The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-02-06

NiIliam J%cnnin2e Bryan.
was one Of the leaders i'm the moe
meut 10 restore to the emperor the
authority which The shoGuns mad
usurped, and was for awhile close 10
the throne. In 1874. however, he or
Ganized an army for the invasion of
Korea. and coming in conflict with the
forces Of the empire, which were cali
Cd out to prevent the invasion, he vas
defeated. In his humiliation ne
committed hara-kiri. A few years
ago the title Of marquis was conferred
upon him by a posthulnOuS decree,
and is 10 enjoyed by his eldest son.
one Of his sons is the present mayor
of KyOtO and another q colonel in the
imperial guard. A bronze monument
friends, has recently been placed IN
the principal park in Toxic.
Only a few years z a young jan
ancSe committed suicide i'll this Way
in order TO emphasize his protest
against the eucrOachmentS of the rus
slams, but q strong sentiment is dc
%VeIoping against hara-kiri, and it VIII
sCon take its place among other OBJ
SOlCte CUSTOMS.
The samurai represented the intel
lectual as we'll as the military
strength of the nation. The daimio@
have furnished few Of the men Of
prominence to modern Japan, nearly
all OF the leaders in government, ed
ucation. literature, and the profess
sions having come from the Samura
class. Now, however that all social
distinctions have been removed and
the schools opened to the children OF
all, the old lines between the classes
cannot much longer be traced.
"a merchant class has always beer
looked dDWn. nnon in ,I1Dan. In TDE
social scale they were not only low
er than the samurai. but lower thar
the tillcrs OF the soil. IT was prob
ably q of the contempt in
which they We're held that so low
q standard of integrity existed among
them-at least this is the explanation
usually given. Even now Japanese
as We'll as foreigners COMPLAIN that
the merchants impose upon their Gus
toners, but here. also, q change :
taking place, and a new order Of
things is being inaugurated. There
are in every city merchants of honor
and responsibility, who are redeem
ing trade from the stigma which i
SO long bOre. Still. unless the stran-
ger knows with whom he is dealing.
it is well to have a Japanese adviser.
for we found by experience that tha
price named to foreigners was some
times considerably above the regular
price.
For centuries Japan lived an iso-
lated life, and developed herself &C
cording 10 her " ideas. OF her ma
tive religion. ShintOism. of the intro
duction of Buddhism n of the first
Christian missionaries | shall speak
in d later article. She repealed an
attack of Mongols which might have
been disastrous to her out for the fact
that a timely storm destroyed the in
Nading feet, much as the Spanish ar
mazda was destroyed. She has from
time to time attempted the invasion OF
Korea, the last attemDt being made
about 800 years ago. A little later
the Shotgun, Iemitsu, alarmed by the
spread of the Christian religion, in
troduced by Catholic missionaries
from Spain and Portugal, shut the
country uD. and for two and one-halt
centuries no foreigner was admitted
and no citizen of Japan was permitted
To go abroad.
TO. more surely keep his people al
home, the shotgun prohibited the
building of n but slna sailing YES
sells. 1t IS almost incredible that Sc
large Il group Of people could have en-
joyed the civilization which existed
here, and still concealed themselves
50 completely from the outside world
and remained 50 ignorant Of the
mighty movements in Europe and
America. In 1853 Commodore Perry
arrived with an American fleet and q
treaty was finally entered into which
opened the country to foreign inter
course. japan was ripe for the
change. While there was at first an
anti-foreian sentiment which affected
domestic politics. and at one time re-
suited in an attack upon Il foreign
vessel. the assimilation Of western civ
iliZation was rapid n constant.
Young men began TO go abroad, for
l;~~ ta,aI,n,- ,,o cn,,t Gov. oNAl tJn
Japanese people began to manifest d
wonderful aptitude for the adapta-
ton of foreign ideas to local condi-
tiOns. The army and navy were re-
constructed upon European models.
and Il public school system largely
like our oWn was established.
In most countries reform have
come uD from the masses through
more or less prolonged seasons of ag-
%itatiOn, but in Japan the higher classes
have been the leaders. and have eX-
tended increased social and govern
menta advantages to the whole peO-
pie Without a struggle. In every de-
partment of thought there has been
progress, and in every line of work
there has been leaders whose ambi-
lions and ideals have been high and
noble.
To illustrate the change that has
taken place. Coun Okuma cites the
case of the famous military genius. the
present Marshal 1amagaia. When q
very young man Yamagata as a spear
MAJ in the army organized by the
daimiOs of ChOshu to attack the for
eign shiDs at the Shimoneseki straits.
He was so ignorant of war
fare that he was confident of the abil-
ity of the Japanese to defeat the for
SignerS with spears He thought that
the Europeans and Americans would
be at the mercy of the natives as soon
as they landed. His surprise may be
imagined when ieaden missiles moved
down his comrades long before the
spears could be brought into use. But
this young man who attempted in 1864
to measure spear against rifle, betook