Evening star., 1901-01-19
JAPAN'S ABLE STATESMAN
TYPICAL OF THE PROGRESS THAT
COUNTRY Is MAKING.
Count Okuma Happily Combines Both
the Ancient and the Modern In His
Personal Make-Tp.

Francis f. Clark. D. D.. In the Independent.
Count Okuma of Japan is one of the his
| toric figures OF the nineteenth century. If
| he cannot rank with the Gladstones and the
BismarckS and the Abraham Lincolns of
| the day he will certainly rank with the
statesmen of the secondary order, the Ca
| privis. the Salisburys and the Sagastas. He
| has had much to do with bringing about the
| new Japan which so suddenly sioughed off
| the old clothes 1t had worn for two thous-
! and years and put on the new garments of
western civilization. He has always stood
for progress and reform. He has been in
| the forefront OF the ranks of the new
| regime.
| In fact, he has suffered for his principles.
as his wooden leg eloauently testtfies. for.
when he was minister of state a few years
| ago, wicked stick of dynamite was thrown
| at him, because he was thought to lean too
| strongly to the side of the foreigners in the
! revision of the treaties which was then
| being agitated. This stick of dynamite,
| which was meant to take his life. took off
| only his leg, and a wooden substitute en-
| ables him to get about with surprising agil-
| ity for a man of his years.
A Talk With Okuma.
| Being invited to call at his beautiful villa
| and to have a talk with the old statesman
| concerning the questions Of the day, glad
| ly accepted the invitation, and one day last
| February was wheeled by nimbe jim
rksha man into the spacious driveway
| which affords entrance to the counts resi-
| dence and gardens. The count is very hos
| pitabe to strangers, and the privilege ac-
| corded to me was not an unusual one,
| though none the less gracious.
The front of the house iS Dult in Euro
| rean stvre. with lofty hallwavs and sna-
| cicus reception rooms. while IN the rear the
| japanese portion Is inc'osed with shoji. .or
| movable walls which side back and forth,
| ovid when rlshed back leave the whole
| house wall-ess and open to the elements.
| In the japanese part of the mansion ne
| ionr is covered with the Softest mating.
| but the rooms are entirely destitute OF fur
| niture There are neither tables. cabi
! nets ror h,,rnaus nor h"ds nor nianos. nor
! stumbling blocks of any kind in the way or
| brin-a-brac. The ornaments are very few
| also consisting only of one or two price
| less scrolls upon the walls. which are
| chnroed TO suit the chouee IN seasons.
| The Fu~opean side of the house. however.
| is furnished as any nob'emans palace
might he. A great statue of japanese
| bronze of r,arve'0uS beauty greetS one as
he enters the great hall. Soft Administer
| carpets are beneath ones feet. OIL paint
| ings where the prospective Is not ignored
! hang unon the walls. An ivory Fuji orna-
mentS the mantelpiece, and cabinets full OF
! vases and ivory carvings stand in the cor
| ners while great armchairs. heavily up
]
hurried conference.
! Not ut All Reticent.
| We had been seated but few moments
| when the catter of crutch and of a wood
en- leg In the hallway. as though Captain
! Silver himself approaching, informed
us that the count was coming. and in a
moment the door opened and heavily
| built Japanese, with a rugged kindly face.
came limpng in halting upon his thigh.
| The old statesman dropped into the heavy
| leathern chair which had been reserved for
! him, after greeting us cordially and shak-
! ing hands with all the party, which means
| of salutation is in itself an innovation upon
o.d-time Japanese ideas. After the COM
monplaceS concerning the weather and the
| journey from America and our impression
| OF Japan, which commonplaces are very
! much the same in all parts of the world, J
have found, | ventured to ask the old
| statesman his views concerning the burn
! ing eastern question of the day-namely.
| the partition of Chlna-assuring him that /
| should prize the opinion of a who had
| himself been instrumental more than al
most any other man in creating great east
| ern questions.
The old count not at all reticent on
| the subject. but. settling back In his chair.
| he pourned forth in voluble Japanese a ten
minutes discourse on the great problems
of the orient. Becoming warm in his task.
| he would lean forward and geStculate and
point his remarks with nm eloquent fore
| finger and sometimes bring his fist down
| upon the arm of his chair with emphasis
and decision. But whether he was en-
phatic in approval or disapproval ] could
not Judge except by the pay of his mobile
! features, for what he was saying was all
Greek. or, what was still worse, all Japa-
neSe to me-
A Great Sand Fort
| After ten minutes uninterrupted dis
course our host paused for breath, and an
accomplished friend who was with me-
pastor of one ,of the Kobe churches, told
me in brief what the statesman had said
II used to think" he began, that China
would be divided. France, Germany and
| Russia spread out the map before them
and decided to carve 1t up to suit their
| own convenience. 1t seemed at first
| thought that China would be very easy
| prey to the rapacty of modern nations,
for China has no national religion, Ike
Turkey, to hold her people together. Con-
| fucianism which is her national faith-if
1t may be called by that Names not really
| a religion, but is simply collection of
moral precepts, which admit of change and
| addition.
Moreover. China is theoretically a pure
democracy. In theory the best man wins.
and the ruling class is an aristocracy OF
intellect. In theory only. however, (Ard
| | remembered. as this was translated to
me, twinkle in the old mans eye, which
think must have punctuated this sem
| tenceD As a matter of fact, China is i'm
| TnoVabie' the dynasty is firmly established;
old traditions hold her more securely 20
the past than the religions of the western
nations hold them together. She is like a
great sand fort-the cannon balls of the
most modern artillery make no impression
| Oh her. Japan's victories simply showed
| China's weakness; it did not create it, but
only revealed it, and then the western ma
tions began to discover that after all,
China was not such an easy prey as they
supposed. Then they changed their tac-
! tics and began to secure commercial ad
| vantages and to build railroads End open
| UP highways for commerce and trade, I'D
| thus secure by diplomacy and commerce
| what at first they intended to Chtain by
force of arms. So l have changed my
mind in regard to the partition of China.
The mutual jealousies. I think will prevent
the nations from dividing up her territory
as they have carved UP Africa among
themselves"
| Japan's Victories Over China.
By this time my interpreter had finished
his story of the counts first discourse. and
| l managed to edge in a question as to The
| result of the wonderful victories of Japan
over China and the effect upon Japan. This
| evidently was also a congenial subject to