Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-05-22

ct, as much as to SAY that the price was
right. Ito knew he had been cheated.
but he could not help himself. and SO he
had to submit.
His Trip tor England.
But why did Ito go to Landon? $500
The story gives yon some idea of the
character of the mani He was born of q
good family, his father belonging to the
Samurai. or military class. The Samurai
were far above the cannon people. They
were sort of feudal retainers of the princes
and Daimos. or mobiles. They did no work,
but Travelled about Japan with two swords
at their sides, ready to fight on the slight
est nrovocation, and devoted themselves to
nghting the 'feuds of. their lords. About
the time that Ito was a young man
Inc foreigners began to come to Japan.
Our Commodore Perry had made the
treaty opening up certain Of the seaports.
ready to enforce submission. There was at
the time anti-foreign and foreign parties
In Japan. Young Ito was against the for
eigners and he conceived the idea of going
barbarians did things He wanted to see
whether they had as many soldiers and as
much wealth as was reported, and to stay
among them until he could learn how to
conquer them. With this in view he got
lot OF young fellows together and went to
his prince. The prince said the idea was
good one and supplied Ito and Innouye with
money to carry it out. 1T was then against
the law for any one to leave Japan without
the permission of the Shotgun, who was the
commander-in-chief Of the armies and who
was practically the ruler. The Shotgun was
opposed to the clan to which Ito and In
nouye belonged, and they realized that he
would not let them go. So they ran away
without asking. They took boat one rainy
night and rowed out to an English ship in
me harbor OF Yokohama. The ship was
just ready to- sail for Shanghai, where they
were to get steamer for London When
they arrived at Shanghai 1t was found that
meme of the party could speak English
TO- however, knew two words. One Of
t IN was = navigation" and the. other
LONDON Their prince had sent some
money to firm of English merchants at
Shanghai, with instructions that the boys
be given passage to London by steamer. But
when Ito over and over again said the
words navigation" and London pointing
to his friend Innouye as he did so, the mer-
chants got the idea that the two boys
wanted to learn navigation by going to
London, and SO they put them on a sailing
vessel and made them work their way
there before the mast The rest of the
party was forwarded by steamer and the
most or the money went with them. They
mad already arrived and were settled in
London when Ito and Irnouye came, and
when the two boys found them, as they
did shortly after the trouble with the
paker, their money woes were at an end.
Ito mad not been in London however, more
than very few days before he realized
the great strength. of our civilization. He
saw that Japan could never succeed in
fight with England, and he decided to go
back and tell his prince what he had dis
covered. He was the more anxious to
go because he had learned that a war had
broken out in Japan between his prince
and the Shotgun. The result was that he
remained In London only a week or so.
When he got back to Japan he found the
a fa v1yQc
in danger through his telling the real truth
as to their strength. He had number
of narrow escapes, and 1nnOuye, who had
told the some stories,s was almost cut to
pieces by a mob.
Ito and the Emperor.
1t was shortly after this that the Shotgun
was put down. The emperor, who had Up
to this time been merely a puppet in the
hands of the army, was made the real ruler
OF Japan, and the movement toward nod
ern progress began. Young Ito now came
to the front. He and 1nhouye soon got to
be leaders in the new movement, and from
that time to this they have done every
thing to Introduce the western civiliZati On
into Japan. 1t was Ito, in fact; who wrote
the articles which now form the constitu-
ton of the japanese empire. He Is to a
large extent the author of the present gov
eminent, and the liberty and free thought
which Japan has today are largely due to
with the Samurats or military class, and
elevated the farmers, mechanics and trades
men, so that the people Of Japan today are
almost as free as We are here. You would
think as the result of this that he would
not be popular with the emperor, but Ito.
in fact, Is the emperor's right hand. In
all of his reforms he has seen that he
emperor's rights were protected. He has
watched over the emperor's private inter-
ests, seen that the imperial estates were
not affected by the changes. and has so
managed things as to make his majesty
more than ever popular with the Japanese
people. 1t is through Ito that parliament
has no right to interfere with the en-
peror's household expenses. The emperor
opens parliament himself, and the MEM
bers of his cabinet go into the different
houses and defead the administrat ton. The
emperor can veto any law that may be
made, and he can make laws himself when
parliament is not sitting. He can pardon
any one he pleases, and he has entire con-
troll Of the army and navy; 1t was
through Ito that the constitution was so
adroitly worded that the emperor could
act practically Independent of 1t, though
as a rule almost every thing that is done in
Japan is by an act of parliament.
Japan and the DinEley Bill.
Marquis Ito will probably look into trade
relations during his stay in America. I
learn at the Japanese legation that the
merchants of Japan are decidedly opposed
to the Dingley bill. If tariff is put upon
mating and silks 1t will cut off millions
of dollars worth of trade from japan and
the ten-cents a pound duty on tea will raise
a howl throughout the tea factories of the
empire. Business has been very good in
Japan since the war closed. japanese bust
ness has been steadily growing better and
many Of the Japanese people are getting
rich. / found that nearly every stock COM
parry in the country was paying dividends.
Some of the banks were making from IL
to 20 per cent. The railroad companies
were doing we'll and many new roads were
being built. There are now over five thou
sand stock companies in Japan. These op-
crate mines, railroads, silk factories, cot
ton factories and other industrial enter
prises In a large number of the factories
steam is used and modem machinery Is
being introduced very rapidly. During my
chat with Ito he spoke of the wonderful
industrial growth of Japan and could see
that the prosperity of his nation was very
close to his heart. He spoke of the won
derful increase in cotton making, and said
that Japan would more and more every
year manufacture for the rest of the world
One remark he made struck me very for
chilly. This was as to the working power
of the Japanese people. Said he: You for
eigners do not appreciate the number of
persons we have here in Japan, who can do
coed work. 1 visited the United States
and 1 know something of the Industrial
conditions there. You can multiply our
bv tuo In r,tSl,