OUR COLOURED BROTHER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14644, 1 April 1911, Page 1 (Supplement)

OUR COLOURED BROTHER.

No. 111. ' UT J. UDDELL KELLY. HIS INFLUENCE ON THE "WELT- , ' POLITIK." A few years ago most people would have laughed to scorn the idea that tho coloured races of the world would ever exert an appreciable influence on international politics. The 500. millions /or so of whites, secure in '■ their" ' sense of ' superiority, were wont to assume that the management of the world's business was exclusively their concern, and that the twelve: hundred millions of coloured, people we/e but pawns in the game, to be moved at will in the interests of . the superior pieces. The Caucasian powers were predominant in wealth, in naval and military strength, in industry and invention. They seemed to have a monopoly of organising and governing capacity. They alone were the arbiters of the fate of ; natione. They declared war and made peace, and partitioned the world's surface among themselves, without any regard to the wishes or,: necessities of the coloured races. They never condescended, to wage war against the inferior peoples. They simply quelled "rebellions" or "mutinies" when* Asiatics were concerned. ,As for the; Zulus and other minor breeds without the law, it ; was the veriest audacity of ignorance • for them to presume that they had homes to defend or a country to claim as their own: ' From his self-complacent''dreams the Caucasian must now have thoroughly awakened to a realisation that the coloured brother is not a negligeable quantity in the "Welt-Po-litik." Great Britain was the first to recognise the changed aspect of things by entering into an alliance with Japan. In effect, Great Britain, helped by America and other Powers, .made Japan i what she Is to-day. After long insistence, they persuaded the warlike Japanese to adopt Occidental ideas and methods, with the' result 'that the little brown men inflicted upon the Russians a more humiliating defeat than Britain and France in combination were able .to inflict half a century ago. The alliance with Japan was a master-stroke of diplomacy for England at the time but ib may yet prove to hive been a , crime against civilisation. For what Japan has done China may do, only on a scale of tenfold greater magnitude; and tho people of India, more keen, : restless : and impulsive • than the Chinese, and nearly as numerous, will also feel '''impulse of/awakening race-consciousness, and will claim to be considered as a ■ nation. The negro may, for some generations to come, be ignored in the consideration Of international questions;, but India,, China, and Japan—the last-named more especially and immediately—must be reckoned with. ' •" I It is nob;, difficult. to foresee, ; approxi- j mately, how events will evolve. Japan; is, more urgently than Germany, in r need of expansion of ; territory and overseas commerce, and she is actively pursuing these aims. We are accustomed to speak of the ; "teeming millions" of China 'and India, but the population of Japan is much more dense than that of either of these coun- ( tries. China has only about 100 people . to the square mile Of; territory; India has ; , 211; but Japan has 336—more than three times; denser than / China, / and not far behind Belgium, v the most densely populated .State in Europe, v?ith^6Bo persons to, the square mile. Japan is, therefore, the Asiatic country ; where the, pressure ■of . population is most acutely felt, and /we/ ; should expect her people i to/ be active colonisers, even if the; facts/did not abundantly prove it; It is patent knowledge that they are swarming : out in all directions. There are already 72,000 of_ : them in the Hawaiian l Islands; there are 24,000 of them in other parts of: the "United States j 13,000 in Chili and Peru? /some \ thousands more in British Columbia/ in the Philippines,,; in •<. the Straits Settlements, in , Australia, and in New Caledonia. And wherever they go. they : stay, and they establish their language, religion, customs, and morals. Moreover, they carry with them their tireless enegy,/their, fecundity, their persistence, and inosfc of all then* passionate devotion to their native land and- its rule. ,' . • ' What then? In every country where there are ; a thousand or; more Japanese / there is / the nucleus ■, of > international trouble. /If the/ subjects of Nippon are legislated against, or maltreated in any way, by foreigners,' they; will appeal to their Government for redress. r; This /■ was made manifest in Hawaii, when the Japanese labourers : on' the sugar plantations were recently agitating for increased wagea. " If we are not fairly treated," wrote one of their newspapers, "we will : - make an international question of it, and our coun try .will Bend warships." Armies and navies give point and pith to .diplomatic representations/ Japan s undoubted and growing strength will make her factor in international affairs. The countries in which Japanese choose, to plant themselves must in time confer; on them all / civil rights, under virtual threat *of ; armed invasion as the penalty of refusal. , Free right of * entry / will bo demanded, and statutes imposing poll-tax op a language test will become so much waste paper. the right to trade, to hold land; and property, and to freely intermarry may; even ultimately be insisted upon. At all events, either of ,i these demands could be made the pretext; for warlike /.measures, which would be \ resorted to whenever there was a prospect of / success. Caref observers assert,, and : not without reason, that the United States will be the first .Power, to come into collision with Japan. The American : occupation of ' the; Philippines might .bo; the pretext, or the influx of Japanese \to the - United States.; Some competent authorities hold that at' present Japan could drive the Americans out of the Philippines, and could •;■ do as she pleased - with Hawaii and * the Pacific States of America; and Japan, of course, knows this better than;anyone else. It is believed in many .quarters that Japai will ; precipitate the conflict before the completion of the Panama Canal enables America to concentrate / her forces rapidly on. the Pacific seaboard. Money still constitutes the "sinews of war," and the lack of it is the only thing that will deter Japan; but her people -are heroically taxing / themselves :to establish ;/a strong; finance and maintain a navy strong enough to compel acquiescence' in her; demands; they'are pushing their trade, organising their industries, and in every way adding to the national wealth and power and, in the event :of an early; war, .; there seems everv probability; of'their seizing and holding Hawaii and the Philippines. ; ; Once established in the Philippines Japan will be within easy . striking J distance of Australia,; The thousands of Japanese in the Commonwealth/and New Caledioni'ai are virtual outposts rof; the future army of invasion. And, 'after Australia, it may be the i-urn of New Zealand to try conclusions ' with the (ioldiars of the ; tan of the" Rising Sun. Nor"- would; our successful; emergence ■' from such conflict dispose of our danger; for after Japan will come .China, with an overflowing population, animated by new ideals, ' and claiming the right to occupy the unsettled spaces of the earth's ; surface. ;;:A RusscOhinese /war, which aw the moment of writing is threatened, will; accelerate rather than retard the entrance of;/China; into the worldarena. Nov/ Zealand, with only about ten persons, and Australia with little more' than one to the square mile, must see; that their European; population is largely increased >if ; they wish to; make good "the title of ',' w.*-iite men's /country.'' Canada has about tltd same density of population as Australia. ; aven the, United States make a poor ■' shwintf, with 21 persons to the square mi when compared> with' China and Japan. \f American diplomacy should succeed in ~;iaying off a Japanese; war + thej[ - ; "■; ; "'/-' : --'/:;■■=■■- ;: /'/;.":*''- : ' : ;/i:i'' i / /'■'■;; :: ''/ l!: :/ : ".- :: - ; '?//•:.' : ':////';»/V- ,: ■ V ..,'... . fv ' ...

■■. ; '- , . '" :: - ; .'"-.'- ~<:-' ;, ~. - • * i ■•■, " :- crisis will reach the' British overseas dominions all the earlier. It may • come coincident!}" with ; the /expiry: of the BritishJapanese alliance in 191.6, when Japan will have a free hand in bringing diplomatic pressure to bear. on the Imperial Government. As diplomatists Asiatics will be found at least equal to Europeans. As we write newe is published of a fresh commercial treaty being negotiated ' between Japan and ', the United States. In ;■• these negotiations Japan has successfully urged the abrogation of the restrictive law regarding the admission of her subjects to the United States—she .' entering into an honourable undertaking to apply the spirit of these laws at her own ports, i.e., she will prevent any of her subjects except students and travellers taking passages for. the United States. This is a great diplomatic triumph for Japan, for there are over 100,000 Japanese in Hawaii, I Chili, Peru,, and British Columbia who cannot be restrained from entering the i j United States. We may expect Japan I to similarly insist upon her subjects | /having right of ; free entry to i I Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. What effective answer shall we be able to | give when the Japanese assert their claim ; to _ enter our dominions, quoting our own : principles of equality and justice in support of their contention? It would seem that Ave must either admit Asiatics freely or fling our principles to the winds, and be prepared to maintain our position by force of arms. And force being, now, as ever, the "ultima ratio" • in ■ all worldly affairs, we have good grounds for anxiety when we contemplate .the- overwhelming numbers that may be arrayed' against us. If we wish to avert' a conflict of the most terrible kind, all our wisdom; must be directed towards the solution of the problem of the coloured races. The proposed Imperial Council of State; cannot ■'■ be too I soon brought into being, so that the whole j Empire may share in the responsibility of deciding how to save our dominions from I being overrun by the 800,000,000 of Asiatics who are knocking at their doors for i admission. Of all:the strange revenges ever brought about by the " whirligig of Time," the most striking will surely be j the spectacle of Asiatic nations (whom we compelled to abandon . their policy of ex- I elusion) turning round fond demanding that j we allow them free entry to our territory.;