Weekly journal-miner., 1908-10-21


 'ur from Na..uam-ctt,. is supposed to '.r,,k by hc cnrd." when nc see. u' To p.,r thr public the benefit of hi, opinion ou ouv public question Also. Senator Henry Cabot is rcputcd to be very cruditc and careful statesman, one uot inclined Co Ego of half cock "l There ha, been good deal of speculation. therefore, as to just the authority upon which he based his statement iu Boston the other night that Japan was awaiting only fa- vorable opportunity tu make "insult ing dcmaud.' upon the United states. Df course, Senator Lodge was making a plea for an enlarged naval program. and tbc possibility of war with Japan IS often held up as a bogie to scare those who favor naval retrenchment. Richmond Pearson llobson. of Mcrri. mae and kissing fame. used it on the stump. in magazines and the Chautau. qua circuit as well as from his place m congress. but in inc past the Jap. ancsc war scare has not had thc par. "ntagc of such authority a~ the di.iin. guisucl Massachusetts senator
 r. is a safe assumption that Lodges Boston spccch has been cahlcd to ToAio and tp every chauccllory in Eu- rope And it q. equally safe to assume that foreign office, m inc Orient and in Europe are pullling themselves 10 make up their minds as Co what it means. lt is known, of course that when Lodges voice is raised in the senate all America and all the world accepts i, as the voice of Roosevelt Was it. then, the voice of Roosevelt speaking in Boston when Lodge said Japan awaited only favorable oppor. iunity to make insulting demands up on usi Did the opinion he tncre ex. pressed represent the view of the ad. ministration and the American gov crnment, The answer to that query almost ovcrshsdows m consequence ! inc war cloud in the Balkans. It is : The premier subject of discussion | wherever diplomats gather in Wash ington.
 Significance also attaches 10 the fact ! that Senator Lodge asked his audi | ence to recall how the war talk died ]. ont when the battleship fleet was or 'lered to Pacific waters. Is that to be l interpreted to mean that President | Roosevelt ordered the battleships on | their voyage because of the war talk | and as an antidote for iti The world | almost has a right to assume so, in | view Of the fact tnta it is Lodge who | speaks. Either il was intended we ! should arrive at an assumption. else the remark was n very tactless one coming from the senator universally regarded as the presidents mouth piece. And please remember that Henry Cabot Lodge is not given to making tactless remarks.
 When Lodge arises to speak, with that polished oBston accent of his, the words flow in carefully rounded pc. riods and carefully studied phrases, he impresses you that not only has every word been weighed, but taat it hns been weighed with respect to its every shade of meaning When he speaks men listen as to an oracle, for IS it not common belief that he has not thoughts which have not been 0. K.'d with White House approval'
 We have been led to believe that the late Japanese war scare was a myth Indeed, one learned magazine writer has told up that the whole rhing had its origin in Tokio and was never meant for American consump. ton at ail hut was exploited AS a do. mestic political measure. The state de. partment, m the pnst at least, has pre-. ferred that he country believe that the voyage of the battieship fleet was entire pacific, and that rather than a mesacc it was intended as a compli. meni io Japan. But acre comes Henry Cabot Lodge and tells us Japan awaits only favorable opportunity before making insulting demands upon us.
 Where does Henry Cabot Lodge get this informationf IL is not to be supposed that mere United States Senator possesses the secrets of the government at Tokio. He must have some information other than newspa. per reports upon which 10 base his be. lief Most everyone would take for his first guess that the information oame from the White House; at least From the American state department. f this guess should be correct Sons.