The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-09
TAP CIVILIZATION
AUrER vAnIETx--POTNTs IN
HHTcH NIPPON Is LACKING.
uesrtless and Cruel Imsnerailty From
Whsch the Government Den

Whsch the Government DERIVES
Revenue---Indiaerence 70 Crime
The seThuGv system.
retter IN the New York Evening Post.
Tnr ,o--Tkere are some phases OF
yananese fYfe that In no small degree
- ock the observant foreigner VINO ex-
nects 10 find in full swing all the
-n,ensfies of modern civilization.
THIS statement Is not intended 10 APP
NV 40 much to those bizarre exhioi-
fious OF dress or undress, as the case
may be, or other supernciai epsrra
ftons from the customs of the West.
thnt vsriously manifest themselves IN
this country. according to class ana
community, but to certain graver &C.
rsntricitfes in the genius OF Japanese
civilization itself.
me Occidental world has apparent
~ come to believe that Japan -
civilized country In the common ac-
ceptation Of the term, whereas ne
Japanese are civilized only In COM
narrative sense of the word; tnaL ~.
IN a technical, but not an Occiden.al
xenae of the term. Civilization, Hho
evarv other question OF human ao-
vaneenent. must be regarded as
matter of degree as well as OF type.
Now. while Japanese civilization may
be said to reveal an admiraole W.,
a. peculiarIy suited to the Orientai
mind. vet when the degree of Its de-
yelopment Is taken into account.
rnusf he ranked far below that OF
some other nations This conviction
q The result Of some years OF resi-
dence among the people. and care
fui comparison of their civinzapion
with the social and civil evoiutioh o.
more advanced peoples.
Although, as already intimated, the
minor eccentricities of Japanese civiii-
zation need not be too seriously taken
as representative of the genius OF tne
cfvflizatfon itself. yet we can never
forget that the almost universal lnuih-
ference that prevails Id japan In re-
gard to matters that we esteem as Oh
the utmost delicacy, is amply SUM
cIent to difrerentiate Japanese civili-
zation from anything that we can
consider as highly developed the
inter disregard, even among the hign-
est Of the land, of nude forms NOV
ing about the public streets, Is GER
fainiy striking. The spectacle OF
dozen or more carpenters along the
front of a building in the course OK
erection on a metropolitan thorough
fare, all less completely clothed than
the sculptural figures on our architec-
4ural masterpieces. and the picture OF
men and women bathing on the Pubic
highway, SAVIOR of nothing that we as
sociate with the properties OF higher
civilization But we can pass over Ja-
mans extraordinary attitude in this
respect, and we can further overlook
the strange insensibility of the Japa-
nese to the most intolerable doors
daily haunting the average home OF
the nation. which proximity to nth,
II permitted Ia a Western land. would
result in most .decimating epidemics
10 many foreigners one OF the most
condemnatory features of Japanese
civilization is it's heartless and cruel
immortality. The social system that
permfks and encourages among parents
the sale of innocent daughters against
their win 20 q life that-foreyer con-
dennis the child to condition OF the
most inhuman slavery, is too Infamous
70 be accorded place among the Gus
toms OF high civilization. Yet IL
goes on all the time In Japan. Girls
are exported to Asiatic, American and
Australian ports. These facts are
known to the auth critics but the gov
eminent cannot consistently punish
that upon which 1t imposes a tax and
draws considerable revenue. That
THIS traffic should pass without protest
is of itself Sufficient to rate that civil
iization low in the scale Of civic evo-
luton.
This utter lack Of chivalry for wo-
manhood and the general indifference
OF the strong toward the sorrows and
nllaIOrtuuGS Oh TIC NCahs &EC AZ thAAAoo
so appalling as to excite the indigna-
Mon Of foreign residents. In other
countries should a pedestrian be at
tackled by a robber on the public
street the victim would not be disap-
pointed in expecting the assistance
Of every passer-by; but in Japan IT Is
not 80. Such an emergency would pc
regarded by every Japanese as an &C.
CASTOR that was positively none Of his
business, ana he would let you be
robbed or killed, for all he would offer
by way OF protection or relief. Such
dereliction of duty would be Incredible
were there not so many examples OF
IL in the general experience of daily
life IN this country.
Indifference te Crinae.
"A month or two ago foreign gem
tIeman was going down the street In
Yokohoma, one Of the largest cities
OF the empire; It was about g. o'clock
in the evening. As his jinrick sha
passed an open lot he heard d woman
scream in such a manner as to leave
no doubt that she was in distress.
The two jinricksha men wanted to
ignore the woman's cries and proceed
with their fare; but the man refused
and ran to the rescue. He discovered
a young girl about eighteen years Of
age in the clutches of Japanese, and
beat the fellow of. Having relieved
the girl the foreigner was bent upon
capturing the man that had attacked
her but the wretch looped and doubled
in such a manner that his pursuer
was exhausted before he could get a
hand on him. During this performance
no less than thirty citizens came up TO