WHY I DISTRUST JAPAN

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 170, 9 July 1908, Page 4

WHY I DISTRUST JAPAN

OPINION OF A FAMOUS BRITISH WAR CORREsPON UH.NX Less than three years ago Japan was enthusiastically admired In' nearly every Englishman. We gloried in the magnificent valour of her armies. We e ....iU scarce Lake up ii paper without reading ci the nrrils oi her people, their simplicit v. their patriotism, anil tlieir .famous chivalry. ■Ju-jitsu was the most popular turn tn the music halls, and liiwhidu was the admiration of our philosophers. Our soldiers talked of the •mod points they could learn from Japanese str.it. cgy; our wives adoptod lite kiiii(iii<> : and sOino folk declared that we mi-at >lo well to substitute the cthics"ot •Shinto and lluddha for Christianitv. Wo admired and trusted the l.i'ulc Islanders. Our alliance with them made (heir war with Russia possible and throughout tile war we gave t.i-ui the utmost possibly support, jj lliU1 cially and politic-ally. Today, thoiu'h the ink of the Treaty of Portsmouth is scarce dry, our confidence i, rapid|ly changing ( 0 distrust.

Why is tin's? What have the Jap,„cse people done in this short time lo produce this chang,.? Let „„. (ell. i'lrst, we Micvcd before C,,. 1j,,,,;.,,, war that tl,e policy of t |„. Japum'so Government was one essentially »f peace and freedom for world commerce We contrasted the non-aggressive ami opendoor policy of Japan with the domineering, pushful, and exclusive campai-,, of Russia. When the war of 1004 was started, the Mikado solemnly disavow ■[] aggressive designs, and declared thai his great purpose was lo (maintain the permanent peace of Asia, and to secure the open door" for trade and equal opportunities for all nations in Eastern Asih,

Now that the war is over' Japan is proving herself to be more aggressive more exclusive, and more domineering than was Russia at her worst. She ha" already violated treaty obligations," and her plans and designs forecast still more daring breaches.

The conscience of the world has been oll'ended by the outrageous conduct of the Japanese emigrants to .Manchuria and Korea. They have treated tiic native people in those parts with a brutality worthy only of savages. I have deal't so fully with the conduct of the Japanese in Korea and the breach of their treaty obligations there in mv book just published, "The Tragedy of Korea."Unit it is unnecessary for me to dwell on it here. What is true of K»vea is becoming more and more inm of .Manchuria. It is not too much lo say that under Japanese control Southern .Manchuria lias gone back from European civilisation to semi-barbarism. Some of my readers can remember the railway before the war, with its comfortable carriages, its good accommodation, and its line stations. When I last went along that railway, under Japanese rule, l' found miserable trains, dirtier than any I have known elsewhere, poor accommodation, ill) absence of good food, incivility, and disorder. We do not grumble at straightforward commercial competition. America is our greatest commercial rival in many fields, yet America is our closest friend. The feeling against the Japanese is based on other grounds. Our merchants declare that their methods are unfair. The Japanese authorities give unheard-of licences to makers of fraudulent goods and owners of fraudulent trade-marks. Japan has become the centre of a great industry in bogus wares. The Japanese Cioverunienl lias aimed, by heavy subsidies, at sweeping liritish shipping oil' the North Pacific. Deeds speak louder than word.-, and here deeds tell their own stiv.-v. Since 1 iif conclusion of the Russian war she has increased her army and her navy in a v.aythat can be explained on Ho cnher assumption except that she intends to start at a future date wars of eonipie.-.t. At the end of 1!K)3 she had six good battleships, six ellicient armoured cruisers. 14 protected cruisers, anil hj) destroyers. To-day she has 13 battleships ready and three more in course of construction.. 12 armoured cruisers—soon 1.0 be 10—IS protected cruisers, 3-1 destroyers, and 85 torpedo-boats. She is building up great arsenals; she is laying down a lleet oi' submarines; she is strengthening every defensive, point on her coast. The increase of the army lias corresponded to that of the navy.' At the very lowest estimate the army is now 50 per cent, more efficient than at the conclusion of the Russian'war. A new cavalry is being built up; the artillery is being given better guns, and a sysUein or army reorganisation has quietly gone on of the most effective kind. The nation is being taxed to the utmost farthing lo pay for this lighting expansion.

[ contrast, for instance, the two iLvms in tlic Japanese Budget for Hit 1 coming vear:—Army ami navy, V2SI.-l0tl.S01: education, Y8.23(i,!)-IH. Against whom is this expenditure directed '! Certainly not against Russia. Russia now is unable, and will lie unable fur ninny .wars to come, to tmcaten Japan. Tlic Japanese military' and naval ineiease can only lie intended for one of two tilings'- to coerce China, or 10 hold the supremacy of tin: Parilic against America or against lingland.

The sympathy of commercial men has been alienated by the nou-übscrvance 1} the Japanese of the policy of the "open door/' Under Russian rule Manchuria was open to the liritish merchant; under .lapanesa rule British enterprise is stilled. The case of the llsinmintungI'ukumen railway a few weeks ago is a striking illustration of this. Here we have a line that was to be built by a British engineering firm, and was to open up part of the interior of Manchuria. The Japanese Government ordered ft to slop, because it might interfere with their railway in Manchuria. Yet Japan, not so long since, solemnly bound herself ''not. l« obstruct any general measures common to all countries which China may take for the development of commerce and industry in Manchuria." The great American trade in cotton goods in Manchuria has been practically" destroyed by the Japanese. Wherever Japan goes foreign industry suffers.—!'. A. Mackenzie.