The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-05-07
JAPAN SCARE OR
FAMILIES: OF DEAD !
iPaternal Government Has As
sumed Responsibility for About
100000 Of Them.
SYSTEM ALMOST PERFECT.
Achieves Combination Of Public
81 and Private Interests With
Wonderful Results.
BY Eleanor Franklin.

SsTOuo, April 2s.-The paternal Japan
ese government has assumed responsible
5fity for the support Of approximately
\ t1oD.tsoO families of dead and disabled SOL
sdiers of the empire within the space OF a
tsingle wear and the methods employed
4 lin the discharge of this responsibility
&Hare interesting in the extreme ana elo-
souent of the oneness OF this People tiiat
As astonishing the world with its perfect
noise IN the midst of crisis that could
not hut shake the strongest nation to It's
tyerys foundation. Statistics are, as q,
rule, not as attractive as glittering gen
ernlties, but the statistics of this SUP.
feet are so startling that they would
catch and hold the attention OF ANYBODY.
hi It would seem that the japanese rellei
&ff system is about the most practical ana
nerfect thing of its kind ever organized
nv n government, and its greatest achieve
Ement is a combination of public and
priyate interests, of governmental de-
fBnartment's and peoples institutions that
&tconld not be in any country where the
heart of each is not as the heart OF all.
No Evidences of Wealth.
jrba question which soonest presents
y itself to the foreigner travelling IN japan
and observing the evidences of the ma
ltional poverty is Where is the country
Eetting all the money for defraying the
y expenses of this great wal? The cues
9tion far from being answered. resolves
itself into an exclamation as proofs OF the
nations ability to meet every problem
of the crisis daily present themselves
Her ability to meet and defeat what
Emperor William once called "the great
est military power on EARTH" has been
demonstrated to the world everlasting
admiration. but her unassumlng and un-
applauded perfectionskof home govern
ment ,.for the people and by the people,
a government that provides for each in
dividual victim of the war means OF
livelihood or direct support. is just as
admira BILE in ats way as any other demon
6tration Of the nations strength.
Il That the nation is strong cannot be
denied but even in its most startling
revelations It is strength concealed,
and the worlds admiration must always
resolve itself into an Interrogation. There
4 are absolutely no evidences in japan OF
great wealth. There is not public
building in the whole empire that is not
e more than equaled in every way by many
Of the ordinary public school buildings
4 In the United States. There are no mani
Z sions Of the wealthy that are not, to tho
American way Of thinking, quite like
average middle class residences. There
are no great commercial, enterprises MS
Americans estimate commercial greatness.
There are no localities rich in minerals
& as Americans estimate riches. There ar g
no wide spreading acres of teeming fer
tility, no single evidence Of greatness In
any part OF the country, and yet such
III thing as abject poverty does not exist
IS not permitted, indeed-and besgars arc
less frequent than In our own land OF
Y over-supply, and this is because the heart
E of one is asSthe heart of ALL because It is.
4 nation in which brotherhood has reached
a. +, Z
'''fatherhcod Of the imperial government"
s is not an empty phrase.
The Pension Office.
Y II am iilucts1r4 ID HIS Excellency, Count
4 Katsur.. the Prime Minister. and to his
secretary, Baron Nakashina, for intro
auctions to officials In the Department Of
Home Affairs, who spared no pains to
put me in possession of all possible
facts in connection with the work for the
relief Of soldiers and sailors families
y in which the government and the. people
are so religiously engaged There is a
pension bureau in japan which provides
permanent assistance for aged or dis
abled soldiers of the empire. but 1t has
no connection with. the pension office
under the supervision of.3the War De-
partment. hich.'pr6vides instant assist
ance to families found in pressing need.
K Whenever a soldier falls in battle this
pension department sends an officer at
once to investigate the condition of his
family, and II assistance is necessary
4 measures are taken to provide it, either
directly or through a local institution,
without particle Of delay. 1t is the
intention of the government to provide
each person means Of earning a liveli-
hood rather than to give financial aid,
which must of necessity take the ,degrad-
ing form of aims, and for this purpose
Industrial homes have been started all
---------