The Hawaiian gazette., 1907-08-09
MR.. sTRAUs At
kUR0k| BANQUET

Wnen zen. kuroki, the famous Jap
anese commander, was in New York
on his recent trip to the United States
he was entertained at dinner at the
! Astor Hotel on May IL. On this occa-
sion one of the most notable addresses
was made by Secretary OF Commerce
and Labor Oscar s. Straus. who is at
present in this city. He spoke as fol-
lows:
All mankind loves a lover" and the
whole world, honors a hero, especially
if his laurels were won in just cause.
France had her Napoleon, England her
Wellington. Germany her Moltke,
America had her Grant and has her
Dewey, and Japan has her Kuroki
Self-preservation is the first law of
nations as well as nature, and even
those of US who took part in the great
Peace Congress that only a few weeks
ago echoed its messages Of hope from
so many platforms, must recognize the
potency and necessity of that law of
nations.
More important than the Limitation
of armaments is to limit the cause of
war. and this can best be done by in
|
| hypodermic solution of international
morality. The so-called code of honor
between individuals has, within the
memory Of the living. practically dis
appeared, and the code of law has re-
| placed it, to the credit of our civiliza-
ton. A like transformation is taking
place in the field OF international ethics,
SO that the so-called doctrine OF ex-
pediency based on might is fast giving
way to the principles OF international
relations based upon right.
No country and no people in the his
tory of ancient or modern civilization
has ever gone through a more rapid
| renaissance than the Island. Kingdom
| of Japan, and that is because this
child Of the worlds old age" had been
brought up by parents who had lived
through centuries of development and
civilization, which served her as a
springboard to leap within a genera
tion from out of her oriental slumbers
to the front rank among nations. 1t
is but half century ago when Ameri-
ca, through her Commodore Perry, took
Japan by the hand and led her out of
her oriental seclusion and showed her
the triumphs of our western civiliza-
ton and introduced her with proverbial
American hospitality to the council
board of western nations. From that
time to this the closest rela tions of
amity and friendship have continued
between America and Japan. Some
thirty years later our country followed
Great Britain in recognizing the won-
derful progress in all that constitutes
civilized nation in conceding to Japan
the full rights of an independent ma
ton, and in consenting to the abolition
of extraterritorial privileges, and en-
dowing her with full and complete ju-
dicial autonomy. The government and
people of Japan. not unmindful of the
good will and sponsorship of our
country, are too wise to permit the San
Francisco school incident, which was
fostered by ignorance and propagated
by injustice, to cloud their just appre-
citation of the enlightened spirit of
American institutions.
Japan, alone among nations, has Civ
en- to the world an example of how a
people can throw off the shackles of an
oppressive autocracy and endow itself
with all the safeguards of liberty and
justice under constitutional form of
government, without going through the
terrible struggles and devastation of
bl1cdy revolutions, by following along
the paths of peaceful evolution. Japan
Is the land of liberty, civil and re-
llgious. Her religious liberty is even
far in advance of nations who pride
themselves upon this most precious of
national virtues. Her people have no
pre1udices based upon religious or &c
ciesiastical grounds, and all men of
every ch1rch and creed are free and
equal to worship their God in accord
ance with the dictates of their own
conscience in the fullest and widest
acceptation of the meaning of religious
liberty.
Japan, which has learned much from
the west, has even more to teach the
west. Persistency, self-control, and
preparedness are among her national
qualities; her officers exemplify the
highest skill united with the highest
patriotism; her soldiers, while reckless
in their bravery in sacrificing their
own lives, are uniformly humane even
to their enemies, and no nation is
served by more competent diplomatic
oody-men of reliability. judgment and
moderation. We heartily welcome her
conquering hero, who has fought bat
ties which will rank among the great
est In history. and whose army never
once met defeat. What is the message
that this great and modest hero brings
to us? Permit me to quote his own
words: 1.-THE Japanese people love
peace and want peace They fought
for peace, which without fighting could
not have been. My nation wants peace
peace IN which to develop We have
no other desire. The profession it Is
my fate to follow is noble cnly in that
it is sometimes useful in establishins.
conditions in. which peace may be
maintained and the arts of peace may
flourish" Nobler sentiments never fell
from the lips of a conquering herr.
They will stand beside those that were
uttered by the hero of Appomattox,
who said, Let us have peace"
General Kuroki. may the memory ef
your glorious victories, which have
shed SO much honor upon the armies
of Japan, give to her people unend;ny
years Of peace, happiness. and pros
perity.