The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-07-17
JAPAN A POWER
RECOGNIZED sAT LAST AS AN
EQUAL BY THE WORLDS
GREAT NATIONS
new TREATY IN EFFECT TO-DAY
DIPLOMATIC PROCEDURE OF LAsT
FIFTY YEARS REvoLUTIoNIz-
ED BY THE CHANGE
EMPIRE OPEN TO TRADE

Foreigners No Longer Confined tn
the Treaty Ports, but MAY En-.
gage In Business In Any Portion
OF the COuntry-New Era I'm tba
Relations of Oriental States with
the Rest of the World.
WASHINGTON, July ia new treaty
between the United States and Janan
cues INTO erect tomorrow, at which time
also new treaties between JaDau and
nearly all of the countries of E,irona
and some Of the South American renub-
lies also go into effect 1t is an evenr n,
far reaching Importance in the reIo+ion.
between Japan and the United States aa
II aoes away with the treaty methods
~iiich nave been in vogue for nearly
'ltV years and substitutes an entirely
ne" method of procedure. The same ia
u iue III the relations of Japan with other
countries.
Iaken as whole the new treaties
pldce Japan on an entirely new footing
with the world at large, as she is recog-
hlzed for the first time as an equal in
every respect. The treaty with +bis
country was made Nov. %. 1891 IN
washington between Secretary Gresh-
am and Minister Kureno. who then ron
resented Japan here. The changes -
mace were Sc far reaching that it was
ueCeFmlned that the treaty should not on
INTO operation until July II, 1899.
Iutaro kcmura, the present JapanesA
minister In Washington, was seen a+ tba
japanese legation today and gave an in
teresting outline of the more important
features of this arrangement He said.
The l7th of July marks The turning
point IN the diplomatic history not on1v
Vi japan but of the Oriental countries
IN general. 1t will be the first Instance
IN which the Western powers have recoe-
nlzed the full sovereignty of an Oriental
state This action Of the enlightened
nations of Europe and America shows
that, If any country is ready +o
assume full share in the responsibiI-
1ty and affairs of the world at large
these old and enlightened powers arc
ready to admit such a country to fuIl
community among nations. So we regard
the ADVENT of this treaty as a very i'm
portant step, not only for Japan, but for
All the nations of the East
NEW TREATIES.
The countries with which lamar b,a
mace new treaties are the United States
great Britain, Germany France Rns,
sia' Austria, Italy, Spain, Portugal. Rel
gum, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and
Norway Switzerland and Peru. All Of
tt tnsse 70 INTO erect tomorrow except
tnose with France and Austria which arc
oeTerred until Aug. 4. With most of tbese
countries Japan had treaty relations he
Icre, but they were crude and unsatis-
factory
To understand the change it is nec-
essary to look at the system under the
old treaties. This was essentiaIIv basad
on two principles:
t1rst-That foreign residents in japan
snail enjoy the. privileges of extra-terrf-
ob,a dGbT,la4ty; IT that is. they. should be amen
ao aole 70 the laws and jurisdiction of the
GolsuI oI tnelr own country and not to
japanese Jurisdiction
Second-That the foreign residents in
Japan snail be confined to certain ports
outside of which foreigners could not res
sue, own property or engage in trade
ne result was, in effect about fifteen
or sixteen systems of courts in japan
Ior the purpose of trying foreigners who
might commit offenses. Furthermore,
most of the powers claimed that Japanese
laws were not binding upon foreigners.
toI instance, take our quarantine law
Whlle 1t protected us as against our own
people, yet there was no protection in the
case of an infected foreign ship. The
only exception to this refusal to recog
nlze japanese law was the United States.
which recognized from the first the bind
Ing force of the japanese law.
ESCAPED TAXATION.
''One of the bad effects of this system
was that foreign residents had entire i'm
munity from taxation. The Japanese. paid
all the taxes. All this has now disap-
peared and foreigners have the same
privileges as well as the same obligations
as the Japanese citizens, no more and no
less.
THE first step in the new system is to
put an end to the old fiction of extra
territoriality by which foreign citizens
were judged by different standards from
Japanese.
THE second essential thing is the open
Ing Of the entire interior of Japan to
foreign residents and trade. Until now
there have been only five treaty ports,
Yokohama, Nagasaki Kobe, Hakodate
and Nigata In these places foreigners
had been able to live, to purchase prop
erty and to trade, but outside of these
they could not even travel without a
special permit. These five places are an
insignificant part of Japan. Henceforth
the entire interior of the empire, with it's
POpulOOS C1(1SS anu Inviting H0lOS OIL III
dustry, is thrown open to foreigners.
They may live anywhere, engage in any
kind of business and will be assured of
the same protection to life and property
that is given to the japanese.
In bringing about the new system of
treaties Japan naturally feels most
friendly towards the United States,
because she always has shown a
most sympathetic interest In Jap
ans desire to adopt modern
methods and to deal on even terms with
the rest of the world. The messages of
several of the presidents have spoken in
most friendly terms of this matter. And
as the government and people of the
United States have taken such friendly
interest under the old system, I hope and
believe that the United States govern
ment and people will take most friendly
interest in the carrying out of the new
treaty"