Evening star., 1895-09-21

center Oh the vast area aIeCteu ny tHc
great earthquake of 1891. This earthquake
killed or wounded 25.O0O people. and de-
stroyed 100000 houses. and when visited
Gifu at that time almost every house In
the city was PROSTATE. Now It is rebuilt
with better class Of houses. and is more
prosperous than ever The city was gay
with decorations. an8 there was great
crowd at the station to meet the Nagoya
soldiers. The roadway was lined for a long
distance with the children Of the public
schools. The high school boys were dressed
In smart white uniforms. The lower grade
schools were in Japinese costume. When
the train of soldiers auived they we're well
coined by the assenlbtage with cheers of
our sort. and with ringing, staccato.
Japanese hurrah, that sounds like some of
our college yells. The school boys followed
with patriotic national songs. which they
delivered with vim. Pretty Japanese girls
dressed In their gayest costumes carried
tea to the soldiers in the cars. Fireworks
were set off, though it was midday. And
when the train moved of for Nagoya there
was great uproar Of applause. in which
the Americans in our train took part, you
may believe.
Patriotic School Boys.
All along the line it was the same thing,
everywhere arches and decorations, flags,
banners and fireworks, and everywhere
neatly clad, bright-looking school boys ar
rayed In file to greet the soldiers; whereby
every boy of them Is certain to be inspired
with the military spirit. The military train
ing in the public schools here is much as
with US. Every house, the most humble.
has a nag or banner with the national colors
"a bright red ball on a white ground. The
red ball is indicative of the chief name of
Japan-"the Empire of the Rising Sum-"
This is its old title but it seems especially
appropriate to it now, as the rising empire
Of today.
The Wherefore of 1t.
How do you account for this sudden de-
velopment Of the military spirit in Japan?
Well. the japanese have been a warlike
race from their earliest history: fact that
seems to have been forgotten or never
known by many people. They have been
underrated by most modern writer's Pierre
Lott, the French writer, characterizes them
as a nation of frivolous monkeys. and even
their most enthusiastic admirer, Sir Edwin
Arnold. says (or said before their war with
China): THE Japanese people have the ma
ture rather of birds or butterflies than ordi-
nary human beings" Generally the books
alton in the country but its temples. tea
houses and bric-a-brac. Captain Brinkley.
editor OF the Japan Mail and one of the most
Intelligent and best informed authorities
upon Japanese matters. says. in treating
upon the subject, that "the Japanese were
never peace-loving people,"
The briefest reference to japanese history
connrms this assertion. Feudalism in old
Japan, with Its fighting clans and elevation
of the soldiers to the first position In the So
cial scale; its law of personal honor, where
by death was always welcomed in prefer
ence to dishonor or dscredit, has made ia
pan nation of soldiers.
The Fortyrseven Ronins.
The historical story that is foremost in
japanese art, literature and the drama is
that of THE Forty-sevan Ronins," who de-
voted their lives to91avenging the wrongs Of
their dead masters and who, when their
task was accomplished, joyfulIy committed
hari kiri and were buried by the side Of
their chieftain. THIS burial ground is one
Of the sacred places Of Japan. and there is
a constant procession of pilgrims going
there to worship. This illustrates the ma
tional appreciation of deeds of bravery and
devotion to duty at the sacrifice of life.
The old samauri Of soldiers were not only
the fighters but the educated class, and oc-
cupied the highest position in the social
scale Next in the scale came the farmers,
who were held highly as the food pro-
ducers. and last came the merchants.
In China the rule of rank has been the
ixact reverse. There the merchants have
held the first rank and the soldiers the low
est. So it comes naturally that the mer-
chants of China rank higher for character
and capacity than those of Japan, and
that the soldiers Of Japan are of so much
higher quality than those of China. The
Chinese soldiers had to be prodded to the
front, and deserted at the first opportunity,
while the Japanese sprang to the fighting
line with almost fanatical zeal.
The Future of China.
What is to be the future of China?
That is conundrum. There are all sorts
of opinions afloat in the east on that ques-
ton. Some hold that China will collapse
as a nation and be divided up among Euro
pean powers. Others believe that she will
now realize that her salvation depends
upon the adoption at once of thorough
and comprehensive system Of reform and
progress.
Yung Wing, who was formerly of the
Chinese legation in Washington and who
returned to China on the same steamer
that took us to Japan, has faith in a great
future for China. He believes that the
lesson of the war will be improved; that
a reform era will set in; progressive ideas
adopted: railways built; public schools
established; the country opened up to
trade; the corruptions of official life abol-
ished, etc. He says one great need of
China is common schools. The present
training is literary and ethical and not
practical.
China should adopt a public school sys-
tenn like that of America and should have
a military training feature Of the schools.
The military spirit is wanting in China
because soldiers have been held in con-
tempt there and rank in the lowest class
of society. The Chinese have been edu-
Gated to abhor fighting and fighting men,
The patriarchal system prevailing in
China causes a want of public spirit as
the people have no voice in affairs and
say that everything in the way Of re-
sponsibility falls on the rulers.
Yung Wing when in diplomatic service
in Washington was noted. it will be re-
membered, for his progressive ideas. He
succeeded after many years labor in in
ducing the Chinese government to send