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Hokitika Guardian, 23 November 1921, Page 2

Mil Oi.kason’s chapters on Manchuria and Korea are by no means unfavourable to .Tnpnn. True, be declares that

there lias been too much of the jack hoot and barrack-bully in the admini- 1 st ration, and there is evidence that : Japanese officials connive at the debauchery of the indigenous population by morphine and other drugs. Rut he has investigated many eases of Japanese "atrocities’* which have shocked tin* world, ami timl* most oi tlidii to be either unsubstantiated or grossly exaggerated. The Japanese administration is severe, oto occasion, as in 191(1. needlessly severe, hut it is not systematically cruel. Moreover, it has materially contributed tw the well-be-ing of tile country. The indigenous population is increasing rapidly: the people enjoy a prosperity they have , never known beiore; tlm natural resources are being developed to the benefit of all concerned. Japan may claim that this should he set down on ( the credit side of the ledger. Witli regard to Japan herself, Mr Gleason does,not deny that there are chauvinistic. classes. Societies such as that, of the Black Eagle are centres of inflammatory propaganda. The general staff iis jingoistic in tone. To Air Glen- ( soli’s mind the chief danger lies in the independence of the stnfl ; it is responsible to the Emperor alone, and is not subject to the control of the Diet. ! > there is a growing conviction in Japan that the powers of the staff should'be curbed; and then' is a strong political movement which aims at the subordination of the staff to the Diet. Mr Gleason would not be surprised if before long it gains its object. He thinks that among the Japanese as a \vhole there is no desire for war, and he quotes, as having some significance, the results of a recent questionnaire sent to to the girls’ colleges in Japan. The young ladies were invited to indicate their preferences in the matter of husbands. Seventy per cefct hoped to marry business men, 15 per cent, chose miscellaneous occupations, but practically nobody wished to bestow her heart and band upon a salilier 1