Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-01-02
The Saturday ''News' Special Foreign Service.

goes through the wire mesh and sticks
to the god It good luck TO the
thrower, but II It strikes the wire and
so fails 10 reach the august target
the thrower must throw again. II the ,
thrower Is going on a journey he win .
most likely hang a straw sandal up IN
front OF the god. This viii give the
traveller able feet. Soldiers wear san
dals instead of boots when on cam
paign. and Il is then the guardian gods
are more than well supplied with foot
gear.
WARLIkE LITTLE BOYS,
Somewhat indirectly DISAGREEMENT
encourages the worship of Hachiman
as II does the god of Mikado idea. 1t
gets up books Of war songs. Professor
Chamberlain. in his admirable Things
japanese says;
1T Is extraordinary into what min
utlae the government has gone IN It's
determination to foster the military
spirit and raise the army to the highest
point Of proficiency. Even books NJ
war songs have been officially Com-
posed and included In the course Of in
struction. The result, ii must be con-
ltNNfis MAS lOA Dftih, lilf Ilbih'Al'lA VI
poems OF any very high order OF merit,
What cannot fail to elicit our admira-
ton IL the manner In which the COM
pany drill imposed on all government
schools and adopted In most private
schools as well, has been responded to
by the scholars. Even little mites Of
boys bear the flag stoutly, march miles
IN the blazing sun and altogether carry
.l..,a.i... 80. "a, -, .hnta Tint Oh ana-
my attempting to land on these shores
must count. not only with every able
bodied man, but with every child
throughout the empire
The spirit Of the feudal retainer seems
TO be born again In these tiny subjects
OF the Mikado. In their games they
are living replicas Of the heroes OF
times gone by. In pOstures, stations
and movements, they are samural, re.
tainers Of feudal lords, whose sword
was their Soul" whose only business
was fighting. These little fellows,
without teaching. display a comprehen-
sion Of methods Of attack and defenSe
that Is, To say the least, extraordinary
CARE MORE FOR ARMY THAN FOR
COMMERCE.
II is this army spirit, this worship
| Of Ilachiman, that Japan holds to BE-
her chief asset. She Is military first,
and then artistic; then Buddhist and
ConfuCian, and somewhere at the bot
tom of the scale she Is commercial.
There are japanese who believe that
the Land Of the Rising sun must be
great In commercial as well as In mill
tary and naval achievement, II she Is
to endure, but it is the exIgencies Of
the times that compels them to turn
their attention hopefully, toward com-
merce. In their hearts they despise
trade. True glory is in the keeping
OF the army and the navy,
Capt, Bunkley, editor Of the Japan
Mail and for over 20 years a close stu
dent Of Japanese affairs, makes a state
ment of interest I'm this regard In his
great work on the art, literature ana
history Of Japan. He says:
mo one who should tell the Japan
ese of today that the consideration they
have won from the west is due solely
to their progress In peaceful arts would
ind serious listeners. They themselves
held that belief as a working incen-
tive 20 years ago, but experience mas
dIssIpated II, and they now know mat
| the MOlIl ifNtl Nbhh any lfNl''Nlhl
notice of them until they showed them
selves capable of winning battles. At
first they imagined that they might
efface the oriental stigma by living up
to civilized standards, But the sue
cess they had attained was scarcely
perceptible, when suddenly their VIC
toriOus war with China seemed TO win
for them more esteem in half q year
than their peaceful industry had won
for them in half a century. The per-
ceptiOn Of that fact upset their estimate
Of the qualifications necessary Tor a
place in the foremost files of time
and had much TO do with the desire
they h%enceforth developed for expand
Cd ornaments. Their military and ma
val forces had heen proved competent
to beat China TO her knees with the
utmost ease, yet they proceeded at once
to double their army.
Japan has risen to the headshlp OF
the far east. IL that the goal of her
ambition? one OF her favorite sayings
Is better be the tail Of an OK than r.
comb Of a cock She Is now the comb
of the oriental cock. That IL not
enough. She wants to be the tail Of the
occidental OK, How Is II to be done?
Evidently by following the route that
has already led her so far. She can
not turn back. Her destiny forces her
on, and there Is no mistaking the Sign
post set UP by her recent experience.
She has been taught that fighting ca
pacity is the only sure passport to
European esteem, and she hasialso been
told again and again, Is still perpetual
~ told that her victory over China
proved nothing about her competence
IL stand on The lists Of the west, She
will complete the proof, or try to COM
plete II. Nothing Is more certain, moth
ing more apparent to all that have
watched her closely"
Written some three years ago, this
reads much like prophecy. Now, With
the results Of CONSUMPTION, Japan has
an available army OF perhaps $50, 900
men. She let's no one escape who IL
not physically unfit, The age at which
the youth enters Is 90, and he must
work hard while he 10 in the service,
1 He does not have to be told this, how
ever, for it is in his nature to train
hard.
II war comes on with Russia there
will probably be- little more disturb
ance I'm the empire than there was
when the China var was on. The
Shimbashi railway station In Toxic,
whence troops win depart for the south
to embark for Corea, will have It's oc-
c|asional gatherings, and regular traf-
nc ON the railways will be somewhat
awry az times on account Of troop
trains, but the fighting will be Mt sea
and on the continent, and those who
are left IN Japan will move on as II
nothing had happened,-C. l., Brownell,
author OF THE Heart Of Japan"
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