New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-11-04
YAMAGATA,s SUCCESSOR.
WHO WILL BE THE NEXT LEADER OF
JAPAN?-ITo AND OKUMA
From The London Express.

From The London Express
The Prime Minister of Japan has resigned in the
have far reaching effects on Japanese poIItcs but
the resignation OF Count Yamagata is not likely 10
nations On the contrary it may, by bringing back
tne e MARQUIS Ito to power, have beneficial effect.
pl Not that Count Yamagata has been a weak
to be bound up With tSe t@tGre Of 5sD aTe
ne was one OF the first men to be intrusted with
IS Sot change which the soldier statesman did
When-in the days which seem so long ago in
cs1e0dy pnt which are quite recent according to
the Tokugawa dynasty. Count Yamagata was one
I sne youngest and most ardent Of the revolution
S Sf. power which has held Japan in chains for
When the over the young man had his
t rev Japan emerging from her secluson. Joined
OF international Importance. The new Mikado APP
n the @ ia Under Secretary for War and
man nj 20 Europe TO study the military institutions
r Yamagata was in France during the Franco
German S War. and armed with his new knowledge
foreign teachers into Japsnese Colleges and SCHOOLS
ana organized army whose officers General
Grant declared to be among the foremost in the
As President of the Privy Council he gained
luton wss and when the d new Sons
gata was one OF the men whom everybody knew
He Is essentially fighter. He commanded the
Japanese armies in the war with China. and his
devoted to military matters. He has formed the
mands and he declares that for an expenditure
Of less than fSoo00o0 year Japan can rely
peace footing of $4,000 and war footing OF
Who will succeed him? There are two men whose
names are always to the front when the Pre-
miership Of japan is vacant One of them is the
perial choice is sure TO fall on the Marquis and
stronger man could be desired in the negotiations
which are pending in China
1t was Ito who framed the Constitution which
wit 4 lung al
close of the war.
Twenty years have passed since the Marquis Ito
In ms searGh Of a bite Of bread He had come to Eng
!ahd WIN count lnouye now his rtghthand man,
10 10 study NAVIGATION Even as youth the MARQUIS
only possible salvation for China, and while still
In their teens these two Japs London.
when the ship reached the docks NOBODY was
thT we're ye meet them It Vas raining heavily and
BY tossing dollar in the air they decided that
a bakers shop, he pointed to a loaf Of bread and
threw dollar on the copnter-for which he got no
JaPs ate up the loaf like wolves. and kept them
selves alive until the next day. when friends ap-
They learned little Of, navigation during their
that in the words OF the Count. at all
sense for Japan to keep foreigners at arms
To-day the hungry Jap who slept all night.
man in Japan. Already he has been Prime Min
6ne a head IF the the dq5Ps 5e
the party system as long as he could. the Mar
brought about mis- fall, and he urged the Emperor
to accept party government and invite the Liberal
and Progressive leaders TO form coalition Gov
eminent.
Count Okuma. the Progressive leader. and Count
Itagaki the leader of the Liberals united for the
first time to establish the first Japanese Govern
ment on English lines. and Count Okuma became
Premier.
Count Okuma is the only possible rival OF Mar
qus Ito for the Premiership and the rivalry may
not exist at all. Party lines in Japan scarcely
yet defined. and the only party Government Japan
has known was failure. But the Count Is one
of the strong men OF Japanese politics-the Glad
n he has
The "WesterniZing'' of the Mikado's empire has
not been accomplished without much suffering and
tribulatfon. and Count Okuma carries stick
tered his leg in 1889. thrown by anti-reforming
Jap. He is fascinating man. whose brilliant
versational powers. according to English NJ. P.
telgent grasp of almost every question of interest
under the
Like the Marquis Ito. Count Okuma is Il warm
friend of England and he believes strongly that
the force Of circumstances will bring England and
Japan into alliance. He would favor reorganZa-
ton of the army by Anglo-Japanese officers as the
only check upon Russia's advance China. The
same appreciation of England distinguishes
the resgning Premier; II IS, in fact, character
istic OF all the great statesmen OF Japan-Ito,
Ha1nagata, Okuma, Itagaki, Matsukata and Wis
count Aoki. the Foreign Minister of the Yamagata
Ministry. The goal towards which they aim is
consistent with the goal OF British statesman
IL NJ England