The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-02-01
PRENEZ GARDE!

ity, that Japan intends in the near
future to keep a man-of-war constant
ly in Honolulu harbor gives very ser
ious food for thought. 1t looks very
much like the writing on the wall of
Bette shazzar's palace. Perhaps that is
almost too strong a phrase, but it is
certainly both warning and men
ace.
There is no doubt that at the pres
ent time Japan is the most ambitious
power in the Pacific. The effect of
the Chinese war has been enormous,
both on her statesmen and upon her
people. There is little doubt that her
eyes are fixed upon the PHILIPPINE
Islands and that the rising f the ma
tive and mixed bloods of those
islands against the Spanish power, if
not directly instigated, has certainly
been fostered and is generally be-
lieved to have been assisted, by Japan.
Otherwise where has the plentiful sup
ply of arms come from?
To the United States this move, on
the part of Japan, should give serious
food for thought We do not mean that
the japanese government intends to
take the islands by coup de main"
at present. But the time may come
when it will. If the United States def
initely declare against annexation why
should not Japan look for a command
irr in, ha pnniGnO
Japan has large and well equipped
navy. Its officers and men are the only
force who have handled, practically,
the improved warships in actual war
fare for over a decade and they have
handled them successfully. This feet
is being enlarged rapidly, not only out
of the public funds, but out of the
Emperor's private fortune. Captain
Mahon's treatise upon the influence of
sea power upon history forms part
of the library of every japanese ship
of war and has been read by every
japanese statesman. If there is one
point that masterpiece dwells on more
than another it is the necessity of a
sea power having a chain of positions
to which its ships can retire when nee
essary to reft.
Suppose for an instant that there
should come clash between the pow
ers of the East and the powers of the
West. The supposition is perfectly
reasonable. Indeed, to the historical
student it seems inevitable. The Pa
cific of today is to the modern world
what the Mediterranean was to the
ancient world and to the middle ages,
and the Atlantic, during the seven
teenth and eighteenth centuries to the
Spanish, Dutch, French and English.
The d, anna of Rome and Carthage, of
Moslem and Christian, was played on
the small stage of the Mediterranean.
The drama of the struggle for suprem-
acy between England, France and
Spain was played out upon the waves
of the Atlantic and its surrounding
shores, but the greatest drama the
world has yet to see is going to be
played out upon the bosom of the
broad Pacific, along its enormous sea
coasts and among its countless islands.
To return to the premiss
a clash should come between the East
and the West. The power
that holds these Islands will
be the power that COM
mands almost every point in the Pa
cfic ocean. 1t is argued that the dis
lance from Japan to these Islands be-
ing so much greater than the distance
from the United States, it would be too
far for her to stretch out. But it must
be remembered that the whole force
of the japanese navy is practically
concentrated upon these Islands and,
with a cable, would he within easy
call, while the number of United States
ships within call is comparatively few,
so that in the event of collision and
group, Japan would have infinitely the
better chance.
Let the United States at once annex
the Islands and they acquire the dom
MANI posltloh III INC +Noi VI '"NiiN'
which is due to them as great power.
True, there will be need of fortified
tions, but it is a good motto which
says: ''In time of peace prepare for
war" The fruit is ripe for the pluck
ing, but the day may come when the
fruit cannot be pIucked, for another
hand may have torn it away. Are the
United States statesmen going to al
low the most western outpost of Amer