The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1882-02-11
A Constitutions Government for Japan.

The following Imperial decree is Published IN
the Japan Mail
We, sitting on the throne which has been oc-
cupied by our dynasty for over , 500 year,, and
now exercising, n our own name and right. all
the authority and power transmitted 10 u by our
ancestors.
We have long had it in view gradually to
establish Il constitutional form of government 20
the end that the peaceful pcrmanence Of our
dynasty may be assured and our successors pro-
vided with a rule for their guidance.
sit Is with this object IN view that, in the 9Th
year OF Meiji, We established the Genro-ln, and in
the llth year OF Mc,ji authorized the formation
of Local Assemblies, thus laying the foundation
Tor the gradual reforms which We contemplated.
These our acts must convince you, our subjects,
Of our determination in thus respect from the
beginning.
''Systeius of government differ in different
countries, but sudden and unusual changes cam
not be made without great Inconvenience.
" Our ancestors in Heaven watch our acts,
ana we recognize our responsibility to them for
the faithful discharge Of OUT high duties, in ac-
curdance with the principles and the perpetual
increase OF the glory they have bequeathed us.
= We therefore hereby declare that we shall.
IN the 23d year of Meji, establish Il Parliament,
in order to carry into full effect the determination
we have announced and we charge our subjects
bearing our commissions to make, in the mean
time. all necessary preparations to that end.
- W ltn regard 10 the limitations upon the lu-
pcrial prernsative. aud the Constitution OF the
Parliament, we shall decide hereafter and shall
make proclamation in due time.
We perceive that the tendency of our people
is TO advance too rapidly, and without that
thought and consideration which alone can make
progress enduring, and we warn our subjects,
high and low, to be mindful OF our will. and that
those who may advocate sudden and violent
changes, thus disturbing the peace OF our realm,
will TALL under our displeaSure.
:" We expressly proclaim this to our subjects.
"By Comman of His Imperial Majesty,
tSigned) SANJo SANEToMI,
FIRST Minister Of State.
4" 18th day, 10th Month, l4th year of Meiji
Q2th, October, 1881"
The Mail remarks - Apart from the great
fact it announces, what strikes us most on reading
this rescript is, that it is at once an evidence Of
change and of stability. OF change, because it
promises Japan that, having passed from the
wretchedness of feudalism to the comparative ex-
cellence of a liberal bureaucracy, she shall now
at Il fixed and not very remote date, ascend to one
Of the highest types of pOlity-a Constitutional
Government; of stability, because beyond all this
transition is discernible the sacred majesty Of a
Monarch whose throne rests on the religious faith
of his subjects.
" That the terms of this rescript will meet
with universal approval is most unlikely. Fore
most among those who are sure TO cry out against
it as an unnecessary procrastinatIon OF the ma
. u Xix lI dAC VI bS ~ ~
cietIes the men who, seeing them elves in
competent to struggle to the surface in times OF
social tranquility, would lain stir up some tide OF
disturbance for the sake of the walls its waters
may drift within their reach. To such as these
the last paragraph Of the Imperial decree is spe-
clally addressed. Tho Emperor tells his subjects
to reflect before they stretch out too eager hands
towards IA goal that precinItancy can only tend to
make more distant. They are not denied though
admonished in so many words, but the construc-
" EH e-~I
reflections. Its opening sentence carries the
minds of the people back To the ages when social
freedom and political rights were dreams that had
never visited the happiest sleeper, and bids them
draw a contrast between those evil days and. these
later years OF progress, which has now come
within sight of it's bourne. Japan is not 10 dis
sociate herself from her past. The law-abiding
reverence which, under the rule OF one hundred
and twenty-five sacred monarchs. has grown into
an element of the national character, Is not to be
set aside or despised but rather to be strengthened
by the contemplation of the channels into which
the Emperor's hereditary benetcence has been
directed. The reins OF power were reassumed
fourteen years ago, and not to be held hence!Orth
by an autocrat, but to be placed 80 soon as might
be, in the hands Of his faithful people. If the
achievement of the purpose that obtained at the
restoration has been somewhat delayed. the
gradual and unswerving steps by which it has
been approached, leaves no room TO doubt its
ultimate ~onsumation OF those steps the nation
ia reminded as an earnest OF things awaiting it in
the immediate future. The programme Is certain,
but il must be deliberate. Those whose vol es
have reached the throne from all quarters Of the
Empire, praying that the nation s expectancy may
soon be satisfied, can now look forward TO the de-
finite realization Of their hopes, and 1t will be
for them to prove by their temperance and dIscre-
ton that the period of their probation may be
shortened while those, on the other hand, who
find delay intoIerable because it prolnngs their
own insigniicance, are reminded that any adyo-
cacy of - sudden and violent changes will
inevitably incur the Imperial displeasure. "