Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-10-13


as Mr.. Seki has taken unmistakeabe means OF let
ting everybody know. is In politics liberal and
Of any one statesman more than another are rep.
lnouye who presided over the treaty revision con
commerce, but the notion Of this Is probably due
more 10 the Intimate private friendship between
which appears In the Nichi Nfch itself.
oNK-MAN ORGAN
ON q par with this paper, or close on its heels
comes the FL, Sainapo-the Times-an independ-
emit radical journal. This, like so many in Paris,
several In the United States, and at least one in
one man with original and characteristic opinions
ana independent even to reckIessness In express
peculiar strength and weakness Of this course
the man Is Mr.. Fukuzawa, one OF the most inter-
ana h personalities in Japan He
foreign manuals OF history, political economy
geograpny, philosophy, &C., and thus directing
knowledge. He has been for many years the head
OF tne largest private school In Japan, where his
ao over seven or eight hundred young men
unites the highest degree Of personal magnetism
ana eoQuence so that II he chooses to
make himself prominent In politics during the next
few years. when the Introduction OF representative
government will give to public speaking the same
place pace ana power that It has among Western ma;
LIONS, ne Will become force for tue professional
politicians to reckon with. His temperament,
however, is that OF the dreamer rather than that
VI tHc aCtOI UT the practical RuQe, ana unQer DIS
rule the FIJI Shimpo Is constantly putting forth
great schemes or reform. which strike the imagi-
nation without Offering any point Of contact with
that financial reform should be begun by cutting
on one-half OF the salaries OF all government Of
ncials as though the poor stipends OF the nations
clerks all put together would be more than drop
In the bucket OF national expenditure. Then again
ne lost caste greatly even among his own students
Dy MS proposal that christianity, In which he
professed, in common, as he said, with all INTEL
1gent men, TO feel no personal taith, should be
universally adopted for political ends. The FVt
Shtmpo Is always thoughtful and suggestive, but
us suggestionS-Or rather Mr.. Fukuzawa's-are
kmersonian in their subtlety and Incompetent
sioiity, and Carlylean in their vigor and inaccu-
racy.
AN OFFICIAL ORGAN.
Among the newspapers OF the capital the Hochi
| Shimbun-The Post-is second to none, and its
position is due not little the fact that 1t is dis
OF foreign affairs Mr.. Yano. the editor having
been formerly closely associated with Count
Okuma Ia active political life. The Japanese
foreign minister is we'll acquainted with all the
tactlcs OF western ministers. and Prince Bismarck
knows no more about the press or its value or its
hangers THAN Count Okuma does. He is, too, a
statesman with will of his own and distinct and
Iorclole conceptions OF the position which Japan
owes IL TO her own dignity and her past and her
commands attention when 1t speaks and Will COM
mand 1t more and more among those who know,
as Count Okuma's influence begins to make itself
ieit-and 1t Will make itself Enthusiastically felt
In the great question OF treaty revision, question
coming TO the front again very much sooner than
| Is generally expected.
Among the other leading papers are the Mainichi
Snimoun (hCery Days Ne,0s). liberal journal
owned by Mr.. Numa, the speaker of the Tokyo
assembly, and edited by Mir. Shimada; the ChOyd
Shna6un iO0ic,dl and Popular Ne,Us) a LIBERAL
paper edited by Mr.. Yoshida; the Tokyo DeDipO
lIetegrdph), conservative journal, generally
regarded as the organ OF General TAM, formerly
minister or agriculture and commerce, but who,
although al Ways considered a thorough conserva-
tive, was compelled 10 leave the government be-
|
| treaty revision should be dropped entirely until
the national assembly had been formed two years
| terms OF It; and the KOron Shimpo pubic
Optnton), newy-estabiished like the preceding
Gn 1aGoa sas Of By
Japanese member OF the English bar, now
residing abroad for a while under the recent
peace preservation acts. The Koron Shimpo IS
closely associated, too, with Count Golo, poll
uclan or much activity OF MIND, although he has
never yet succeeded In forming a steady nucleus
OF political principles around which gather that
radical and opposition party he is credited with
the desire TO lead. The terms "liberal" and soon
10 japanese politicians and the Japanese press,
must necessarily he misleading, or at any rate
very vague, until the debates or the national as
Sembly naturally result In The formation OF dis
tinct parties. AT present statesmen here, and
therefore newspapers as well, are divided accord
Ing to their personal differences upon each Ques-
| ton as 1t arises
| THz LEADING ENGLISH DAILY.
come now TO the leading English daily paper in
this part OF the East, the Japan MaiL although 1t
| would perhaps have been more in accordance with
tne position and influence OF that paper II had
| De4un with II. AS In the case OF Mr.. Fukuzawa
| and me Fl Stintpo, s0-with great difference
tae Japan Mad springs every day from the brains
| OF one man. IG IL edited and owned by Captain u.
Brinkley, X. A. who began life In the East
| IN 1866 as alde-de-camp to his cousin Sir
Richard Graves Macdonald, then governor or Hong
| OF the artillery stationed there, and two years
later, with the Permission the Horse Guards ac-
cept.d me position OF teacher OF strategy and tao
Tics 10 the troops OF the prince OF Ecnizen one of
| the greatest OF the reudal Daimios The reslors-
| sion abolished forces OF this kind, and Captain
Brinkley then entered the service OF the mikadO's
| government and took charge Of the school Tor
marine officers. by and by the marines were abOl-
| lshed In japan as elsewhere, and then he became
| professor or mathematics in the engineering COL
| lege. When In the onward march or japan she
dispensed with all foreign professors except tech
aieai ones s, capt: Brink,ey purchased the Japan
II from local sheet to journal ranking with any
IN the East, and the recognized authority upon
Japanese affairs the world over. Capt Brinkley is
| truly remarkable man, and though the loss TO
Japan would probably be irremediable one cannot
aeip resretung that his great ability should not
nnd It's natural scope In some Western capital.
| HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE
certainly so far as 1t is spoken, is much beyond
that OF any other foreigner its modern history its
politics, Its finance and its foreign relations he
| knows on the whole IL is hardly too much to saw
upon Chinese and nyce as an authority
he has no equai, and his collections are famous
among c0nnOiSseurs everywhere; he Is on mt
mate personal terms with the japanese ministers
and the Foreign representatives alike, and not
alone during the stormy times or Treaty Revision
but also on many other occasions, hts personal
have played an important part In the fortunes and
foreign relations OF the Japanese empire. Indeed
| only last night the editor OF one OF the yer.
nacular papers / have described at length
above, SAID TO me IN the club. "Captafn
Brinkley's knowledge OF the Japanese is
| us-everythingT Most remarkable CT all. per
haps while his sister, the Countess OF Kin9stOn
was In the midst OF her troubles with her Tenants
which were settled by her free concession of All
that the plan OF campaign demanded, Captain
Brinkley, though unionist, was able TO DISCUSS
the question OF home-rule with an open mind and
good temper. ADD TO this that he Is as folly and
for the larrily" In Kerry, or upset a pitcher in
Coleralne, and that his knowledge, his experience
his collections and his time are put with unfatnT
patience at the service OF everybody who Is reaiY
and genuinely Interested in the empire where he
has made bis home, and IL Is hardly necessary for
| me to 60 on and say that am under the greatest
obligations TO htm-obgations altogether too
| great for detailed acknowledgment. There are ar
Yokohama two other papers published In English.
the Herald and the Gazette. They are however
purely the organs OF tina @ooal foreign commer.ai
community, their creed Is "fOreigners Especially
Englshmen, right or wrong" and they make little
or no attempt 70 represent Japanese Thought and
feeling.
Finally, to return TO the vernacular press for a
moment the same thing must happen before long
In japan that has happened nearly everywhere
else. The right man Will get hold Of one of the
Old newspapers, he will secure the support OF an
enterprsing capitalist, he will fnOd Japan with