Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1904-05-20
The MikadO in Japan.

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Europe and America have been blind
witnesses OF one OF the most remark
able episodes in history. They have
seen a descendant of the gods, rever-
ed by the mass of his people rs a be-
ing 100 holy for mortal eyes to be-
hold, voluntarily invite his subjects
to a share in the government. With
in their view a divinity has deliber
ately Invested himself of his prerog-
atives and has fairly forced the pro.
lection of written laws upon a reluc
tant nation. But they have thought
nc more of his transformation in
Japan than they have of the institu,
ton of representative government in
Bulgaria or Cuba. The trouble has
been in their failure to appreciate
the Oriental standpoint.
The mikado in Japan is more than
the pope in Italy. His person is
sacred-so holy in fact that the
emperors lived in seclusion for cen
turtles and the present ruler,
Mutsuhito, was the first to profane
his name by using in on a public
document. The divinity that doth
hedge a king in Europe is nothing
compared to the sanctity that sur
rounded Mutsuhito when he ascend
ed the throne of the gods. For the
oldest house in Europe is of yester-
day by the side Of the dynasty of the
mikado. According to the japanese
chronology the royal line was found.
ed soon after the ten tribes Of Israel
were carried into captivity, a few de-
cades before Draco and while Rome
was still a kingdom. Even the most
skeptical foreign historians admit
that it was in full flower when the
Saxons we're settling in England and
while the empire of the Caesars was
still governing Europe.
Mutsuhito, then, can trace an un-
broken line of ancesters back through
twenty-five centuries to the time
when the forefathers Of Hapsburge,
Burbons and Hohenzollerns were
savages of the wilderness, offering
human sacrifices. His house was
old when Pericles ruled Anthems and
when Socrates went about asking
questions. 1t has survived the rise
and fall of Alexander's empire, the
conquest of Rome, the foundation Of
the papacy. Through all these ages
the reigning divinity has had, nomin-
ally, at least, the power of life and
death over his subjects. The shot
guns, for several centuries the real
rulers of japan, always sheltered
themselves behind the emperor's
absolutism.
The passionate obedience of the
Oriental to his divine sovereign can
hardly be imagined by the practical
Occidental mind. To his subjects
the rulers death is a real calamity
far outweighing any personal sorrow,
such as the loss of wife or child.
Their grief is expressed by passionate
mourning, whose sincerity is I'M
doubted. The men who know the
most about Japan assert that today
nine out of ten Japanese would de,
clare that their dearest desire was to
be allowed to die for the mikado.
II is a sovereign of this type, I'M
known to Western civilization, wor-
shipped and adored as more than hu-
man by his people, possessing abso.
lutte power over their lives, their
persons, their property, his prerog-
alive sanctified by tens Of centuries
of unkroken lineage, who Sin con-
sideration Of the progressiv. ten.
dency of the course of human affairs,
and in parallel with the advance of
civilization" has bestowed censtitu-
tional freedom upon Japan. What
monarch in European history eve r
made a similar concession? The re-
forms Of the first Edward, founder
of the British Constitution, were the
natural fruit of years of struggle.
Alexander, the ear liberatcr, con.
templated giving constitution, but
the hand of compulsion was evident
From the point Of view of Asia an
overwhelming and bewildering
movement has been going on in
Japan for a generation-and the
Western world has stood by stolidly,
not comprehending its significance.
.L#NH