The Army Problem in Japan.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1008, 24 December 1910, Page 12

The Army Problem in Japan.

The Old Grit Going-.

No inconsiderable anxiety has recently been expressed in Japanese army circles over the undoubted distaste for military life shown by tho young men of the present generation '(wrote the Tokio correspondent of the New York

"Post" on September 14), and tho attitude is said to be particularly marked siuco the close of the war with Russia. Tho youiig man of modern Japan is being accused of aversion to the strenuous life involved 111 the discipline of tho army, and is said to lack generally tlio energy and grit of the preceding generation. It is alleged by high officers of tho Japanese Araiy. that there is everywhere on the part or' young men a tendency to escape conscription, if possible; whereas, in former' times, both .individuals and families felt keenly the disgraco of having been overlooked iii compiling the conscription lists. And even tlioso who aro called, out by conscription reveal ageneral inaptitude .for tho'military profession that was quite absent from, the recruits of. previous years. When the yoiing man of to-day enters the army he is alleged to evince an over-anxiety to obtain tho positions of least risk; he desires to belong to the Engineering Corps or tho transportation service, rather than bo liable to a place in tho fighting line. Even young officers are accused of a disposition to remain in non-commission. Major-General Sato, in a recent , utterance, dwells rather depreciatingly 011 these conditions, . and regards them as, an issue that must bo seriously faced. ; . Recently a private named lida was arrested for entertaining and circulating, socialistic tenets in the army. During an official search thero was discovered, in tho shape of letters and. other documents, abundant ..evidence of the soldier's .connection and sympathy-with the body of . Socialists now., slowly, and in spite of rigorous suppression, , forming in Japan. lida. had apparently, been in secret communication with the leader of tho socialistic gang that had its headquarters in tho old samurai stronghold of Kumamoto. lida is only one of a ■ number of defections that might be noticed in tho; army of late. Soldiers who havo comn under tho influence ,of Japanese Socialism do not hesitate,. even while on duty, to incite their comrades to incendiary and other illegal, not to. say disloyal, actions. Not long ago a Japanese army officer "was arrested in Osaka for dealing.. in secret documents ;of tho State, arid when his ;house jvas searched, there was found a box under the. floor containing a. number of these. papers. It would be ■ a gravo , mistake,' however, to conclude that theso' more serious; defections in Japanese army life are at all, significant of tho general trend of life in the military life of tho nation. '

The distaste of the young Japanese for tho army is still more pronounced if wo ■refer .to some evidences of it not usually alluded to by army officers. In certain of the higher institutions of learning for. example,'the number of students enrolled on the registers is' much larger than' the number of those in regular or even actual attendance, the natural inference being that, many have enrolled simply to escape. ..conscription. . It is, ..moreover, only a few weeks since tho mother of a conscript, near Kyoto committed suicide on the scdro that tho enforced,enlistment of her only soil and support cut off her solo source of. livelihood, and she held it better to 'die'by her-own hand than tp beg,', or' die by starvation;..:' • „ .Tho, causQ-.or.tlus new.tcndoftcj' in Jap. anse .'civilisation is, I am convinced; other 'than that to which it . is attributed by ;the officials attempting to account for it. A prominent general of the Japanese army expresses the conviction! that tho unwholesome: tendency ho deprecates is to bo. attributed to the unsamurai-like •upbringing of the modern young man. "When we'.weie boys wo had only' about three hours' sleep every night," ho says, and goes on to lay stress 011 the opinion that samurai discipline had a high moral influence on. loyalty and life generally that modern methods of recreation and gymnastics do not cultivate. Living, as ■ 1 am, • among thousands' of young men from day to day, and mixing freely with them in every phase of converse; I feel that not only aro the causes different from those ascribed, but that the tendency is one toward a higher civilisation than tlio old. It surely cannot be regarded a retrograde tendency if the young mail of modern Japan is found laying 'morn stress" 011- the-importune*: of commercial and industrial progress than, on that of military occupation. The yon'rtg men of present day.Japan hato war except as an essential of national preservation, and the recent bloody struggle ,v,ith Russia has confirmed the already growing conviction that war is a curse'. . Hence ■ tho Japanese youth greatly dislikes the -idea of spending what ho regards as idle years iii barracks • after ho has worked hard to educate, and fit himself for an honourable • and useful profession in life. ' ■ The universal willingness for war so conspicuous in the conflict with-Russia cannot be taken as representing the general attitude of tho Japaneso' citizen. That war. was regarded as a life and death struggle, demanding tho service of the entire nation, and the required service was freely given, the whole country being up. in'arms, so to speak. This, however, does not mean that the average young man of Japan is ready to while away his life in barracks. He- is as ready to-day to. take his place-at the front as ho was when, the rupture occurred with Russia; ' but, lie: expects t?;at to bo an emergency in his life, not (he leading aspect of it. -Tho main desiio of the young Japanese of to-day is ' to bo a citizen rather than a military, man, a citizen soldier-if'yoiv like, desiring-.to spend his days in peaceful preparation, not for war, but for the development of his country.