A JAPANESE MARTYR TO PATRIOTISM.

NZ Truth, Issue 66, 22 September 1906, Page 8

A JAPANESE MARTYR TO PATRIOTISM.

iMruevTale^of Romance, Heroism and Pathos That m Japan i^ Told m the Guise of Fiction.

The., following from...an .paper iir to hand' by; the niail :— Japan teems with romantic stories • of heroism and selfsacrifice m behalf of the. state- It is religion that inspires martyrs m other countries; it is patriotism that inspires them here. For their country these -wonderful little yellow .men will undertake tasks and endure hardships and suffering which are on,ly paralleled by the exploits of those " who, m other ages and other climes, have cheerfully risked life itself and all that makes life worth living, « for the sake of their faith and an immortality of .bliss hereafter. The latter plays no part m prompting the devotion- of the Jap. For the state-he must, if required, even imperii his own soul. There has recently ''been published*in Japan a novel which has attained a great popularity, telling the story ,of a martyr to patriotism. It so- : abounds m pathetic and dramatic -in--cidents \_hat it is shortly to be ,pre-' sented on the stage. It purports to*be merely a work of fiction. 'For' reasons of state it could -not be 'presented m any other form. But trom ! a Japanese friend— a person m high i authority who has had much to. do with the filing away of secret reports ! — I have learned that the story merely recounts what one man actually did for his country with the hope of no other reward than the knowledge that he had done his best to serve her. The names and places which are disguised m the 'book— the scene being laid m Manchuria— have heen revealed to me under a pledge not to disclose them, as that would probably lead to the discovery of my source of information. Some years ago, a young cavalry officer was attached to the General Staff at Tokio. He was exceptional-! ly talented and devoted to his profession. Though only a lieutenant, he had been picked out by his comrades as the man among them who was likely' to go furthest. He shunned delights and lived laborious days. He was temperate, abstemious and a stranger to every haunt of vice and dissipation. One day the Chief of Staff sent for him. "What do you regard as the first duty of a soldier?" the general asked him. "To obey, orders implicitly," was the response. ' "Right," said, tlie general, "and will you pledge your honor to obey implicitly and unquestioningly whatever orders are given you by your superior officers ?" • "I will ; I have always done so." "I know it;' l Have watched your career. It is because I have the utmost confidence m your loyalty to the Emperor that I have sent for you' now." The young lieutenant swelled with pride. He expected that he was about to be entrusted with some dangerous mission m which he could play a hero's part and win fame and glory. "You have never been a dissipated man," continued the general, after a pause. "I want you to change your present mode of life. I want you to become dissipated." "But," stammered the young soldier, the flush of pride gone fromjhis face, "that would be contrary to your orders. You 'have always exhorted us to work hard, live temperately and eschew vice." "The last order always takes- <pre-. cedence m its claims to obedience of all the orders that have preceded it. I want you to become a dissipated man." "But why ? For what purpose ?" "You pledged yourself a moment ago to yield implicit and unquestioning obedience to the commands of your superior officers," said the general. "It should be enough for you to know that my orders are - always prompted hy the interests of the state." , ■ . The lieutenant stiffened ; he was -again the soldier. "Your order shall, be obeyed," he said, "as far as my means permit. But I am a poor man ; I have little money to squander." "I will, supply you with all the money that is necessary, but you must abandon your books for geishas." The young man went forth' a St. Anthony pledged to yield to temptation. It proved easier than he had anticipated. After a few months of doing to the devil, he fell head over heels m love with a geisha. That sort of thing did not make for efficiency as an officer. Black marks 'began to accumulate against a record that had previously been spotless. After some severe reprimands, he was dismissed from the service with ignominy. His father forbade him the house; his former military acquaintances cut him ; he was an outcast with only the downward path that leads to destruction open to him. Again he sought the great general whose orders had brought him to such a pitiahle plight and into his ears poured his tale of woe. "You have done well," sa"id the general. "You have reached that condition which makes you available for I the work with which I am about tp I entrust you. It is a mission of hin.li- ! importance to the state. To-night ivou must proceed to Nagasaki, telK j ing nobody where you are going, not, 'even your own father. You will take [with you a box that I shall give you. I When you get to Nagasaki— not before—you will open it. Then you will learn your instructions. Fulfil them lo the letter and your reward will be the knowledge that you have done something w,orth doing for your counItry. Do not. give me cause to regret my confidence and trust m you." At "Nagasaki tlie young man' opened the box and read his orders, to which no incriminating signature had . been attached. The reason was obvious. Nobody but himself could- be held responsible for what he did. His government was to be left free to disavow any connection with him. Acting m accordance with instructions, he proceeded to , a country where

a first-class power was engaged m a fierce conflict with the natives. Carrying out his orders, he joined the staff of the 'leading native chief. His military knowledge, his courage and resourcefulness rendered his services invaluable. It was inevitable that the presence of such a man m the .ranks of the enemy should "become known to the power whose efforts td bring the campaign to a speedy conclusion he so frequently baffled. The result was that the ■ - Government opened diplomatic negotiations with .Japan, alleging that a Japanese military officer had taken service with ithe rebels aad demanding that he be recalled. \ . . " The Japanese Government replied that it had no knowledge whatever of the matter. No military officer, it declared, had been sent from Japan on such a r mission. The Japanese government could hot undertake to assume responsibility for the conduct of its subjects wherever they might roam. If one qf its people had been so ill-advised as to participate m a rebellion against a friendly power, he thereby rendered himself amenable to j its military laws and had placed himself beyond the pale of the protection of his own government. Tbat ended the diplomatic negotiations and the .v- '■■■■■ government contented itself, with placing a price art the head of the man suspeoted of being a Japanese who was fighting with the rebels. Of course, the Jap did not know at that time that he had been repudiated by his own government, but it would have made no difference to him if he had ; he was still obeying orders. He heard of the reward that had been offered for his capture, dead or alive, but he kept on fighting as as hard as ever t6 jeet the information for which he had heen dispatched on his dangerous mission. That was to learn everything possible about the- topography of the country, the enemy's plan and scheme of operations, his tactics and his strategy, his fortifications and his defence works. The rebels were subdued; at last, as they always are when pitted against white men, and the young ex-officer, after many hair-breadth escapes, succeeded m eluding all efforts to capture him and made his way -hack to Japan, with a voluminous report of all that he had learned. There he found that the great general to whose orders he had yielded such implicit obedience had died during his absence. He had been heard to mutter something during his last illness about somebody he had sent somewhere to do something so difficult and danger, ous that it would.be doubtful if he ever came back, but nobody had. paid much attention to it. When the former lieutenant told his , story to the Minister of War, that officer professed to place no credence whatever m his story and refused to ; regard him m any other light than i that of a man who had been dismiss- ! ed from the army m disgrace and had therefore rendered himself ineligible for any future service. Other ministers and other high state 'officials treated him with similar 1 indifference. There was some excuse ' for this shabby treatment. The all-para-mount interests of the estate deman- i ded it. Japan was then putting - its finishing touches to its preparations ! for the death struggle with Russia, ! and anything that might be construed as an open recognition of the services of a man for whose conduct it had repudiated all responsibility, might lead to complications with the other power which had placed a price on his bead. It was to provide

against all possibility of such' compli-« cations ensuing that the general had selected as his agent a man who had been dismissed from the army m disgrace. And, furthermore, the astuts Chief of Staff had acted entirely ont his own responsibility m the matter., For a time the lot of the man for. •whom such a brilliant career had beenh. ; predicted was a hard one. He was*' discredited, other careers were closed, against him by the degradation that had attended his dismissal from, the army, and however much consolation he' might have derived from .th*. ! knowledge . that he had- sacrificed* .himself for the state, it did «ot.pro.fcvide him with a living. One frienol alone it seemed he had-rthe . ge. _shaT who had been; instrumental, m bring-.*'-ling,about his. .downfall. But, after a while,. in' some mysterious ■ way, he found, a friend m 'another • genei'al and* titled officer. 'He was dispatched toj Manchuria on another, secret mission.'; Since the ( conclusion- of ,th^ war with ; Russia,', he has disappeared,' and tlie . . geisha, with' him, but it may be taken for granted luff is still doing, service _ for. the; state- somewhere— seryici!- that may - cbuiit for much when trouble ; breaks out again. But on the army- ' records his dismissal m disgrace still stands , against him. . In all probabi- ■ lity .it. will never be , erased, . Such •. are the sacrifices that Japan demands lof those who serve her. -