War with the East.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLV, Issue 23, 7 June 1911, Page 5

War with the East.

During the course of his speech at the University ‘‘capping ceremony” in the Chora! Hall last week, the Chancellor (Sir Robert Stout) dealt interestingly with the struggle for superiority amongst the nations of tire world. To day they beheld hitherto neglected races organising, striving for knowledge and for industrial success. Of late years the yellow race had come to the front. Fifty years ago who would have believed that

the kingdom of Japan would have become a world power? If they recalled the ambassadors that left the kingdom of the Rising Sun and visited President Buchanan in Washington in 1860, and thought of the Japanese nation now they might well say that it was one of the marvels of the last and present century. The yellow race was a strong race. It was strong in brain power. It was strong physically, and its civilisation had forced it to study industry and peace. It had had many drawbacks, but Western enlightenment was now penetrating even China, and passionately the Chinese had engaged on the quest for knowledge. Who would foretell what the next fifty years would stiowr in tils opinion, the Chinese had more brain power than the Japanese, and judging by what lie had read recently of the doings in China, they are now beginning to organise and educate their people. It was not. in his opinion, so much a war with China and Japan that they had to fear—not a military engagement—but industrial competition. Japan was becoming

the seat of great manufacture*, and China might become the same. Nation was competing with nation in Europe in industrial enterprise, and were our people to lie deemed to be mere hewers of wood, drawers of water, producers of wool, and of muwanr T-.-re the higher branches of industrial enterprise to be closed to our youths? He ho|>ed not, but we would fail and they would fail unless our people were educated and kept physically fit.