The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-03-13
TADASU HAYASiI, ONE OF
JAPAN'S GREAT DiPL OMATS

very bare when stripped of its saving
clauses.
II cannot tell you he answered.
II have no information. You have
many clever correspondents in the
East. I am here jim London. How am
l in position to confirm or deny these
reports 2"
The minister's face melted into
smile that suddenly lit up the stern
pose of his features with sfngularly at
tractive bonhOmie His smile is alto
gether sunny. 1t seemed in this light:
absurd to have directed such a question
to such an address. On the subject of
the transmission Of news from Japan
he was more explicit.
"All news that reaches you from my
country is subject to very strict CEN
sorship, imposed by the conditions of
the present situation. Official news for
publication that reaches me from the
government make public here as soon
as it reaches me, and as 1T reaches me-
1t would therefore seem that all
news of events on the Japanese side
which reaches this country elsewhere
than from Japan should be received
with all reserve. There is Singularly
little opportunity for leakage. The Sc
ere of success that has usually attend
ed Japanese policy lies in the national
capacity of every citizen of the Island
Kingdom to keep his mouth tightly
closed. Whatever its internal differ
ences may be, as against the foreign
er Japan presents a united and close
Tipped front. As against the outsider
parties sink their differences, and even
newspapers do not profess to know
more than is good for them to know.
This Is, no doubt, in the main due
to a very exalted idea of patriotism.
Partly, too, this capacity for keeping
a secret may be attributed to the fact
that for two centuries and half Japan
was ruled by, to put 1T mildly. very
efficient police organization. During
this era no man knew whether his
brother or his nearest friend was not
an agent of the secret police. Hence,
habit of observation-disclosures was
found to be conducive to longevity and
a quiet life. In course of time this in
clinatien toward secretiyeness became
constitutional Today the inhabitant
of Japan is much more prone to elicit
information than to impart 1t. That
that is a habit of mind that makes for
efficiency recent happenings have prov
ed up to the hilt.
His excellency works for twelve
hours out of the twenty four, and is
accessible for any emergency that may
arise in the interim. The dispatches
from the government reach the lega-
ton in numerical code that requires.
the closest attention and most absolute
accuracy to decipher correctly. Every
Japanese citizen in the British empire
who, with the splendid patriotism char
acteriStic of the nation, is ready to re-
turn to his country, should there be
need of his services, is anxious to keep
in close touch with the house in Gros-
venor gardens. Every crank and every
inventor who ever perpetrated a patent
as clamorous to put its merits before
the Japanese minister. The number of
persons who have invented deadly en-
gines of war and have compressed the
means of sustaining life into less than
tabloid form is amazing. Equally en-
terprising are the individuals who de-
sire contracts of positively KALEIDOSCOPE
ic variety. One sanguine individual re-
Gently offered to supply the Japanese
war Office with secondhand motor cars,
slightly damaged, it may be, but still
quite serviceable, for use in the field.
The valetudinarian motor car in, say,
the painless wilds of Manchuria, is,
indeed, helpful idea. Not less per-
sistent are the applications for service
that arrive from enthusiastic yolun-
teers from every quarter of the globe.
1t may save these enthusiasts time
and postage stamps to repeat again
that, in accordance with the laws of
the country, no one other than a Jap
anese subject can be accepted in the
imperial services in any capacity what
ever In accordance wherewith all Of
fers of medical volunteers, whether as
surgeons or as nurses, are gratefully
but firmly refused. The Japanese field