Hawaii holomua = Progress. [volume] (Honolulu) 1893-1895, 1894-11-21
THE ORIENTAL WAR.
By His E1cellency,
The Japanese Minister
At washington
S. KURINO.
From The North American Review
(coatinued.)

They assume. for example, that
the Chinese administration, per-
meated as it Is by corruption and
incapacity is to-.spring into reju-
yenated yigor and efficiency under
the spur of disaster and defeat.
They take it for granted, also,
that Japan will stand idly by
while this IS goi, G on, without
seeking to profit by the advan
tages which her arms have won
for her. To say the least OF 1t.
Che assumption is violent one
Of what effect, it may be asked,
Chinas vast reserve of strength if
her rulers do not know how to
utilize it? If after years of pre-
partition and the expenditure OF
vast sums of money. the Chinese
Government can only muster a
comparatively small force OF
trained soldiers, or gather toge-
Their not more than a fragmentary
part of the stories and munitions
obtained at such great cost, who
will say that better results can be
achieved in the midst OF the dis
tress and confusion of serious re-
verses? Such an assumption IS
purely conjectural, and would
hardly be worthy of serious no
tice did it not involve another n.y.
pothesis; that is to say, that Jap
an has entered upon war of con-
quest and of selfish aggrandize-
ment. A war of that kind must
necessarily be protracted. and it
is only in such war that this
suppositious recuperatieve power
would have the opportunity of
displaying itself. There is no
thing either in.the course of events
or in the declarations of the Jap
anese Government to justify such
a supposition. Certainly that is
not the view which the Japanese
people take of the matter. We
are not waging war of conquest
or of ACCOMPLISHMENT, but fight
ing for principle which involves
our own safety and wellbeing. If
we had challenged China to this
conflict with only the advantage
which our military superiority
gives us, and if we continued the
contest from mere greed of con-
quest, we might have reason to
dread the recuperatlve power
which wealth and numbers give.
and, even more, the disapproyal
which sooner or later oyertakes
him who provokes an unjust
quarrel.
For proof that Japan has never
sought to provoke such a quarrel
we can refer to our efforts during
the past quarter of a century to
establish cordial understanding
with China. The mutual benefit
of friendship and of a helpful and
neighborly spirit between two
nations who have so many inter
ests in common has been one of
the motive powers of our state
policy. This has been the senti-
ment of the men who have done
most to develop and to direct pub
lie opinion inJapan, and our lead
ing statesmen and thinkers have
attempted to guide the nations
course upon these lines. But
their advances have met with cold
suspicion or with words that had
no tangible result. The attitude
of China has been most peculiar
at times apparently friendly, fire.
quently tinged by hardly con-
cealed hostility. and never mark
ed by the genuine warmth of
sincere good-feeling. She has
seemed incapable of understand
ing or Of forgiving Japan's aband-
onment Of ancient standards. She
has hovered.. between perplexity
and disdain, and at times has as
sumed the airs of q stern school
mistress astonished and dismayed
by the incomprehensible actions
Of an Grant scholar. Japan has
borne this treatment with equani-
nifty, confident in the belief that
finally even Chinese conservatism
must yield to the impact of mod
ern ideas.
But the task has not been an
easy one. and there have been oc-
cssions when her patience has
been taxed to the utmost The
crisis came in Korea, where, alter
years Of endeavor to establish q
state of things which would be
beneficial TO all three countries,
Japan found herself confronted by
a manifestation Of arrogance and
duplicity which threatened TO per
petuate = chaotic condition Of
affairs wherein lurked the gravsst
dangers 10 herself. and to China,
also. If she had but realized it. To
have yielded then would have
been to abandon interests that
we're vital t. the welibeing Of the
empire.
70 b contiassd.