The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-27
A Splendid Experiment In Nation
Building.

oflclal figures showing the hnanclal ana
economic condition of one of the most
interesting nations now existing.
The spirit of Japan is the spirit of its
leaders. The policy Of japan is the
policy Of its rulers. A few years ago
Marquis ITO, one of the nations great
est men, said: In the thirty-four years
during which ! have held Office ! have
always tried TO help and sometimes even
TO force on antagonistic spirits measures
necessary for the growth Of modern
Japan" The country is an oligarChy
held practically in the hands of a few
large minded. far seeing, progressive
and aggressive men. Japan is to be
what the Emperor and the little group
around him want il 10 be. They have
decided that il shall be q nation with a
large place in the world and are busily
laying the foundations for such an in
stitution. II is as vet an experiment,
hopeful, promising, but nevertheless an
experiment.
The notable weakness Of the country
lies in the fact that it is not self-sus-
tanning. For this reason Japan as a
commercial nation must be built on a
foundation which is in a way artificial.
From its natural the country
can neither feed nor clothe its people.
It can produce tea for them to drink, but
IL n n produce enough rice for them
TO eat. II can Garb them in silk which
they cannot afford and which is in no
way suitable for them, but il cannot
clothe them in cotton or in wool. II can
furnish coal for fuel in locomotives,
steamships and stationary engines, but
it has not the iron for ships, engines or
rails. II must import food to feed its,
people, cotton and wool to clothe them.
and metals for the making of their
implements, machines and weapons. In
order TO sell to others il must buy from
others a very large percentage of the
materials handled in it's industrial and
commercial processes.
These are not insuperable obstacles.
but they are obstacles. Japan is some
times compared to England, but the
comparison does not hold. Eugland's
natural resources have been and still are
more varied and vastly greater than
thoee Of Japan. Belgium is perhaps a
more fitting subject for comparison, but
the Belgium of to-day is the result of
systematic development through gener-
alton after generation, and is, moreover,
located in the very heart of an enormous
and developed market. Japan may be-
come an economic England or Belgium.
but to achieve that goal she must over
come natural conditions and establish
systems through a conflict greater than
that experienced by either Of her alleged
prototypes.
She has two marked advantages, one
of which, cheap labor, is in all proba-
bility a temporary condition. The other,
naturally permanent, is her proximity
TO and certain advantages in a market
in the development of which she will
unquestionably be a dominant factor for
many years and in the growth of which
she will profit. Yet this natural advan-
tage holds only so far as it affects com
petition with the Western world. The
day will come when China will make for
herself all that Japan could make for her.
IL will be years and 1t may be generations
before that day comes, yet neither its
early arrival nor it's rapid expansion is
beyond the bounds Of possibility. Care
full students already note the signs of "A
Chinese awakening. With China fully
alive 10 her own possibilities and utilizing
her own vast esources, Japan's position
would become extremely serious. japan
does not enter the field bringing some
new form or kind of merchandise needed
or wanted in the worlds markets. She
comes simply as a competitor in a trade
contest which is open to all and in
which the leader of to-day may be out
stripped tomorrow. For these reasons
the new Japan must be regarded as an
experiment.
In what is here said there is no purpose
whatever TO decry the aspirations of the
japanese or to predict their failure. On
the contrary, Japan's advent has been
welcomed by the world at large and her
success is generally regarded as assured.
In the comment here made there is no
more than a rehearsal Of a few cold facts
which are far more keenly realized by
LIlC OdDuuCoV Aiti INV u
by that general public which sees Japan
only as the victor in conflicts with China
F., and with Russia, as a land Of marvellous
growth and development within a very
few years. In the series of articles
which we have recently published we
have shown this growth and develop
ment through the medium Of statistics.
Her ~resources and their limitations have
been either shown or indicated. Her
national policy has been shown by what
she has done during the last twenty
years and by what she is doing to-day.
That policy nov seems definitely fixed.
The all important question concerns the
extent and duration Of it's success.
There can be no question hat the out
some Of this experiment in nation build