The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-28
England and Japan.

NMbAA~N SAN OSp"A
There may be no foundation for the re
port autographed from London to q .Pari
newspaper that Lord CHARLES BEREsFoRD
now on his way to the Far East, is tn
bearer Of a draft Of q treaty Of alliance be
tween Great Britain and Japan. 1t is, new
srtheless, certain that common interest
are impelling the two countries named to
coalition, and 1t would not be surprising 1
o treaty should embody the terms on which
cooperation will be based.
The Japanese nave for some time recog
nized that the good will Of Great Britain Ii
OF vital moment to the welfare OF their ma
ton. They can hope for no other ally
among the European powers. But fol
France, Germany, and Russia, the Mikadc
would have been able to keep the territory
on the Asiatic mainland, which was coded tc
him by China, and which would have opened
to his empire the prospect Of indefinite ex.
pansion. The three powers, which then in.
terposed to thwart him, are still acting to.
gether in the affairs Of the Far East, and
are likely 30 to act for a long time, or, at
least, until war shall break out between the
Triple Alliance and the Franco-Russian
league. The chance Of securing additional
insular possessions seems also to be cut off
now that the United States have occupied
Manila, for the great islands to the south
of the Philippines. to wit, Borneo. Celebes
and New Guinea, lave been partitioned
among European claimants.
Itfollows that the Japanese, to whom a
field for extension is indispensable, are
constrained to revert to their traditional
policy, and to seek control Of the Corean
peninsula. Upon this they might lay
hands tomorrow, were they sure of Eng
lands support at sea, and they might
establish themselves there in an almost
i~mpregnable way before the Russians
could attack them by land with any pros
pect Of success, because at least four years
will be needed to complete the Trans
Siberian Railway to Vladivostock. and two
years more to finish the branch through
Manchuria to Port Arthur. Once firmly
lodged in Corea, the japanese would be in a
position to take advantage of larger oppor-
~tunities, and, with the aid Of England's sea
power and England's money, might hope to
drive the Russians from Manchuria should
the Car one day be occupied by q war against
the Triple Alliance. In this direction, at all
events, seems to lie the one chance of
ACKNOWLEDGMENT that is left open to Japan.
Nor Is 1t ACKNOWLEDGEMENT alone which is at
stake the very existence of a nation which
constitutes less than a tenth part Of the
yellow race would be threatened by the
conquest and partition Of China on the part
Of the three powers which revised the Shimo-
noseki treaty.
England, on the other hand, has prcfessed
o determination to uphold China's terri
torial integrity, and, although she has SUBJ
mttted to more than one encroachment
upon 1t, she would, probably, fghtto main
tain the great Yang-tse-Kiang valley under
either the present Manchu Dynasty or
some other representative OF the yellow
race. Whether the Japanese still entertain
the hope, which they not unnaturalIy cher
ished after the capture OF Port Arthur
and Wei Hal Wei, the hope of developing
China's boundless under the MI
kado's sway, or whether they are anxious
to avert the eventual engulfment of their
country by China, they cannot but recog-
nlze In England a possible coadiutor.
From the English point OF view, q COM
blnation with Japan must seem scarcely
less desirable. All British and American
students of tho Far Eastern problem
are now agreed that the British Foreign
Office made a grave mistake in not
preventing the war between China and
Japan. SO marked at the time was the
p~redominance OF British influence in Pc
kin that the Tsungli-Yamen could have
been easily induced to make such timely
and generous concessions in the matter OF
Corea as would have stopped the outbreak
OF hostilities. The mere remuneration OF
China's historical claim OF suzerainty over
the Hermit Kingdom would have suflced
to restrain Japan from war, but, as the
event has shown, tho Tsung-lI-Yamen
might, with advantage, nave gone further
and permitted the japanese TO become.
practically, masters of Corea. They would
have been neighbors infinitely less dan
gerous than are the Russians, for a long
time, doubtless, would have elapsed before
the assimilation Of Corea was completed.
and before the Mikado felt ut liberty TO
menace the integrity OF the Middle king.
dom. The mistakes committed by Great
Britain, however, did not terminate with
the failure to avert the contest between
China and Japan.
announcer opportunity was missed when
In the spring OF 500 the Shimonoseki
treaty was concluded. Two courses were
then open to Lord RosEBERY. First ms
having at his disposal the largest naval
force In the Far East, he could hova
taken tile principal part In recurring a re-
vision OF that treaty and the exclusion NJ
the Japanese from the Aslatic mainland
He would thus have established BRITISH
U0eA0sf more firmly than ever at