Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1908-02-18

S.N~OS.e~o~o.e-e~e
The following article appeared IN
the New York Times recently as spe-
cial correspondence from Paris:
One of the most remarkable books
which has been devoted to Japan and
japanese politics since the deluge of
such works Immediately after the
close of the Russian-J Japanese war
has just been published in Paris by
NJ. Leo Byram. under the title. pet
it Jap deviendra grand" What he
writes about Korea is especially in
teresting.
According to his story, the mo-
ment one sets foot on korean soil at
Fusan, Japanese domination becomes
apparent. Korean coolies work on
the new dyke under the direction of
Japanese bosses. In a way this is
said to be a characteristic note of
what one will observe throughout the
country. On the road to Seoul Kor-
can porters are seen burdened with
huge weights and whipped on their
way by Japanese gendarme. A lit
tie further on a Korean yang bane
(mandarin) lodges to one side to let
the lowest of Japanese coolies pass.
This sovereign spirit of the Japan
csc, Mr. Byram says, is more appar-
ent and more openly affected in the
- 70,
other place. For at Seoul memories
of the fallen dynasty and the events
which led to its fall give rise at times
to melancholy developments.
The quicker life which the new oc-
cupants have substituted for the slug
gard past of the Country of the
Morning Calm" is wildly presented
by Mr.. Byram in description of one
of those popular military festivals
consecrated by the victors to the
commemoration of the late war. An
arch of triumph spans the principal
street, and kirmess is in full swing.
Gen. Nodzu, formerly commander of
the Fourth Army at Mukden; Prince
tlO, anu 1Sulllll dis IAdl4laiiul anu III
ouya mingle with the promenaders.
laugh at the geishas, laugh at the
Korean maidens and, despite their
age and their titles, frankly play the
roles of their youth.
"And it is an opportunity" M. Bry'
am writes, ito admire again the sim
plicity the indebtedness, and the
familiarity of these men, The mo-
ment the official cortege is broken.
they slip into the crowd, mixing and
fraternizing with the common people.
1t seems as though there are no bar
riers, no longer any difference of
rank, each of them expecting no less
and no more than what may be ex-
pected by the humblest citizen"
This equality of all before all the
author finds again in the patriotic
sentiment which animates the Japan
csc emigrants on their way to the
north. He travelled with them to the
"Manchurian Switzerland" that noun
famous region which was the theatre
of the offensive march of Kuroki on
Mukden. He goes by way of the
military railway, bold Japanese en-
terprise which picturesquely worms
its way from pass to pass. These
emigrants, veterans for the most
part. refresh their memory by aid of
popular maps distributed gratis in the
country by thousands, and which are
understood by everybody.
My companions, writes the au-
thor, 'are as busy as they can be re-
calling the scenes of glorious cpl
sodes. They point to right ard left,
to ruined pagoda, toward a village
with its roofs still unmended, toward
peaks still SCARED by empty trenches.
'Rouski, rouski!' they cry, and then,
again, Nippon, Nipon!'-and then in
curious blend of Japanese, English
ant French, Nippon made Rouski tou-
jours go back.
This sentence, where three Ian
guages are mixed up in naif jargon,
can be accepted, says the author, as
the very formula of Japanese imper-
ialism.
But if signs of the recent conflict
are not wanting along the road all
traces of it disappear with the arrival
of Mukden. Here the japanese are
working like conquerors and masters.
They evidently have no regard for
Mukden as historical monument nor
as witness to ages which have dis
appeared. They care little for the
past, being so absorbed with the
present and future. The city was too
small for present necessities. They
are transforming it. They dig, tear
down and build up. and clean away.
ever. 10 the ancient walls half buried
in centuries of accumulated filth.
They are changing the sordid cess
pools, which used to be called streets,
into broad, clean avenues For this
purpose they dig deep and lay their
foundations on solid stone. They are
evidently building for eternity.
These vast undertakings NJ. Byram
says, show the political and military
Importance which the japanese at
tach to Mukden. And. in fact. few
cities in the world present such pos
sibilities. 1t is the centre of rail-
road lines from Port Arthur and Dali
ny. prolonged toward the north to
Hardin; of the line from Niu-
Chwang to Kin-Chau; of the Yalu
railroad, and of the Misunderstanding
tum branch. the latter town being
only two days from Picking by the
Chinese line. All of these railroads
have been relaid on the Japanese
standard They are already showing
an immense profit through the trans
port of Chinese travellers. which the
author calls the easiest and most
profitable OF merchandise
These roads, moreover, prepare
for the monopolization Of Manchur-
ian trade for Japanese goods, and
will serve to push further and further
north cha "a or4a lfuaifS rf PucSsar, ~,