Evening star., 1895-06-01


ought to be developed from it The Yangtse
Kiang is opened up to Chun-kng and for
eigners will be able to go farther into China
| than they ever have before"
Tell me something about our new treaty
| with Japan. Does 1t give the Americans
many more advantages than they now
have?'
"Yes. indeed" replied the minister. ''By
1t citizens of the United States can go to
any part of Japan and engage in business.
They can establish manufactures and trade
directly with the people. Heretofore they
have been confined to the open ports. and
the most of their business had to be done
through the Japanese government. They
can now lease property, and from now on
Japan will be open to American manufac-
lures"
American Capital I'm Japan.
as Japan a good field for the investment
| of American capital?'
'In some respects, I think, yes Facto-
| ries could be built by foreigners in Japan
| to use Japanese labor to make articles for
export to America, The Japanese buy a
great deal of machinery, and more Ameri-
can machinery should be shipped to Japan.
What the United States needs to do busi-
| ness with us is lower freight rates. AS IT
Is. We use millions of dollars worth OF
your cotton every year. Our cotton mills
ton of American cotton will increase, as 1t
Is of special kind, and we need 1t to mix
with the cheaper cottons which we get
from China and India. At present, how
ever, 1t comes to US via Liverpool. If the
Pacific lines would make special rates 1t
could be shipped by San Francisco. If the
Nicaragua canal Is opened the United
States will probably ship direct through it.
1 am surprised that Americans do not
study the japanese market. The people
here are so rich and they have such a
| vast trade among themselves that they
havo no. yet begun to consider the trade
outside of their own boundaries. In order
to do business with the Japanese your mer-
chants and factories must study the Jap
anese people and their wants, and when
they do that they will probably supply
them with many other things than ma
chinery."
The Japanese ms Machinists.
"Can the Japanese use machinery equally
well with the people of the United States?"
YES" was the reply. THE Japanese
are a nation of mechanics. They take
naturally to machinery and use 1t gladly.
All over Japan foreign labor-saving inven-
tions are creeping in. Silk is now reeled
| and woven by machinery. We make our
own railroad cars, and we have made some
| locomotives. Nearly all the arms and mu-
| nitions of war which were used during the
recent campaigns with China were made
| in Japan. and We are almost doubling our
cotton machinery every year..
Asintic Labor.
What do you think of the future of
| the Asiatic labor market in competition
with ours? Can we successfully compete
| with you?"
"On our own ground perhaps no." was
| the reply. But l see nothing to alarm the
American laborer in the possibilities of the
| future. You have been competing here for
years with the cheapest labor of Europe
You have had the Belgians and the Ger
mans to fight. and you have conquered
again and again. The Americans are peo-
| pie of wonderful inventive brains. No mat
| ter how cheap the labor of the rest of the
| world in any line Of work, the American
| gets up machine which will do 1t cheaper.
and You have such vast aggregations Of
| capital that you can organize undertakings
| IN scale which is practically beyond COM
| petition. Take your great iron works. Take
| the Carnegie works, for Instance. They buy
| in such vast quantities that they can
| cut all expenses outside those Of labor to
| the minimum. 1 believe the Americans will
| always hold their own. They cannot work
| so chaaply nor live SO cheaply as we do but
| they can turn out a greater product. An
| other thing is that there is bound to be a
great demand from Asia for American raw
materials. Cotton Is one of these and lum-
! Der is another. As to machinery, I doubt
| whether we will ever be a great machine
| making nation. We have plenty of coal.
| and we ship vast quantities of 1t to China
| and India, We have not yet however. dis
| covered large enough deposits of iron to
| make us hope that We will manufacture
much machinery. The iron we have Is of
| very fine quality. but SO far it has not been
discovered in large Quantities. 1t may be
| that we will find mines in Yezo."
The Japanese as Inventors.
Speaking of invention. Mr.. Kurino, 1t is
often said that the Japanese are mere
copyists. that they never invent nor i'm
prove anything, but merely copy. Is this
| so@'
mo, it is not. The japanese are to a
| certain extent creative. The gun which Is
| used by their soldiers today was the in
| vention of japanese. 1t is true that they
can copy and initiate anything, but they
are by no means slavish imitators. They
teke the best of modern inventions and
combine them, and they form new prod
Ccts You must remember that they knew
nothing of this civilization which they have
now adopted a generation ago. What you
have been building up for centuries is all
| new to them After they thoroughly un-
derstand it and your wants. you may then
| look out for such inventions as will supply
| them. The Japanese are people of ideas,
| and they are always ready to adapt to their
own wants what they find good in others"
what about the future civilization of
Japan? Will it be purely occidsntal?'
mo. I think not. 1t will be a combina-
| ton of the best of the occident and orient
adapted to fit the Japanese character and
needs. We find this SO in many lines. There
| the old things wherever they are best and
| in some directions 1 have no doubt but that
| the old is the better"
Religion In Japan.
"How about religion in Japan? What
are the missionaries doing, and is there
any prospect of Christianity ever becoming
| the religion of the japanese people?"
"Who can tell?" replied the minister
| 1.-THE Japanese are fanatically welded to
ttheir old beliefs. Many of the better class
| es. and notably those who have Travelled
| much in Christian countries. are practically
agnostics as far as either Buddhism or
| Christianity is concerned. They might be
called free thinkers.
"The missionaries have done a great work
| in Japan They have made many converts,
| and 1t is g. curious thing that the japanese
| Christians prefer to have their own
| churches. and to be independent OF the
| foreigners. They like to map out their own
religious lines, and to pray and think for
| themselves You remember the discussion
| of the Briggs question, which tore the Pres
| byterian churches of the United States al
| most asunder some time ago. This ques-
| ton found its way out to Japan. and the
| native Christian pastors got together and
, discussed it. They shook the dust out of the
| 1hirty-nine Articles, and they were by far
more rigid than the opponents of DIR: Briggs