JAPANESE NAVY SCANDALS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2135, 29 April 1914, Page 7

JAPANESE NAVY SCANDALS

NEW CABINET PLEDGED TO REFORM

SENSATIONAL 'WASHING' DAY IN PROSPECT By TelcCTaph—Pros3 Association—Copyright Toklo, April 27. Tile new Cabinet is pledged to thcj eradication of naval corruption, and tlie washing of dirty linen is therefore probable. Three of the directors of the Mitsui Bussan Kaisha, agents of Vickers, Limited, are charged with bribing ViceAdmiral Matsiumqto with £-10,000, through a retired vice-admiral, Matsuo, in connection with the contract for building the cruiser Kongo. Tho agents' commission amounted to £115,000.

Mail advices from Japan show that the bribery scandals aro arousing inteiuo interest " there amonjj all sections of the community. The fact that bribery permeated the groat spending departments liaa beon well known,'but :t has always been very difficult to obtain c-riclenco. An influential newspaper in Tnkio, named the "Kokumin,". recently published a remarkable statement on the question of the corruption in the navy, by a retired fleet paymaster, who brought forward serious allegations affecting armament firms in general. His remarks have been widely quoted in Japan, and have formed the subject of more than one interpellation in the Diet. Tho statement made by Fleet Paymaster Aatagiri, as quoted in the "Kokumin/ may be summarised as follows:— "The acceptance of commissions by naval officers is not new; it dates from the war between China and Japan. Sincpi then, whonever ftn order has been placed with a foreign firm- for warships or supplies, commissions havo been taken, until they nro now regarded as legitimate -payments. The fact that many leading naval officers have acquired huge fortunes is proof of this. I could give names if necessary, but refrain at present, partly for the sake of their honour and nartly' because my namo still appears on the reserve list. When a certain officer was deputed to make the necessary purohases to establish the naval arsenal at Kure, he accepted commissions from foreign merchants, who saw nothing wrong in thus giving nn officer money. It is for this reason that the Kure arsenal is known as the 'haunted house' of the navy. The most indiscriminate buying was indulged in, and although I protested when I went thero and discovered what was going on, the authorities stood by these officers: The corruption over the building of ships is- much worse, and allowances for commissions aro included in the estimates of public expenditure. Warshins cost from .£BO to per ton to build, but the estimated cost is always put at about £Wf) - Tl,us on a 7-, °l 30,000 tons an estimated expenditure ot £3 000,000 is allowed, whereas at an actual cost of about .fie. , ! par ton the amount should only bo J!2,550,000. Assuming that the commission on. such, a shipi is o per cent., this means that some is appropriated, nnd that this amount is .unnecessarily added. to , tho burdens of the people."