King Country Chronicle. Monday, November 8, 1937. POWER IN JAPAN.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 4566, 8 November 1937, Page 4

King Country Chronicle. Monday, November 8, 1937. POWER IN JAPAN.

In view of the Sino-Japanese conflict, the real basis of power in Japan is at present of great interest. The wielders of power are, of course, the all-powerful army, endowed not only with the power to act without Government authority but which may, whenever it chooses, issue proclamations of foreign policy independently of the Foreign Office. In Japan there is a Diet composed of the House of Peers and . a House of Representatives, but the Cabinet is responsible to the Emperor, wKO-Wjelds complete power. Being “the -source! abd -fountainhead of power” in as well as theory, the duties of Government are naturally directed', byJthose who can obtain his ear. This lyings us to the point that, to an encountered in any other country'wf the world, a small number of interests control the ere-«t luuTk oI Japan’ s industry—-70 per cent, of' the (cpntrM lies in the hands of fifteen such 'interests. These form one groujii.likfely to influence policy. Another group, the bureaucrats of the new Civil Service that has been created, majf alsobe expected to exert influence; and yet a third group is the powerful army interests. The latter are at present in the ascendant, though it-is safe to assume that they are in league with the army—supported by the samurai, or old military aristocracy section, and exploiting the imperialistic ambitions of other sections of the army. The general view is that the Japanese hope to establish a puppet State, under a Japanese-advised Emperor, as a barrier against Russia, as was done in ManchuKuo, but the financial interests no doubt are desirous of a new scope for enterprise, particularly in regard to the supply of coal and iron and other raw materials. Japan has to import 75 per cent, of her iron ore, 50 per cent, of her scrap, and 25 per cent, of her pig iron, and coial is also deficient, though to a lesser degree. The army has attacked China in the hope of an early victory, requiring this to maintain its prestige and to prevent a rift between industrial monopoly and what, to European eyes at least, is industrial .and agricultural slavery. Such a victory is unobtainable as yet, in spite of the progress in Shansi.