wield a large and potent influence in
the making of the Nippon soldier to be for it is a sad day indeed when
our men of arms may forget the Satsuma ideal for a soldier of which
the late Field Marshal was a shining incarnation.

THE LATE FIELD-MARSHAL, MARQUIS NOZU.

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tj 13

Just Published

In Korea with Marquis Ito

BY

George Trumbull ladd, LL. D.

Illustrated. $2.50 net. Post paid, $2.70

THE CONTENTS
Rulers and People
Resources and Finance
Education and the Public Justice
Foreigners and Foreign Relations
Wrongs: Real and Fancied
Missions and Missionaries
July, 1907, and After
The Solution of the Problem
The Invitation
First Glimpses of Korea
Life in Seoul
The Visit to Pyeng-Yang
Chemulpo and other Places
The Departure

Personal Reminiscences and Impressions
The Problem : Historical
The Compact

Marquis Jto.

Undoubtedly the most important work on Korea and Japan, as far as their present relations are
concerned, that has been brought out. Professor Ladd had, through his relations with Marquis lto,
very exceptional facilities for personal observation in Korea, and unprecedented opportunities for
obtaining inside information and accurate knowledge as to the past and present conduct of Japan
and her present intentions. Much hitherto unpublished
material was placed in his hands enabling him to estab-
lish beyond reasonable doubt the truth about certain
matters which he discusses in his book. The book is
partly the account of personal experience described in
a readable and interesting way, and in part a serious first
hand discussion of a weighty political problem, and it is
consequently of interest both to those who want merely
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study the problem seriously. No one can, in the future,
write history of these events or discuss them with author-
ity, without making himself familiar with the views and
conclusions of Prof, Ladd in this book.

"Written with great care. It is one of the most in-
forming books on the East that has yet been published.
—Philadelphia Inquirer.

'It cannot fail to be of interest"

The ex-King and present King of Ko

-Louisville Courier-Journal.

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

EDITORIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

©

EGINNING with the Febuary issue we shall carry in our
magazine a series of articles (the number of which can-
not be definitely stated at the present time) on a com-
prehensive presentation of the Empire of Nippon its
geographical position, natural resources both of land and sea, its
transportation facilities, its arts both fine and applied, its history, the
everyday life of its people, the characteristics of the race, its literature,
its varied institutions both past and those still in existence, and its
aspirations. And this series may take courage even to cast a glance
or two into the realm of the prophet. If only, therefore the ambition,
of the writer be realized, it will be the first comprehensive presentation
in English of Nippon and its people by one bom to the soil. The
data upon which the work has been compiled are of the most
recent procurable.

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