The Evening Star THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1936. JAPANESE MILITARY REVOLT.

Evening Star, Issue 22274, 27 February 1936, Page 10

The Evening Star THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1936. JAPANESE MILITARY REVOLT.

News from Japan to-day is. of the gravest. There has been a military revolt in Tokio, accompanied by the assassination of prominent statesmen, including 'the Prime Minister. I*or some time past there have been mhtterings of a storm, and it has now broken to a violent degree. Extreme militaristic ideas, have been, disseminated, and the smouldering- fires of revolt against civilian control of the Government have been fanned by the success of the army in Manchuria and North China. A powerful section of the services has been conducting a campaign to render them independent of the Cabinet, the aim, being to pave the way for a monarchical and militaristic dictatorship. Baron Ikki, the President of the Privy Council, was recently compelled to resign his office by reason of the bitter attacks made on him because of his moderate attitude. Apparently the general election held this week brought matters to a head, for the Fascist* tendencies of the, Seiyukai Party received a severe check in the loss of, a hundred and thirty seats, while the Minseito, Party, which demanded constitutional government and the extermination of Fascism, gained fifty-nine. The present military revolt is the answer to the verdict of the polls. Signs that extreme nationalism was being carefully fostered have been evident ever since the Manchurian adventure was undertaken. The League' of Nations was ruthlessly repudiated, the Nine-Power and other treaties ignored, China’s integrity disregarded, and the aim openly avowed of making Japan, with its seventy millions of people, controller of the destinies of the teeming populations of the Far East. . , It is too soon to estimate the importance of this disturbance. A rigid censorship prevails, but some of the messages that, are filtering through from various sources say that order has been restored and , the Government has the situation well in hand. Cabinet has for some time been engaged" in trying to check the aggressiveness of the Japanese army in China, whose latest plan was to control some of the northern provinces in China proper. The idea was to establish a new regime on ninety-five million people there on the lines of the Manchukuo puppet Government. This effort was restrained by orders from Tokio to the effect that the mission of the Japanese army on the mainland did not include autonomy manipulations for Chinese provinces. The result was that the aggression was checked, and the military chiefs who were, responsible for it declared that they merely wanted to see a regime established that would maintain, order and have friendly relations with Nanking. The leading industrialists and commercial men in Japan wish to see fue work of the Government concentrated on internal development, the expansion of trade, and, in the interests of Budget equilibrium, the pruning knife 'applied to military and naval expenditure. Between this section and s the extreme militarists there has been acute tension for a considerable lime. The latter have been aiming at the overthrow of constitutional government. Their desire was to make the fighting services responsible to the Emperor, with the ultimate aim of establishing a military dictatorship. , This is an effort to put back the clock and return to the feudalism in which Japan was wrapped before she emerged so short a time ago to take her place among the first class Rowers. It can hardly be believed that the fanatical militarists will succeed in their aims. In 1932 there was an outbreak by a section' of the army, and the Prim© Minister (Mr Ki Inukai) was assassinated, but the plot was quickly suppressed. The Japanese place what they consider national honour before the sanctity of life. The old spirit that still prevails to some extent was that to assassinate for the sake of the country’s weal was to acquire merit. Just as . readily a Japanese would commit hari-kari in the event of failure in any task undertaken in the sacred name of the Emperor.