NEWS BY MAIL.

Hokitika Guardian, 11 September 1926, Page 4

NEWS BY MAIL.

THE POLITE JAPANESE. KARACHI, July 8. Navab Masood 'Jung Bahadur, Director of Public Instruction in the Hyderabad State, recently visited Japan to study the educational system of that country. One of the first things that lie noticed on bis arrival in Jajjan was the remarkable homogeneity ot the people, physical as well as cultural. Kor a foreigner it is almost impossible to locate the social position of the persons with whom lie comes into contact. Politeness, refinement of gesture, and neatness in dress, which in some countries tend to become the monopoly of the so-called higher classes, are general in Japan. The Navab said Japan copied what was most useful to her from such .countries as France, England, America and Germany. The Japanese had nothing to learn of art and philosophy from the West.-, The inner life of the Japanese nation continued its course uninfluenced by other countries. This fact became most apparent when one entered a Japanese house, for unless the master of tlie house was a man whose duties made it necessary for him'to entertain foreigners frequently, one would not see even a single chair or sofa in any room, but would be given instead a silken cushion to sit upon. The creation of large factories on European and American models and the organisation of capital and labour which it entailed, were making their, effects felt in the industrial districts of Japan. The Japanese working men were becoming dissatisfied with their lot as the workers of Europe. The Xawab believed that the great patriotism of the people and the national tradition of loyalty to the employer would continue to act as healthy checks. GERMANS IN BELGIUM. i BRUSSELS, July 0. For the first time since the war Germans have come in force to Belgium for their holidays, and their stupidity and arrogance are leading them into trouble. At Rlunkenbcrgihe, on the coast, where 8,000 Germans are said to he staying, incidents occur daily between them and Belgians, who have not yet forgotten the days of the occupation. Refusal to respect the’Belgian national anthem, quarrels, in restaurants over the payment of the luxury tax, and the non-observance of the ordinary courtesies have led to fights in which. Germans have invariably fared badly. Nor is this display of their hale confined to Belgians. One of them, seated on a. cafe terrace near an Englishman, bought an English newspaper. Threw it on the ground, and wiped his foot on if. He is not likely to repeat the act in public, for the Englishman flung decorum to the winds and gave “ Kultur ” a severe trouncing. Many Germans have secured jobs as waiters in the restaurants, as in prewar days. One was recognised by a Belgian who had suffered at his hands during the “ dark days ” and was promptly baptised will' a how] of soup.