The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-03-06

The Boston Transcript prints this trans- lation of an article by Stephane Lau- zanne in Le Matin:
 In the east they call Marquis Ito the
 Bismarck of Japan" "The Emperor" says a recent telegram, has he'd long talk with Marquis Ito before converting
 the council of ministers to edit the text of the note to be addressed to Russia. It is believed that Marquis Ito is kept well informed regarding the framing of the Japanese note'
 As l read that dispatch the face of the
 foreign statesman. the most remarkable that the last century has produced in the Orient came vividly before my memory. Again I beheld its deep wrinkles in brow
 and cheek; its eternally stereotyped smile,
 disclosing the pointed white teeth between
 the blanched lips; the extraordinary keen- ness of the eyes that looked out through [ gold-bow spectaeles; and,s especially the prodigious and disturbing quickness of the glances that sought and found and record
 ed whatever was of interest to the mind
 that controlled them.
 It was three years ago. in a London sa- lon, that I met him. and there we had a long talk. Today have rediscovered the brief notes I had then jotted down in my journal.
 As he told me the story of his political career I felt as if 1 were turning the
 pages of some oriental story of Haroun
 al Raschild He was 20 years old when he first took office under his country government. The old mikado, Komei Ten
 no. made him his friend and one morning
 summoned him to the palace. You nave, said he, the making of a statesman, ana perhaps you are destined to become the
 prime minister of Japan. but to this end you must give yourself a broad education.
 Especially you must understand Europe Dispatched to Finland.
 At the expense of the imperial treasury
 Ito was dispatched in company with an
 other distinguished Japanese gentleman, Count Inouye, on a journey to England. There he remained fifteen months study
 ing English and the institutions of Great Britain; he observed men and affairs and
 ships-shps most of all. At the end of the fifteen months he returned to the Orient and threw himself headlong into the war in which Japan was then involved On his way home he left the passenger steamer and enlisted as simple sailor on board a
 man-of- war; took part in the naval bat
 tie that was fought beneath the walls Of
 Simonosaki; and then, still in sailors
 dress, negotiated with the foreign powers
 in the name of his Emepror He was 22
 years old.
 When the treaty of peace was signed he
 was made governor of Hyogo, and in
 1868. at the age of 2S, he was made min | ister of finance. Then followed cabinet 1 after cabinet and ministerial combination
 after ministerial combination, without
 reference to Ito Later however, he was
 seven times made minister and four times i president of the council.
 One day the young Emperor. Mutsu- l lito, had Ito called to him. and addressed i him in almost the same words which his l father, Komei Tenno, had used: You 1 are a great minister. but you must still i inform yourself more broadly. My father | sent you to study Europe; I am going to ], send you to study America"
 ! So, always at the expense of the imperial
 treasury Ito set out to learn about the | United States. As a result of this investi-
 gaton he brought back the outlines of
 constitution for Japan. Of this let him speak for himself:
 "It was by no means an easy thing to
 make a constitution for a country which i had never so much as nearu Ol pdflld-
 mentary government I had no model to
 guide me in all our history, and it was 1 necessary to build soundly for the future
 l tried to forget all the constitutions of all the western nations and to frame one which would be adaptable to oriental peoples I asked myself how Buddha would have acted under the circumstances and what Confucius would have done if he had been required to establish parlia- mentary regime, and fatter myself that succeeded pretty well in getting into their skins; for my constitution has work ed beautifully for twenty years. and no efforts have been made to modify 1t in
 the slightest particular.
 Has Profound Convictions. | This man, who is. perhaps, rather clumsy joker, had nevertheless profound 1 political convictions and when he spoke
 of the duties of a party leader his voice 1 assumed the infections of a genuine elo- 1, q,ience: "A political party" said he !. must be really a guide for the masses, l and to that end 1t must begin by main taining a strict discipline and perfect l order within it's own ranks. It's chief rule l must be the maintenance of an absolute l devotion to the higher interests in it's l country, and it must particularly avoid giving office to mediocre individuals who i, have no other claim to preferment than their political affiliations" Japan, you