The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-02
CENSORSHIP NJAPAN
ITS WAYS SHOWN fN REGENT ANTI
 AMERICAN FLEnnN.
warnInEs Cehveyed so EdlinrR hg Smiling and newtnE Gepdafme,
 They afnAt be Heeaea.

They Mnat be Heeaea.
 When the first telegrams rum Tokto recently annnounced the dis pleasure of the Japanese Government and people at the exclusion of Jap anese children from san Francisco's schools mention was made of the part the Tokio newspapers were playing In flaming tic ansf-American senti- ment Later It was cabled that the Tokio papers had changed their tone Here Is n good illustration Of the pow CT of the Japahese censorship.
 Probably the explanation ug this sudden change on the part of the Jap- anese press is slmple--the same one Indeed that accounted for the sudden smothering of the editorial voice Of protest after the treaty Of l2arts- mouth was signed last year little note from the Premier to all tlts editors of Tokio. carried by a smiling and lowing gendarme and delivered with many protastations of regard. doubtless warned the Tpkio news paper heads that further exploitation of the grievance cf Japan against San Francisco would be displeasing to the Government and that reRrettasle measures would follow IA the warning was disresarded.
 The incident serves to explain the position held by tiie press in Japan. The widest possible latitude seems to be given the vernacnIar press, but the closest surveillance and the haFals est repression Is. as matter of fact, the condition under which the papers are allowed to exist That smiling bpwing Eendafme fruiu the Premier's offies with his little note of wafn- ing has always to be considered.
 The Japanese have deep regard for the power of government The only serious uprising against the govern ment that has occurred during tho elaratioB of tine peace at Portsmouth. days.
 governing groun the Elder States- tuen Tn reality advisers of the Eu4- peror but having no official place ln the scheme of government. is accept- cd implicitly by the people as betnA the law. The doIngs of parliament may he asaaileu with Western fervor and the actions of the Ministry may sonse- times come under public question, but never does the mandate of the Elder Statesmen, clothed in the orders of the Premier. find acceptance n manner
 The papers in Japan sumetims8 thunder against the parlimentarkana Editorials often depart from the eec. trineR of their tone and denounce the MEbH Ok HObffE VuOlAC QtAICtE &E HEL MA officers But when that close circle about the person of the Emperor speaks not even the yeliowest journal istic dog barks. It Is dangerous.
 The Premier of Japan may at nis discretion and without appeal from hls mandate, suspend or confiRc@tA an offending newspaper or magazine published in Japan, either by cttlzenR or foreigners. Upon his orders local magistrates may fine any publication that breaks the rules. There are no court proceedings.
 The arrests of an editor may be ae. companied by the confiscation 0f his paper or it may simply serve as < warning that confiScation is impefd. Ing In this ease the culprit is tried on a criminal charge and fine or ili1- prisonment may be his portion.
 Every paper in Tokio 10 said to gre employed to go to jail when the first comes down. They serve the term In prison while thR paper offending continues It's course duly sobered by the prosecution Of the Government.
 Some instructive instances of the Governments regulations of the press occurred during the war. Then the censorship. bolts on the papers were screwed down with the tremendous authority of the War Cabinet.
 To publish anything that might N4 Information of value to the enemy was a high crime against the Gov. ernment and 1t was made punishable by simple fine, by fine and in1rriscn ment or by suspension or contiscatlon of the offending publications. Arisins out of the rigors of this mandate thers came into being a cryptic form Di
 If would be printed that "a eertain regiment, under command ot eef- tain general of the --th division. had advanced against the enemy in the q rection of Mo -tIe-iing" Or the news would be given out that "a certain squadron had been ordered to u1ite with another certain squadron for tha reduction of Kabafuto,
 Once when there was plague e Kobe and the police were trying e the dtsease-spreadln rats the native translator for an Ameri- can paper in Yokohama turned in the following piece of news, which was printed without change;
 'Trhe police of Nippoubashi-ku yee- terday killed certain rat in front of a certain house on Honchodori, which was found to be afflicted with
 some time near the end of the war the Osaka Mainichi, one of the larG- est and most influential papers An pedo destroyer, built entirely in Japan. had just been launched at the navy yards in sasebo. The Mainichi was heavily fined.
 An EuBiish newspaper ih hu~Ns which printed a translation of the MainlchIs paragraph was fined an equal amount The peppefyi Scotch editor of the foreign paper, who had heen many years in the country, and supporter Of the Japanese cause. roAr- ed so tempestuously over the fine irl- posed upon him. that he got Httl@ note threatening his paper with sua- pension if any further expression 0f opinfou should be made.
 It was during these troubious days the signing of the peace at Portsmouth that the newspapers felt most heavily the power of the The first day of the riots in Toklu two papers were suspenden the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Yorodzu choho, because they had melted the people to rebel against the mandate Of the Home Mlnister denying Hibiya Park as place foi an antl-peace mass meeting. ThS Osaka Mainichi again came under cloud. It was kept suspendeS and lts presses kept silent for six weeks.
 The mobs at Tokio took out their revenge cu the sole organ of the Goy- yer rnment. the kokumln. This paper, s,il sidized by the KntEura War C8b- met had tried to pour oil on the troubled waters. On the first day of the riots d mob went to It's printing plant ana there broke the preaes and Died the type. As there are several printing case. to pi its type Is to put a paper out of business indefinitely.
 Following the restoration of order there was unanimous demand on the part of the press of Japan, put release of several editors put under very respectfully, however, for the arrest during the stormy days and Tor an established guarantee by the Gov- ernment of freedom of the press.
 The editors were released after due deliheration But the plea for the rec