NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12928, 26 July 1905, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

WITH AFGHAN EYES. The last century produced no Asiatic statesman of greater ability ' or keener insight (says the Saturday Review) than .the late Ameer, Abdur Rahman. It is unquestionably his teachings which dominate the policy of his successor. In his remarkable autobiography, Abdur Rahman has discussed with astonishing frankness all the considerations which must guide the actions of his nation. He has drawn on his own experience and the fate of others in his position for warnings against the pitfalls which suiround a ruler of the Afghans. In the foiefront of his policy at every point stands the necessity of maintaining an independent Afghanistan, from which all foreigners and foreign influence should be jealously excluded. ° He has marked the doom of all the surrounding countries, and classified the methods by which they have lost their independence. Moreover, the character of his people made such aloofness necessary to his own stability. Once suspected of too friendly leanings towards any foreign Power his authority would have been undermined. He is at pains to explain that lie was obliged to conceal his real feelings. "I was unable," he writes, "to show my friendship publicly because my people were ignorant and fanatical. If I showed any inclination towards the English they would call me an infidel, and proclaim a religious war against me." He knew well that England has no desire to occupy his country, but that Russia requires it to gain access, to India. " There is 110 doubt that Russia is always plotting towards one endthe' invasion of India." "Treaty or no treaty England should be responsible for the protection of Afghanistan; both nations should stand or fall together." Yet with this strong conviction his final injunction is that no English army should be admitted even to oppose a Russian advance till the Afghan forces had been finally defeated. In every point the policy of the Afghans is directed towards the safety which, according to their views— and who shall say they are wrong only to be found in isolation. Moreover, while making terms with one neighbour they have to avoid any cause of rupture with the other. "Appear friendly with Russia, for she is a Great Power, and might be of some service, but avoid close relations." We are treating with the ruler of jealous and fanatical tribes, held together by a loose tie, and firmly convinced that safety lies in avoiding all external complications. Even to secure safety from the aggressor whom he really fears, he will not risk too great an intimacy with a foreign ally. In his reasoned appreciation of his own interests we" may be content to find the best guarantee that he will cast in his lot with the Power that offers least menace to his national existence. TIIE JAPANESE CHARACTER. An article in the San Francisco Chronicle,, dealing with the Japanese character, states: Asiatic peoples differ among themselves perhaps even more widely than those of the Caucasian race. The Japanese and the East Indian are further apart than the American and the Slav, but there are certain racial characteristics which seem common to all. Among these are a fatalism which seems to exclude all fear of death, low ideals of womanhood, and little conception of sexual morality as we know it; a tendency of the upper classes to abstract philosophical speculation class distinctions such as have never existed in any Aryan race and which are almost impossible to be overcome; a high sense of personal 'honour in the upper classes, and no conception whatsoever of such a thing in the lower classes; a standard of l'ife which we call low, but which they call sensible— diet, cheap dwellings, unchanging fashions, long hours of labour, abject submission to authority, and, above all, the habit of adhering to their ideals, customs, habits, and racial and national characteristics wherever they go. All these characteristics are possessed by the Japanese, who are the unquestioned leaders of the Asiatic races, excelling all others in intellectual alertness, and who are thus far unique among Asiatics in possessing the power of seizing upon all of Westem science and art .which they deem necessary for their purposes and successfully giafting it upon the stock of their ancient civilisation. There is no evidence of any intent or desire on the part of the Japanese to in any way change their national ideals. They apparently propose simply to make use of Western methods to defend, perpetuate, and extend them. They expect to succeed by employing Western science in connection with the economical Asiatic standard of life. In nothing is Asiatic habit of thought more manifest in Japan than in the almost impassable, line drawn between classes. It is said that each Japanese must place upon his door the emblem denoting the class to which he belongs. In old Japan there were four classes—the nobility and military, who alone were honourable, and beneath them the farmer, the labourer, and mechanic, and below all, except grave diggers and tanners, the merchants— below the military representing various degrees of dishonour. Doubtless this aid classification has been in some degree modified by the general enrolment- for military purposes involved in the adoption of Westem "civilisation," but in essentials it remains. The distinction between labourers, merchants, and artisans may be gradually disappearing in their common , array in the line of battle, but the gulf between the intellectual, high-spirited, strictly honourable noble and governing class and all below them is as deep and wide as ever.