Arizona republican., 1905-01-31
A Sound Oriental Viewpoint

1 Professor Paul s. Reinsch of the
 University of Wisconsin. one of the
 most astute students of foreign af-
 fairs in this country, contributes to the
 January North American Review a 1 lucid and convincing article on possi- 1 ble developments of the future in the far east. Professor ReInsch takes up | the design credited to the Japanese, in | some quarters, of dominating Asia to the detriment of western civilization the policy commonly known as the yellow peril"-and not only shows its utter futility in the sense entertained by the more excitabIe element, but ex- poses the incalcuiable injustice which
 may be done both Japane-e and Chi
 nese should the western nations be ln- duced to take stock in its vagaries.
 Professor Reinsch admits that the
 whole attitude of Japan is one revolv-
 ing around the preservation of Asia
 against the disintegration planned by
 Russia. Such a motive does not
 threaten, he holds, the safety of the
 western nations or necessarily mean a 1
 strict construction of the cry Asia
 for the Asiatics." He believes that the
 national spirit of both China and Ja-
 pan is too essentially peaceful to i
 warrant any fears in this direction. | Going on to demonstrate the fallacy l even of a "commerciaI yellow peril' l and Japan's firm adherence to the |
 open door policy. the professor says:
 There is in present oriental Condi-
 tiOns and ideas not the least yestige 1 that can be used as a basis for alarm ist prophecies. Neither China, India, nor Japan has ever engaged in Offen
 sive warfare of conquest. They have . themselves suffered at the hands Of Il the hOrdes at the memory of which the | nations of Europe are still trembling; and it is one of the glories of Japan to have successfully repelled these invad- CTS, who again and again Overran the rich countries of the continent.
 The thought of an industrial peril has prima facie more probability. But before indulging in sensational visions it is well to remember that the orien- tai nations can excel us only through efficiency, and that. in order to become dangerous competitors, they must de- velOp our industrial and financial me chanism, they must have among their workmen the intelligence without which our highly complicated machin- cry would be useless. Their labor can no longer remain cheap; for without raising the standard of living. the ef- fciency of European and American wOrkmen cannot be approached. At the present time, a factory girl in | Massachusetts does the work which in | Japan is performed by six people Should the Oriental manufacturer, in the course of time, be able to turn out the cOarser products, the finer articles would still be made by us. Such a de- would be a distinct gain since the richer our customers and the more productive their industries the more will they be able to purchase from us. With all the development of Japanese industry in the last three de- cades, the imports from the western nations have increased thirty-fold. Moreover, Japan would be the last na- tion to destroy the promising market of China by an Overdevelopment of Chinese manufacturing industries. For. if Japan has any definite ambition, it is that of creating an active commerce throughout the orient and reaping the vast profits of a middle man. Should Japan be successful in the present war, the exclusive policy initiated by Rus sia and France would be definitely de- reated. Not only has Japan given the most positive assurances of an oppo- ( site policy, but it would plainly not be { to her interest to take any different | , course. As an oriental nation, she is able to create the routes and organiza- ions of commerce throughout the or ent, far more speedily and effectively than any European nation, even were { 1t to Orientalize itself. S