The Far East.

Waikato Argus, Volume XXIV, Issue 3675, 7 January 1908, Page 2

The Far East.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PICTURE. A much travelled and well known citizen of the Dominion, Mr G. W. S. Patterson, of Auckland, has just returned from a sojourn in the East, - and after residence in Japan, China, Russia, Manchuria, and Corea, he brings with him, as the result of his experience and observations, accumulated during four prolonged visits to these countries, a message to the people of the Dominion. "My advice," he said, "is: Get a gun —in a hurry." He thinks the National Leaguers have got at the root of the matter, but our politicians and people have got to think much and do more before we are in a position to hold what we have in New Zealand. "We may have nothing to fear for the next ten years," he added, "but if Australians and New Zealanders keep neglecting the gun then the best thing that could'happen for us, in my judgment, is that Russia should completely cripple Japan."

Mr Patterson is clear in hip conviction that the clanger to Australia and New Zealand has its root in Japan. The Chinese, he says are arming, but they are arming for home defence against the foreigner, and the danger there lies in the possibility of Japan being able to convince China that the interests of Japan and China are common. "Japan," says Mr Patterson, " is a small country, with a rapidly increasing population and few resources. Her people must find outlets. In this country one hears a lot about the outlets being Manchuria and Corea, but the Japs cannot be induced to go there in any appreciable numbers. They know that in a few years they will have to fight Russia for every inch of the country. They know as well as I do that even at the present time there are 300,000 Russian soldiers on the borders of Manchuria, despite the protests of the Japanese Government. Japanese leaders are anxious that Manchuria should be peopled with Japanese, but the Japanese are eager for a more promising field for their commercial and industrious ambitions, and they may find it in New Zealand and Australia. Immigration laws may check it for a time, but unless we are prepared to back our immigration laws with the gun we may as well not pass them. At the best they are only good against the individual Asiatic. They are no good once the Japanese have decided that they want a share in our industry and our commerce. If they fail to get that through the alliance with England, what might they not do through an alliance with China if Australia and New Zealand continues to neglect.the gun? The Japs are fanatical enough to believe they are destined to conquer the white races. They think the white races have reached the height of their power, and they are making desperate efforts to conciliate China. Wherever I have been in China, I have found the Jap working side by side with the Chinaman, not working for a wage, but for a political purpose. Fortunately the Chinese are suspicious, and their conciliation will be a big task, but there is no doubt in my mind that the object of the Japanese will be accomplished in time. The defeat of Russia by Japan has already had considerable influence in that direction. The Chinese, I grant .vou, do not like the Japanese, but they are able to see where their own interests lie." Mr Patterson has a high opinion of the Chinese soldier. There is, he says, no finer material in the world for soldiers, They have no nerves, and as for endurance, nothing can approach them. True, they are not an aggresive people, but. they have been disgracefully treated in their own country by foreigners—including our own people—and they have turned. Japan's success against Russia served to awaken them and a real Chinese army has sprung into being. Instructors have been obtained from European armies and America. For the mountain battery drill there are Swiss, for cavalry work there arc Americans, for fortifications there are Germans, and so it goes throughout the service. At the Gulf of Shantung I saw 50,000 troops as well equipped as any troops in Europe—modern arms, German and French field guns. A gentleman who held a high position under the Chinese -Government for many years, gave information in Hongkong a little while ago which would dispel the mists of ignorance that prevail as to China's progress towards an armed awakening. He had exceptional faciltiies of noting the drilling of tens of thousands of soldiers in the plains of Hunan, and of wondering at the remarkable military ardour which characterised their evolutions. Modern guns, and every modern equipment were to be seen. A real army had sprung into being and away from the critical and prying eyes of inquisitive foreigners the routine of ceaseless drill was gone through. This is the material which Japan hopes to secure to help her in her ambitions, for which she is building her Dreadnoughts and increasing her army in spite of the fact that the country is staggering under the heavy cost of war with Russia.

"This," continued Mr Patterson, '■ js the immediate danger of Australia and New Zealand. The Japanese are being heavily taxed to make good the cost of the war. They are dissatisfied with the results of the war, which from their point of view has brought them nothing but the handicap of heavy taxes. There are internal troubles in the way of strikes; the position is so serious that I do not know how Japan can go on unless outlets are found for her people in countries where wages are better, and commercial profits higher, and you can take my word for it they will over stay their welcome if they come this way. THE CHINAMAN AND THE JAP. "We have got false notions here," concluded Mr Patterson, "about the Chinaman and the Jap. When I first went to the East, I went with a high opinion of the Jap, but it's an old yaying that you have got to live with a man to know him. I lived with the Jap, and I found him the inferior of the Chinaman, mentally, morally, and physically, though the Chinaman lacks the ambition and the application of the Jap. Let the Jap, with his low ideas of commercial morality, jnto business on this side of the Pacific, and there will be trouble. He is playing the devil in commerce in the East now. All over the East, English merchants speak contemptuously of the Jap in commerce, and they have a high opinion of the Chinaman. Whichever way the Jap may come here, whether as an ally or a foe, he will cause trouble—more trouble than the Chinaman. If wo wabfc to keep him out we had.better see about the gun. I'm satisfied that the gun's good business for New Zealand, and one sword keeps another in the scabbard.' '—N. Z. Defence. .