Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-03

and when Inouye left the castle one night
he was set upon by a mob and slashed and
hacked and left for dead by the roadside.
He recovered consciousness and was able
to crawl to his mothers house, and 1t was
only by careful nursing that he was
brought back to life, and he bears on his
face today the scars of the wounds he re-
ceved during that night. Shortly after
this time the Shotgun was put down, and
the revolution was organized by which the
mikado again became the real ruler of the
people, and the western civilization gradu-
ally worked its way in. In every move
ment toward modern progress both Ito and
Inouye have been in the 'front.' and 1t is due
largely 10 them that Japan now stands
shoulder to shoulder with any modern ma
ton on the globe. Count Ito has long been
the most influential and powerful of all the
japanese statesmen, and he is now pushing
the civilization of which he got his first
knowledge in this romantic way into the
land of Corea, and there is no telling but
that his ambition may be the eventual rev.
authorizing of China itself. He Is certain
ly a most remarkable man, and all the dip
lomats who have met him speak of his WON
derfIl ability. He had an Interview with
Ii Hung Chang not long ago, and during 1t
Ii changed his views Of japan, which he
had thought up to that time was danger
Gus to China. but Ito told him that Japan
and China should be friends, and that 1t
was to their interest to work together. 1
am told that Ito at this time really be-
lieved this to be the case. but he has since
evidently changed his opinion"
A Talk With Count Ito.
1 arranged. strange to say. for my talk
with Count Ito by telephone. Think Of it,!
Telephones in the land of Japan. l called
up his private secretary, and was told that
the count had gotten my letter, and would
receive me at o'clock sharp that after
noon. In a jinriksha, with two men to haul
me- 1 rode along the edge of the moats
which surround the palace grounds, passed
A. rl;o, br,sl1 fr,ern nd N
by the American legation. into what is now
the most fashionable part of the Japanese
capital. Ii is made up of modern buildings
surrounded by large yards, so walled In
that they look like the fashionable suburbs
of a European capital. Count Itos house
was a large one, of two stories. built OF
brick, with great porte cochere running
out above the front door. A Japanese but
Ter, IN brass buttons and European clothes,
received my card, and showed me into
parlor large as the blue room OF the
White House. 1t was furnished In foreign
style. and was, to my eyes. not half so
pretty as many of the pure Japanese MONIES
/ waited a moment, when a dark faced,
heavy man of perhaps fifty years entered
the room. He had long body, but rather
short legs. and he was dressed in frock
coat of black and dark pantaloons, while
his shoes were evidently imported from
England. 1t was Count Ito. He Is,
Judge about five feet six inches high, and
he weighs about one hundred and sixty
pounds. He Is well formed and muscular
His eyes are a bright black. and not so
almond in shape as the average japanese
type. His forehead is high, his nose rather
thick and his mouth, which shows through
rather thin mustache and Whiskers Of
black is strong and yet pleasing. He shook
my hand in American fashion, and ad-
dressed me in English He chatted with me
about the growth of Japan, and he told
me that he thought the country was just
on the edge of its development, and that
it had a great future He referred to the
Japanese troops which he was then sending
into Corea, and when I asked him as to
whether he thought that there might be a
war between Japan and China, he shrug-
ged his shoulders, and said: who can tell?
We are sending our soldiers to Corea to
take care of our people, and II the Coreans
should ask us to help them put down the
rebellion, we might possibly consent. There
Is one thing that Is certain and that Is
that IL our soldiers are attacked they will
fight and, as 1t is now, China has already
been the aggressor. But. you know, i can
hardly talk on this subject just now. The
situation Is critical. and no one can tell
whether there will be war or not"
Did Ito Plan the Wnrf
This was three weeks before the war was
declared, and there is no doubt but that
Count Ito at that time had all his plans
laid, and he gave me to understand during
the interview that 1t would take very little
provocation to bring his men into battle. A
few days later the Japanese transports
were carrying thousands Of troops into
Corea and the condition Of the Japanese
army shows that Japan had long had war
in sight. The military department was so
were shipped out of the country without
creating more than ripple upon the wa
tiers of the social and business life of the
Japanese empire, and the troops which We're
sent to Corea were thoroughly equipped both
for fighting and for reforming the country.
They carried telephone and Geographic ma
terial, and while the Chinese tried to live
off of the people, they carried all of their
own provisions and took coolies with them
by the thousand to aid them in transport
ing their baggage. In connection with
Count Ito and the different parties of the
Japanese empire. 1t is curious to state that
both the administration and the opposition
parties delegated men to go along to report
on the actual occurrences In order that they
might use the same as political capital, and
all of the newspapers sent corps of re-
porters. A few days after my interview.
however, Count Ito made the censorship of
the press even more rigid than 1t had been
in the past, and the papers were warned
that any comments upon or news Of the
war which might be published without first
going through the hands Of the censors
would subject the paper to immediate sus-
pension and its editors to fines and impris-
onment. This has been the policy of Count
Ito throughout the struggle, and the little
talk that l had with him Is probably the
last that will be given to any newspaper
man until the war closes. l have received
letters from Japan within the past few
days, saying that no news whatever is
given out to correspondents, and that 1t is
almost impossible to get anything authentic
regarding the war. The japanese outside of
Count Ito and his confidential officials know
practically nothing. and for the Chinese,
they systematically lie in regard to such
matters as reports Of their battles.
Japan's Industrial DEVELOPMENT
During my conversation with Count Ito
the question of Japan's Industrial develop
| ment came up, and he spoke of the growth
OF Osaka amt of It's cotton mills. He said
that most foreigners in estimate Japan's
possibilities forgot to put in the women
who are equal with the men in almost all
manufactures. and who practically double
the working force OF the japanese nation
They do a great deal Of work in the cotton
mills and they have hand in the making
Of nearly everything that Is shipped to
America. AS to cotton, Count Ito told me
that Japan had thirty years ago about 5000
risen in 1888 to over 10000. Within five
years from that it had doubled, having then
$1,000 spindleS. This was in 1855, and there
were twenty-four mills then at work. -Four
years later the spindles numbered 100 600
and there are now forty-six great modern
mills with 100000 spindles. 1t Is impossible to
estimate the growth Of Japan's modern
manufactures and the greater part of her