THE JAPANESE CRISIS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 33, 8 February 1913, Page 4

THE JAPANESE CRISIS

Jlapan, which less than half a centuvy ago was still groaning under the fetters of a rigid feudal system, and failed for years after that to secure recognition as a civilised Power, has within the last ten years made good her position, not merely as the foremost of Asiatic nations, but as one of the leading Powers of the world. To the people of Australasia the sudden rise of Japan, her great ambition, and the urgent demand of her rapidly-growing population for territorial expansion should bo v umtUu: yf tiie very, gitvveat concern.

In a territory not much larger than that of New Zealand, .Japan has already a population of more than 60,000,000, and it is increasing at the rate of about 700,000 a year. For relief from the congestion which has long sihee become a very serious evil, Japanese statesmen have looked in turn to Formosa, to Korea, and to Southern Manchuria, but the results have been disappointing. Under the American flag Hawaii has become so much likfi a Japanese colony that it would probably become one without help from outside in the event of a war between the two countries. Kew Caledonia has been gradually filling up ih a similar way. How long will it be before the much more inviting and utterly defenceless' Northern Territory of 'the Commonwealth invites the same kind of attention? And after it becomes a Japanese province how long can the policy of a White New Zealand he maintained? Japan has battleships in the Pacific ; Great Britain has 'none. By virtue of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, 'Australasia is able to maintain its anti-Japanese policy for the present. How long is this singular paradox to continue? Just as long as it is consistent with the policy of Japan to endure it. The only thing that can put the protection of Australasia from Oriental immigration within its own power is the building of a Pacific fleet on a scale adequate to the interests that are at stake. At any moment we may all receive a rude awakening from our com* placent dream of a White Australasia Uhless this is done. Yet our people and their leaders still slumber.' Our latest news/from Japan suggests that her rapid transformation from Orient tal feudalism to Western civilisation and her naval and military glories have not been accomplished without a. heavy cost. Japan is to-day the most heavily taxed of all the great iiations, and is faced with the inevitable conflict between military ideals and financial necessities. The devotion of the average Japanese to the throne and the State and the low standard of his personal requirements are without parallel among the great nations of th« modern world; but there is a limit to all things. Public opinion outside the Army is strong enough in its insistence that the scale of military expenditure fehan at any T&te not b« increased, and' early in December th« result of the conflict that had been aim* mering for some yearfc resulted in the downfall of the Saionji Cabinet. The Minister of War had, demanded the r,rea« tion of two Army divisions in Korea. True to their policy 6f retrenchment, his colleagues rejected the demand, with the result that the Minister resigned. But unfortunately for the Premier and for the country the Constitution requires that the Minister of War -shall b© &, soldier of the active list, and ao clear* cut was the division between civil and military opinion on. the subject that no officer could bo found to accept the Vacant portfolio. The Cabinet accordingly resigned, and after the possibility of forming a new Cabinet with a military head had' been considered and rejected, Prince Kataura was sent for. He had been Premier during the war' with Russia, and again from July, 1908, till August, 1911, when he resigned in fay* our of Marquis Saionji, and his return to power wa& considered to indicate a policy of compromise. Strong in the confidence of the military party, but also keenly alive to tho justice of the demand for economy, Prince Kateura was expected to escape a deadlock by taking a middle coureo. His solution of the problem which had caused the downfall of the previous Ministry was to postpone the enlargement of the naval and the military programmes till a Defence Commission had considered the matter— a device which has a genuine Occidental flavour, But, though the new Premier was able to cc* cure a military Minister of War on these terms, the Vice-Admiral who was to have taken the portfolio of the Navy struck at the last moment, and the Satsuma Party, which, is said to control the Navy, threatened to strike too. All this occurred shortly before Christmas. Since then, as yesterday's message from Tokio shows, Prince Kateura has completed his Cabinet, presented a Budget, and been greeted by the Opposition in tho Diet much as the Constitutional Party in England have 011 two or three occasions treated Mr. Asquith. That tho Prince* opponents also claim the title of Constitutionalists ie a reasonable inference from the fact that the burden of their complaint against him was that he is "unfit to hold n constitutional Premiership." The Prince, however, ceerns .to have been better prepared for the emergency than was the British Premier, for he was able, amid the uproar, to produce an Imperial edict adjourning the- Diet. An angry crowd outside assaulted certain eeceders to the Pmmier'e party, and attempted to throw tnem into the canal. It is not often that the domestic politics of Japan attract attention in this country, but the development of the present struggle between economic and military forces is a striking exception to the rule.