Evening Post, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9,1896. THE JAPANESE INVASION.

Evening Post, Volume LII, Issue 1170, 9 December 1896, Page 4

Evening Post, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1896. THE JAPANESE INVASION.

♦ "When the Sydney Parliament adopted Free Trade, and the Japanese were flushed with the conquest of their Celestial neighbours, the Labour Party of New South Wales, that insists above all things that Australia shall remain a white man's country, took alarm at the prospect of local industries being in no long time squeezed out by the imitative, industrious, and lowwaged Jap. Aery was raised almost at once that the boot industry was in danger, that large factories were being projected in Japan, and that since Sydney had become a free port it would follow that Japanese boots would be sold there at a reduction that would make local production impossible. At the time Mr. Attorney-General Want was holiday-making in Japan, and on his return, in the vigorous way peculiar to him, he covered these alarmists with confusion by declaring, among other things, if our memory serves us correctly, that he had ascertained that up to date only one pair of boots^had been exported thence to these colonies. However, the Labour Party stuck to its colour line, and if Japanese goods were to come in free, the makers should not, and Premier Reid had to legislate for Asiatic exclusion accordingly. All this notwithstanding, the Japanese are determined to establish close trading relations with Australia, and we doubt not look forward to in time obtain a firm foothold in the rich districts of the tropical and semi-tropical regions of that continent that are 10 admirably suited for

profitable occupation by their agriculturists. Their factories they will keep in their own country, and send their goods to us, taking our produce in return. And the manner in which they will bid for commercial intercourse has lately been made clear by the arrival in Sydney of the pioneer steamer of the great Japanese Shipping Corporation, the Nippon Yusen Kaisha. This company, which already has lines of steamers running to Europe, America, and India, besides a fleet of fifty vessels employed' exclusively on the Japanese coasts, has been subsidised to the extent of £70,000 a year by the Japanese Government to run a monthly steam service to Australia. What trade or prospect of trade between these colonies and Japan is there to warrant tiiis enterprise ? Hero i 9 what the latest exponent of the benefits that will flow from the opening of this trade lias to say on the subject, and it is a matter of interest and for consideration : — "The Japanese people," we are told, "are in very much the same position as the people of England. They number' 40,000,000, about the population of Great Britain and Ireland. They live in an island country of the same area, and they are becoming dependent upon foreign countries for a large proportion of their food. With the lapse of each year, and especially .since the war, this dependence on outside sources is increasing. The Japanese authorities hare been much concerned to know why their people are smaller than the European races. They believe they have discovered the reason. They have concluded that it is owing to their dieting almost exclusively on rice and fish, and to the want of meat. The Japanese are consequeutly now becoming meat-eaters, and the movement in this direction is a national one — almost a patriotic on*. The heads of families make a point Of giving their children meat once a day if they can afford to do so, and when they are drilling or working hard Japanese men hase meat twice a day. The older generation TO" not take to meat very readily. The taste for it has to be acquired ; but when a Japanese does acquire the taste for European food, he cannot do without it. " With this change in habit the live stock in Japan is rapidly decreasing. Eight or ten years ago roasts of beef could be purchased in Japan for 8 cents, or 4d, per lb ; now it i cannot be got under 28 cents, or 14d. With these facts in mind the Nippon Yusen Kaisha expect that there will soon be a big export trade in frozen and tinned meat from Australia to Japan. As the Japanese are a prosperous, go-ahead people, and as they number 40,000,000, there ii the possibility of a tremendous trade of this description, for Australia is essentially a meatproducing country. Another trade that is bound to assume very large proportions is the wool trade. The Japanese, whose clothing has hitherto been cotton, imported from India, are taking to wearing wool. Woollen clothing is more suitable for the climate, and the demand for this material has already led to the establishment of one or two large woollen mills. Australia is a wool-producing country. That is a second' justification for 'the establishment of the Australian line. Then a demand is springing up in Japan for tallow and leather— two other staple Australian products. Tallow is required in connection with the new Japanese industries and manufactures. As to leather, vast quantities of that will now be required annually for the army, for saddles, accoutrements, and shoes." Another. line of trade is, it is said, to be found in horses* Japan has a force of about 20,000 cavalry, and the right stamp of animal cannot be bred in the country, and Australians are now being told that all the necessary remounts will be drawn from their country. As to the things that Japan may export to the colonies, the principal lines at present will be art manufactures, matting, and brushware — vegetable.brushware, not hair. They say that they have not found out yet exactly what the Australian people will purchase from them, but they are making enquiries on this Bubject, and hope in time to get in touch with the Australian markets. "The steamers will also (says the'commander of the pioneer ship) cater for a tourist traffic. Japan is an interesting country to visit, and, with improved means of travelling and cheap fares, a proportion of the Australians who now spend their holidays in New Zealand (this touches us nearly) will find it within their power to take a run to Japan. British people are now very popular with • the Japanese. During the war the Japanese thought the British were their enemies, but when, at the conclusion of the war, England declined to join with the other Powers in coercing Japan to relinquish part of what i they had won, the feeling underwent a complete change, and the Japanese realised that the British were their friends, nottheir enemies. At present an unspoken dread of Russia exists throughout the couutry, and, profiting bj p the experience of the Chinese campaigns, the Japanese are still further perfecting and strengthening their forces, both on land and sea." All this, as we have said, is very interesting, the more so .that we have legislated to keep the Japanese out, and they are equally determined to get in— more than that, they are going very cleverly about it. The colour line is a big problem.