New-York tribune., 1908-01-29
FRENCH OPINION.
Y;esrs on the Relations Betreen
United States and Japan.
Paris. January IA.

sions between the United States and Japan mas
h.en rnisrepresented- This is cue te urespoh-
shin effusions which have recently appeared III
-,vo or three Paris newspapers ana whlch nave
heen traced 10 a coterie Of fnanciers who sought
and who rartly succeeded-to bring ABOUT
drop in japanese government bonds that was
s,aas;lv utilized for speculative purposes Ac-
cordinr 10 these Cassandra-like forecasts the
.Japanese feet was held in readiness to deal
coma secret mysterious blow TO the American
-.a-rasda" as soon as it should appear in Asiatlc
waters Sensational pictures were drawn Show
ing a victorious Japan in possession OF Mania
and Of Hawaii and complete mistress OF le IA
cnc These prophecies. however. tended only to
elicit expressions Of French sympathy for the
United States not alone because Of tradltlons
and the friendly relations between France ana
her sister republic but because such an aPothe-
oss Of Japan would mean the loss 10 France OF
eli her Asiatic possessions. In conversation with
ML Cle1nenceau and NJ. BRAND well as with
influential men who by taste OF interest are op-
r,osed 10 the present government, such as Count
Albert de Nun, n. Ernest Judet. NJ Henri
Rochefort, and in talks with leading bankers
and with acquaintances at social gatherings,
among circles Of students, artists, dramatists
and even OF bohernianism. the present writer
has found that the trend of sympathy is un-
ratstakably with the United States
II.
waldeck-Rousseau. who is shortly TO deliver
q series Of lectures al Harvard University
ard who as political editor Of the Temps has
his finger constantly on the pulse Of French
rubIic op,nion is quite emphatic this point
NJ Tar6teu has moreover. placed al your
correspondents disposal the proof sheets OF an
article that VIII appear in the forthcoming num-
Der Of the Revue des Deux Nondes," in which
be deals exhaustiveIy with the relations between
the United States and Japan and which is
without question the clearest, best thought out
snd most authoritative analysis that has yet
been made on the subject in France. NJ Tar
cser indicates with bland irony that while Com
raodore Perry in 1854 protested against the Jap
s-ese exclusion Of foreigners from Japanese ter
-:,orv and succeeded in securing the famous
treaty by which American citizens were enabled
TO establish themselves IN certain ports OF
Japan q half century later the boot was on
the other leg. and that il is now the japanese
who are indignant at Americans, or at least
O gcodly number Of our cOuntryrnen who wish
90 exclude the japanese from the United States.
NJ Taroieu presents figures showing the i'm
portance Of the commerce between the United
States and Japan and also those indicating the
steadily Increasing influx Of japanese into Cali
torria The desire of the japanese TO cut loose
from the commercial tutelage Of the Western
powers is exernpli1ed by the incident of the
American Tobacco Company, which was doing
lucrative business in Japan, Corea and China,
but was expelled from Japan at two months
notice because the Japanese government de-
cide6 70 increase its revenues during the Man
churian war by establishing. a state monopoly
Of tobacco, as is the case in France, Austria
and Italy N. Tsrdieu cites from Toxic news
papers articles referring 10 California as the
new Japan" and shows how readily and in
x-4a
California and British Columbia through Hawaii
a clear view is given of the difficulties in
Alaska waters concerning the American seal
fisheries and the poaching committed there by
fhe japanese. According TO several intelligent
French11en who have visited Japan quite re-
gently the anti-foreilr feeling in the country
Is vastly increasing and is encouraged by the
government and by the universities. Japan is
to-day very different from what it was before
the Russian war. The efforts Of the San Fran
cisco Board Of Education and Of the japanese
and Corean Exclusion League, well as the
terms Of the Gresham Kurino treaty. the lingo
utferances OF the "Jiji Shiupo. the essays
Of Captain Mahan sea power in the Pa
ci1c and the speeches Of MIR. Taft and Of
Viscount TAM, head Of the opposition in the
japanese House Of Lords, are set forth and
irnpartiaIly discussed in the Revue des Deux
Mondes-" II. Tardieu's conclusions are that
Japan. but owing TO the fact that the causes
Of recent difficulties are. after all permanent II
cannot be assumed that the irnproba bility Of
in the near future means that peace is
definitely assured. II would be very unwise on
the part OF the United States 10 be drawn into
war with Japan before the completion Of the
Panama Canal-an event which is a long way
Of. assuming the accuracy Of n Tardieu's
figures which show that the new company dur
s~-
4.4aaogo cubic metres Of soil as compared with
b5.ss0eo0 excavsted in eight years by the old
French company. IN other words. the work is
going on al the slow rate of 1,500 600 cubic
metres year, which means that a generation
VIII ne born and pass away before the canal
can be finished.
On the Japanese side. according 10 IL Tar
oieu, the Mikados government is obliged 10 re-
duce its foreign debt. TO organize its resources
70 carry out its scheme for the purchase Of the
railroads TO reconstitute Corea 10 pacify For
rnoss and TO transform the Antung Moukden
and Sin-Min- Tung railway lines Moreover,
the most enlightened japanese statesmen agree
with the majority Of Americans that il would
be sheer folly 10 enter into q war under pres
ent conditions. Such are the views set forth
hy d. Tzrdieu, who concludes that a war be-
tween the United States and Japan would ex-
tend 10 other nations and that the interests
Of France are bound 10 the United States by
moral ties far stronger than treaties: that
France has learned by experience at Algeciras
that she can count upon the firm friendship Of
the American government and that the French
republics paramount duty is TO spare no ef-
forts 70 aid in bringing about a peaceful solu-
tion Of the difficulties between the United States
and Japan c. I b.