The morning call., 1894-08-05

main army at Yashan. The Chinese sur
pTised them ana killed twenty OF them
| When we first heard the report OF the ~,
| 600 we believed that the number must De
! greatly exaggerated. we BnoW thaG the
| telegram received to-day is the latest news.
and we are very convinced of Its truth.
| The telegram also says that the ngnting al
| Yashan was the first on land.
With regard to the sinking Of the Eng
| lish transport Mr. GenDaga1 translated an
editorial from his paper stating that the
news lacked details as yet ana that Cap
tain Ta-Shlro, the commander Oh the
| Naniwa, was to be trusted not TO MAKE
such a grave blunder. "He never COM
mitted mistake and lie has already done
great service for our Government"
"What is the feeling of the Japanese
generally with regard to the wa? ??
"Well, we have proyerb, Nobody likes
to have a big person sitting In front OF
him in the theateT to hide his view. mat M
is our feeling We want to stand in line
with the civilized countries of the world,
we don't want to get behind them and be
hidden. We have no wish to fight Eng
land, and we do not think It could come
to that, but we must show that japan IS
king of the Oriental sea, whomever wb have
to fight. The time has come for showing
what we can do
"It has been stated that all the Japanese
in America would be returning home II
the war went on. That is 4 mistake. Our
country has enough troops. and does not
want unframed soldiers, except iD case OF
great necessity. From the age OF 20 to %
every Japanese does military service.
After that he is in the reserve militia for
four years. On the 9th of July a thousand
Japanese belonging TO the reserve militia
sailed for our country by the Rio de
Janeiro Those Of US who are left are
under 20 or over q, and will only be called
upon IN great necessity. We are not
wanted at present"
Mr.. ChiDda, the Japanese Consul in San
Francisco, stated that he had just received
a telegram from Yokohama, which ran:
"On the 1st August war against China
was formally declared by imperial re-
script"
81 have no official Information as to the
progress of the war;" he continued. IF,
as reported, the Japanese sank the trans
port. it is my personal opinion that they
must haYe acted under provocation."
When asked whether Japan placed most
confidence in her power to win on land,
Mr.. Chinda replied emphatically in the
affirmative. ut is my opinion that our
army is thoroughly we'll equipped" he
said. China has bigger ships. and the
size OF warshlp goes long way. With
regard to our soldiers, and our sailors. too,
Tor that matter, there is a strong moral
force perVading the ranks. The men are
full of patriotism. OF course discipline
prevails. but we do not terrOrize our
soldiers.
"Our interest in Korea is negative
rather than positive. We do not wish
TO occupy it ourselves, but we also wish 10
prevent others from occupying it. Our
desire is TO see Korea recognized as an in-
dependent nation In name and in fact. and
we are ready to cope with any nation that
prevents the independence of Korea.
Japan has been one of the chief IDstru-
ments In opening Korea TO International
relations with civilized countries. You
will remember that it was formerly called
the Hermit Kingdom Now that we have
opened Ii we feel it our duty TO guide it in
the path of civilization. We have, besides,
a number of commercial relations with
Korea. and Japanese interests suffer
when the Government there is corrupt and
bad.
Sometimes the DEGREES of the Korean
Government have been very arbitrary and
unreasonable. Recently it proclaimed au
edict forbidding the export of grains. The
japanese merchants located there who
were in that business suffered heavy loss
in consequence. Indeed, the Korean Gov
erGment has made arbitrary DEGREES ac-
cording to its own faDcies, aud it is to
secure good government and the indepen-
dence of the country only that We have
gone to war;"