The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-03-27
William Inglis in a Yokohama Letter
Harper's Weekly.

1HERE is form Of conflict in
(0 which the United States must
forthwith meet Japan-the war
fare of commerce. Although there are
many elements in which each nation Is
helping, and must continue to help, the
other there is no doubt that these two
must contend for the carrying trade OF
the Pacific, and ultimately for the bus
mess OF supplying -four petroleum and
other staples to the vast population of
China and other far eastern countries.
me struggle for commercial supremacy
will be exceedingly interesting to polit-
ical economists as well as to the parties
engaged, for the government of Japan,
by taking over an active partnership in
the chief manufacturing and trading COM
panies. is virtNally Incorporating itself
into the greatest trust in the world.
1t is hard for the foreign visitor to
grasp the idea that japan Is not a mere
nation-it is one family of 5o,0oo,0Oo souls.
That fact has to be reckoned with In
every calculation as to this peoples flu
ture. The mikado is the direct descendant
in unbroken line from Jmmu Tenno, the
Son of Heaven; also, he is the father OF
his country. From every human being
in the empire he expects-and receives
in,nlicit obedience and affectionate trust
To each individual and the people at
large the mil-ado owes protection ana
jealous care. over emperor and people
hover always the spirits of their an
cestors criticising error, praising worthy
deeds. How beautifully this system of
orosnization works in time of war was
illustrated by the Japanese in the late
conflicts with China and Russia. The
army and navy were marvelously eHec-
tive, full of such burning enthusiasm for
1.s emperor that men counted 1t pleas
IRE to lay down their lives for him (spirits
of ancestors lowering, meanwhile, over
battles and smiling APPROVAL; and, most
remarkable of all, the army and navy
were absolutely free from any faint of
graft.
The government is conducting the great
est industrial experiment of the age. If
successful 1t will inaugurate new adj
iustment of the industries of mankind. IL
the Japanese trust proves profitable 1t
wnl inevitably crush out all competing
individuals or firms or corporations in
every part of the world. The outlook
provolxes the most interesting specula-
ton Must our government ultimately
become a great trust, too? For with
out some such orderly union of our In
dustrial forces how can we compete with
the Japanese trust?
Political economists, of course, declare
that the industrial scheme contemplated
by japan destroys the hope of individual
profit and therefore destroys the incen-
tive to individual effort. Again we must
the vital difference between this
race and all other races. In this fam
lily of 100000 members 1t is still &C
counted the greatest honor in the world
to work with success for the common
good. Take the policemen, for example.
whom one finds so uniformly polite and
efficient in every Japanese city, town and
village These men are the very pick of
the youth of the country-strong, alert,
intelligent, active industrious-yet they
serve as policemen for much lower wages
than they could earn in other callings,
simply because the honor of working for
the emperor more than makes up for
the SfndlleT pay. al lhiS JuhNtuiC Neih
see the cynical smile of the American
reader, who wonders what the graft IS
worth to the Japanese police.
I'D as soon think of bribing an Amer
lean university president as Japanese
policeman" veteran American resident
remarked the other day.
And from the lowest to the highest the
same spirit of devotion animates the jap
anese officials. This statement is not in
tended as rhapsody of praise, but as
mere clinical record of fact just as one
might announce that the Japanese have
black hair; for they have defects as pro-
nounced as their excellences The effort
here is to present to the American peo-
pie some sort of idea of the industrial
commercial army with which we have to
compete for daily bread.
OF course the great trust experiment
is not going to be carried out without
some sereve bumps. The land of Japan
is now in the throes of fever of specu-
lation which recalls the history of the
South Sea bubble. Trade on the stock
exchanges is booming as never before
The jap is as fond of gambling as On
Apache chief or Pittsburg steel king