OUR EASTERN ALLY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVIII, Issue 81918, 5 March 1907, Page 4

OUR EASTERN ALLY.

THE SLIM LITTLE JAl' AND HIS MORALITY. Mr. H. R. Bloomiield returned to Auckland last week from a trip of several month's duration, .-pent in visiting places of interest along the Chinese seaboard, the islands of that corner of ithe Pacific, and ".lie Empiro of tile Mikado, Mr Bloomiield and his wife—for he was accompanied by Mrs P.loomfieid—spending some little time of their tour in Dai Nippon. In the course of a conversation with a Star reporter concerning life visit to this-last-named country, Mr Bloumfield Made itr clear that he is not in love with our sallow-skinned allies. "As f.ir as Europeans are concerned," he "they seem to be an excellent nation of thieves and spies. They will steal any mortal thing they can lay hands on, and have no more sense of moral obligation in the matter of nieum

and tuum than if it never existed. Of | course it must not be forgotten, 1 suppose, that as teachers qf ethics the whites with whom they have largely come in contact, liave not been hgh exponents —a little worse for the most part than tho Jap himself, in fact, But however that may be, they are absolutely insincere to the European —the Britisher, perhaps, to a very small extent, excepted—and that fact

should make us equally distrustful ot them, as, there is no doubt, they arc of us, and 'treat t-lieiu as an extremely dangerous quantity. Tliey are suffering from swelled-head, of that then can be no doubt whatever, and thcii

msoienee to all Europeans, except Britishers, up in their own quarters is s.mply intolerable. The coolies brush white men and women from the footpaths, and in their pleasant smiling way, if you turn on tliein, will apologise—and do it again. The only remedy is to do likewise. "But that, obviously, is not always possible, so ithe best thing is, in my opinion, to give the Jap and his country a wide berth." When Mr Bloomiield was up Hongkong way excitement was running very high in anticipation of war between JapaH and America. "1 quite expected to hear upon reaching Australia that hostilities had commenced/ ne remarked. "And notwithstanding the immensely over-rated estimation at. which the little yellow man has been taken since his lucky termination of tho war with Russia, it was generally recognised that America would have no chance against Japan's fleet in her own waters. There were four big new battleships of the Virginia ciass at HongKong when I was there, and a large HotiUa of torpedo-boat destroyers and other craft in Manila Harbour, but the •Japs are cautious, and if war did ensue they would have reckoned all the oddbeforehand, and Manila and other American ports would probably have dropped into their possession at pretty quick rate. It would be just the same at the present time if Germany

went to war with them, in spite of the anxiety of the Germans to have a slap at the Mikado's men. "But. as you can guess, tlwt wakes tiiem none the easier to get "n with, for they have begot such a vast conlidence in themselves that tla-y fee I quite able to lick creation. 'We beat Russia. the most powerful nation in the world,' they say, 'and we couid therefore beat Amer.ca or England, or any other nation." "How are they financially';'' "Why you have only to go into the country to see that it is bankrupt. The peasants are groaning under taxation, and in many places are almost in open revolt. The Government is trying al manner of means to raise the wind. Nationalising the tramways, railway*, and several industries of the country is one method they have. At one place I visited the populace rose up and endeavoured to wreck the tramcars and other property belonging to the State. The inland peasants know

very little about the aggrandising policy "of the Mikado's advisors. a;ixl cart less for it. It is iu the interior, by ttu way, that you see the people at tlieii best—kindlv, courteous and compara-

tively, trustworthy, a different man a] together is the inland Jap to his brr ther on the coast, demoralised by li half-digested ideas about Western n< tions and innovations. The Westeri ised Jap is really a veneered savagi and just as treacherous to the venee: er vou could find..

They have absolutely no scruple

about accepting foreign charity. All this talk about the failure of the rice crops is absolute rot). The rice crops ■were never better, but they will take money at any price anil by any-means. If they see an easy way of getting it 'so much the better for the Jap. according to his views." "Ttie excitability of the Japanese

is wonderful," said Mr Uloomlield. in discussing this side of their character. "Take a football match that took place between two Japanese Universities while I. was there. We are pretty strenuous at football ourselves, but we are not a circumstance to these Japs when they get along with their blood up. After this particular match of which 1 am speaking, the combatants —for that is what it comes to—who had fought like little demons on the iicid, were to have a meeting in the evening, but the authorities forbade it, as it was considered a foregone conclusion that they would be a" eaeb others throats before tile night was out, and prolwhly a iew of theai killed. if you get their blood up, they fight like Dervishes. But in the ordinary way Monsieur le Jap is a very small potato in the matter oif courage unless backed by numbers." "The cleanliness of this interesting nation is," says Mr Bloomficfd, "about us bankrupt as his credit. The nation recks with disease, which is not to be wondered at when everyone in a house or hotel, whether he be a 11licted with skin or other complaint, or sound aud healthy, bathes in the same crater. Their national cleanliness is, in fact, a myth, and they themselves admit it who have become We-tcrn-Lsed sufficiently to recognise -the value of hygiene." "Their astonishing cleverness at imitating and improving upon au original pattern is, however, as remarkable their di-like to part the secret oi those improvements to outsider-. li is well known that- the British Government handed tliein the pians of the Dreadnought, and tli.it in the Katsiimn they evolved an improvement on the original. Yet when Britain asked in tier turn to disclose to us those improvements —'Oh. no! Those belong to tho Mikado!' And that is just it. They live only for the .Mikado, and they consider no subterfuge too base in order that his work may be accomplished and Japan's power increased." Mr Bloomtield was loud in praise of tho courtesy and general accommodation to be met with on the .V.D.b. boats in the East. "The Siii'iakan upon which i travelled from Hongkong to Sydney," he said, "was one of 'the most comfortable ami be.-t euis.ned boats I have been oil. They are superior to the English boats. And the ollieers are individually some of the (ileasantest men one could wish to meet Their system of training, however, should. I rather imagine, unfit them -omewkat for a life of hardship, say. in the event of a rough campaign. 'They appear to have all the little things that help to make life easy. 1 ' The Sandakan called at Frederic's 11afen, the capital of German Xew Guinea, which, like most German colonies, contains of German-, says Mr Bloomlield. little more than the official element. In fact, everywhere in tiie Hast tin' inability of the German authorities t" .olapt their methods to successful to:nnisation was unlieable. tho-'- meiliods of trading and admini-tration that, were successful being faithful copies from the Britisher. The German oili rials in many nf these were highly educated, and often scientific men. drawing a -alary of perliap- CI or t!4 per nei'k. and with ji< iiiiii'.j more to do l.u! wait for a visit. from strangers to vary the deadly nioiiotimv of their exist-llee.