Truth NOBLE NIPPON.

NZ Truth, Issue 94, 6 April 1907, Page 4

Truth

NOBLE NIPPON.

PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY MORNING AT LUKE'S LANE (OFF MANNERSSTREET), WELLINGTON, N.Z. SUBSCRU'TION (IN ADVANCE), 13S. PER ANNUM.

SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1907

In discussing the possibility of an Eastern descent upon the colonnies with a "Times" reporter yesterday, a Japanese officer smiled incr&duouslv at the suggestion that at some future period, more or losa remote, the kindly feeling now exisitng between the Empire of the Mikado and the Colonies might vanish. His reply was -.—"Japan fights for humanity ; Japan is just. We do not, like other nations, want far-away domains. Our country will always be big enough for us. Russia fought for territory. She treated Korea very badly." The occupation of Korea by the Japa/nese settlers after the war was explained by the officer, who remarked : "Not many of our people have gone to Korea. Just a few are teaching ttie Koreans to cultivate the land. "-"N.Z. Times," April Ist.

By all the gods of classic writ, what kind of blanky fools does- his Japanese nibs take us for ? Does he think we are so isolated from the rest of the world that we have no cable service, and no means of knowing what goes on outside our owi*. country, that he can unload such unadulterated bosh on us ? Japan fights for humanity ! So does every other nation, according to their own showing, and so -doesn't every other country, according to the other iellow. Jaoa-n is .iust. So she is, iust bluffing. Its a little game the •Oriental is noted for. We> dont want territory. So s*.id British jungoes before the Boer war. only they took fine care they grabbed all they could when they got the chance ; and Japan, slavish eonyist of an alien civilisation; has learnt his lesson well. Russia fought for territory. Just fancy that now ! Reminds one of the prayer of the Publican, who 'thanked God he was not as other 'men. One can almost imagine this Japan Bronson singing "Of course you can - never be like us, but be as like us as you're able to be." The occupation of Korea by Japanese settlers after the war was explained by the officer,, who remarked "not many of our people have gone to Korea, i just a few are teach-in? the Koreans jto cultivate their land." Now, what does our Japanese apologist mean by "occupation" ? "Just a few of our »eople." Seems our 'faithful ally, forgot his part for a moment, and gave the whole show away. The opinion of Korea, or whats left of it, might be taken on this point.

Let us brush aside the little fictions this worthy son of Nippon retails for our benefit,, aud come to actualities'. What is the truth about Korea ? The preamble to the AngloJapanese Treaty expressly states that the object is to maintain the "statu (po"in China, Korea, and Manchuria. "Statu quo ante helium" was meant, the Treaty: being drafted and signed by the "High Con trad/in*** Parties'' during the Chinese war. "Statu quo" m diplomatic language is invariably taken to mean "Statu quo de facto," and, with a large part of China m the hands of foreigners, we actually made the absurd blunder. of stating we desired to preserve a condition tho very opposite of what we really intended ! Accuracy is evidently not a strong pioint with the Foreigh Office, either m Britain or Japan. The immediate result of the Treaty was to enabk- Britain to score off Russia and Germany, Britain not playing chanies, diplomatically, with thpse countries at tbe time, m the exciting game of parcelling-out China for their own special benefit. Germany and Russia were engaged, m common with the rest of the international robber gang, m defining spheres of influence, which amounted to virtual annexation, throughout; China, seriously threatening British commercial interest m the Far East, and -political ascendency at Pek m. Britain scored thc finest diplomatic coup of recent years, and with all her alleged smartness, Japan was merely a pawn m the game. The whole diplomatic world realised that the Treaty meant sooner or later, friction between Japan and Russia over what each considered their respective spheres of influence m the countries named. And so it turned out. Russia came out of the war financially crippled for many a long day, and the nightmare of British statesmen, a Muscovite in* vasion of India, was indefinitely post-> pon. '*?■ Japan pulled the chestnuts out of the fire for Britain's benefit, and British diplomacy scored all along the line. Of course Japan naturally expected something for her share m the .little game. Spite of the magnificent bluff about preserving the statu quo m China, Korea, and Manchuria, Japan has been quietly allowed to extinguish Korean independence. The Emperor pf the Hermit Kingdom is a mere puppet m the hands of .the Japanese, who find bim exceedin- 1 " useful to cover up their own nefarious designs on the country. Japan has taken over the whole ' administration, and Japanese : officials swarm everywhere. There's jno doubt about it being an "oecupa[tion," and what diplomats call an

"effective occupation," at that. The case of Korea presents points of'similarity to that of Egypt, In Egypt, Uie native dynasty is recognised, and has some say m .the internal administration of the country, and the occupation is at "least openly acknowledged. In Korea the native dynasty is also left standing, but robbed of all say m the internal or external government of the country, while tbe Power which occupies the country all the time indignantly denies doing any such thing. Which is all so like what one who knows anything of the East and its little ways, expects. The Japanese have established a bank m the country which enjoys an absolute monopoly of all Government business, and most of the private business also. Although ostensibly a Korean institution, Koreans have no* 'thing whatever to do with the bank, beyond being forced, willy-nilly, to do bus ness with it. Tbe management is entirely Japanese, while the Mikado's Government shows quite a paternal interest m its welfare by allowing officials- of the Japanese Imperial Bank to superintend operations of the Korean institution. The Japs seem to have put preciou« little hard cash into the concern., although reading all the benefit from it. A short time ago, the bank decided to borrow some millions abroad, and offered as security for the loan— not 'its own assets, not much— they had the stupendous hide to offer Korean Custom's revenue as security for a loan to themselves ! Wall-street thieves must take a back seat after this; no Yankee speculator ever conceived the brilliant idea of offering another person's assets as security for a loan to himself. And this is not the worst. The bank has lent, on paper, this money to the Korean Government, at an exorbitant rate of interest. The loan is a mere pretence, though the interest payable by the Government to the bank is not pretence by any means, as the Koreans know to- their cost. Imagine the hank charging Koreans interest on money borrowed on the security of Korea's own Custom's revenue I Every blessed penny of this money has been handled by the Japs thetn.9elves m developing their own interests m Korea, spite of the fact that the bank is Msppoßcd to have lent the money tp the Government. The whole loan transaction is about as smart -a piece of roguery as tin* history ol finance furnishes, and that's savin?, a lot. Japan fights for humanity, r-he seems to make humanity spell profit for •ta.na.n every tvme if she does.. Talk about •'Frenzied Finance"— Lawson isn't m it.

Mention is made of the kindly feeling between the colonies s.nd Japan. Officially, there may be a kindly feeling between the two countries, but the mass of our people distrust Japan, and, while acknowledging the compliment to her, admit they fear her. It is not much shame for a paltry five .pillions oo admit they fear fifty millions, especially when the 'IMt j millions are a nation of crafty Orientals. We view with grave apprehension the meteoric rise of an Eastern Power almost at our doors. Our large unoccupied areas aye sufficient to rouse the latent .'earthhuaiger of every nation, not exciud. ing our own, and shall Japan show herself superior to those nations she has so faithfully copied ? The. custom of holding up Japan for our admiration as the very embodiment of chivalry is all so niUc-h moonshine, tending, ignorantly or otherwise, to blind us as to the real character of that nation. What rot to ejctol the chivalry of a nation which shamelessly barters its womenfolk for cash, to satisfy the lustful appetites of othpr races 1 . Go to North Queensland, to Western .Australia, to. the Northern Territory, and even to. the Pacific Slope, and see the thousands of Japanese" women who minister to the depraved appetites of the inhabitants. And remember these women are not outcasts by choice, they are simply the tools of wealthy companies m Japan. Think of the vast difference between Japan and ourselves on this same auestiott, bad as we undoubtedly are. During the war with Russia, the Japanese troops m Manchuria threatened mutiny unless they were supplied with wiiat. was beautifully termed "bodily comforts," during the enforced inactivity of the winter. The Japanese Government exhausted all available supplies, and. then openly called for volunteers among tlie women of the country to go to Manchuria ! Perhaps some of ttie women of the Naw League will remember this next time they entertain visiting Japs. "The East is East, and the West' is West, and never tlie twain shall mix," says Kibling m one of his lucid moods, and everyone who knows au^ht of the East, knows this to be inexorably true. To those who know the truth, all this fulsome flattery of Japan is disgusting.

A black and tan Empire like the British, cannot view with indifference the rise of an Oriental Power whose example is. bound to foster national tendencies m our own Asiatic possession*. Already^ Indian Nationalism has found a voice, and demands, with ever-increasing vehemence to he heard. So far as we are concerned, the' .interests of tne Empire, as a whole, are secondary to considerations of 'our own safety. Our attitude is frankly selfish m the matter. We. are an outpost bf the civilised West, at the door of the uncivilised but awakening East, our position being one of grave peril. For a long time it has been apparent that we are pursuing ideals at variance with Britain. That country views everything from the mirely local British standpoint, spite of Joseph of Birmingham's continual admonition to his countrymen to think Imperially Britain does not try to understand, even, our aspirations for racial nuritv. A white Australasia policy finds few friends m that country. If ever it becomes necessary for British foreign policy, to veto our anti-alien legislation, it will be vetoed right qiuickly, and the man who thinks otherwise is -living m a fool's paradise. The only way we shall have our ooinions respected is to be m a position to command it. That we shall never be while we are content to let things slide. A nation which takes no steps to ensure the safety of its country, isn't fit to own a country, and merits nothing but contempt. East and West have met before, and the West bas not always been .successful, as the presence of the Turk m Europe today testifies. The mission nf Ihc press is to educate the people on great national questions, but it

seems too busy chasing the elusive dollar, to bother about anything else.

The cutting at .the head of tint article appeared on All Fool's Day, April Ist, a most appropriate date. There's quite a lot of things we don't know m New Zealand, but we know 100 much to swallow a yarn of this sort.