ALERT. SUSPICIOUS TOKIO.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8004, 6 May 1904, Page 2

ALERT. SUSPICIOUS TOKIO.

ALL STRANGERS UNDER SURYIILLANCE. During this period of suspense the censor is the busiest man in Tokia, says the correspondent of the London "Daily Express." His methods have evoked- protest, but there is no denying their effectiveness. The reign of the blue pencil was never more thorough or complete. News inspections are being held daily at fcho Army and Navy Departments. Infor- , mation which reaches an editor regarding the movements of the Japanese fleet must be submitted to the Navy Department between ten and twelve o'clock in the morning. The War Office is accessible at any time for the inspection of news affecting the army. ! , This, of course, applies to local newspapers. Foreign addressed telegrams find their way to a censor without any exertion on the part of the transmitter. At present the most interesting point in the empire is the island of Tsushima, in the so-called "war area." But what is actually happening at Tsushima none but the Government knows^ although two divisions have been conoentrated -there, and between frixty and, seventy transports are fitting for the carriage of troops. Army tailors are turning out winter shirts by the thousand, and foodstuffs, are being ruebed to Nagasaki by special steamers. There is an ominous celerity in the organisation of the Hod Cross Societies. The War and Navy i .offices are hives of industry. . Official celebrations have been dispensed with, and at the great building occupied by the Army ' Staff Department the press of businesses simply enormous. But outside of officialdom Tokio pursues the even tenor of its way. The muddy streets teem with life, placid shopkeepers sit cross-legged beside their wares, equally indifferent to war rumours and photographers, and American electric trolley cars buzz up and. dbwn : the Ginza with a briskness that is distinctly dieturbkig and out of place. Occasionally a squad of infantrymen, hi blue uniforms and brown leggings, march smartly along 1 the street, but as a ml© the soldiers are kept in barracks. The police, however, in their long double-breasted overcoats and' peaked caps, give a military tinge to the pictures of everyday life. Keen-eyed, alert, unobtrusive, the Japanese policeman is a remarkably interesting personage. In the art of knowing other people's business for the good of his Go vernment he is said to excel. At present his talents for investigation have * free hand, for the usual crop of adventurers and suspects is being harvested in Tokio. The movements of certain foreign gentlemen at present staying in Tokio are feeing ' recorded in the police archives with a that would disagreeably surprise them. The number of German tourists has curiously increased within the past month. One of th«m, while filled with imported liquor a few nights ago, incautiously blurted out more than it is good for a foreigner to know in these troublous- times, and sailed next morning for Shanghai. Another, whose sight-seeing expeditions invariably" brought him into the vicinity of military depots, found himself inconvenienced by an inspector of police, and like wise abruptly changed his itinerary. Then there is a cosmopolitan globe trot ter, speaking all the tongues of Europe who would be amazed' to know that the guide who insisted -upon doing a great deal /for 5 a very little compensation' was 1 not altogether what he seemed. There have been but three cases of native .Japanese spies. Two were coolies in th« pay of the Russian military attache, sjhd the, j third was a Lieutenant of volunteers, who was arrested on a charge of trying to secure certain maps for the en«my. AU foreigners are watched carefully, but not offensively, although two Englishmen who went into the country on a shooting expedition a few weeks ago were annoyed when a native paper suggested that they [ were on the pay of Russia. Even two ladies who arrived in Tokio, ostensibly^hravelling for. pleasure, have not been above suspicion: Consequently, the turning back' of " tourists "• who attempt to penetrate ths military j mysteries of Tsushima v not to be wondered at. V. / v / J That one of the explorers 'so discovered* had not taken a camera into the proscribed , zone was distinctly in big favour, for th« unauthoripedl use m photographic apparatus j is a grave offence, and the detection of a photographer within the forbidden districts , —which include all military and naval de- { pots* barracks and fortifications— means ] severe punishnwnt for the offender. ,- Soldiers of fortune, who have travelled in some instances half way round the world, * learn, to their disgust, that Japan !bas no j need of their services. In this case Japan is the gainer. Some of the adventurous volunteers now in Toltio raked together the j I price of a' third-class passage to Yokohama .. in the belief that their experience in South a American revolutions would' insure a cap- j tain's- commission at the very least. Japan c does not need soldiers of fortune, and oagan- i} isers of foreign legions need not apply. c The study of Russian. haa been well nigh .universal in military circles. There has : been an extraordinary demand, likewise, for i >«-rfe booloji «* various booksellers. Lars* ' classes of students have been formed at the Tokio School of Foreign Languages for the study of Russian. A short time agio all of these students were withdrawn, many: of . them securing Government positions.