The Hawaiian gazette., 1908-05-29
JAPAN WANTS
ID LEAD ASIA

diplomatic game with definite purpose
in view-to become the leader of Asia,
to dominate the richest and most popu-
lous continent on the globe, and to be-
come world power in fact as well as in
the courteous Acknowledgements of di-
plomatists. The Japanese nation is still
under the control of the same men who
brought it out from the yellow mono
chrome of Asiat:c heathenism and made
it one of the frGt-class nations. This
fact must not re lost sight of, for it
means that men wise enough and able
enough to accomplish that great feat
in forty years are too wise and too able
to be wasting their energy in a pur-
poseless pursuit.
The two wars fought by Japan in the
last fourteen years had the same ultl-
mate object in view-the securing of a
foothold on the mainland of Asia. If
Japan is cabined, cribbed and confined
within the narrow limits of its island
home, it will never be a great power.
The Japanese know that. But if, like
England, it can make that island home
basis from which it can control large
portions of the outside world, then it
can hope to become in the Pacific what
England is in the Atlantic.
AS a result of the war with China,
japan wrested from the Chinese the pre-
dominant influence in Korea and seized
an important piece of Chinese territory,
the Lao Tung peninsula. The powers
| forced Japan to retrocede this tract
Time went on and Russian influence in
Korea became menacing, Russia OBJ
tanned lease on Port Arthur, on the
same peninsula which Japan had once
held, and Russian aggression threatened
China. Again Japan went to war, os-
tensibly to free Korea, to maintain the
"open door" in Manchuria, and to save
| China from the Russians.
The real result of the war was that
Japan practically annexed Korea, that
Japan has followed the Russian initia-
tive in Manchuria with more than Rus
sian aggressiveness, and that-it is now
Japan which threatens the Chinese En-
pire. All of these events, stretching
through period of sixteen or seventeen
years, serve to point out the course
Japan is pursuing, looking always to
Japanese domination of Asia.
Japan has not been signally success
full in the world of diplomacy. The
victories it won on field and sea in the
war with Russia were not reflected in
the negotiations at Portsmouth. Its
success in forming the alliance with
England and the subsequent ententes
with France and Russia was due in
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSS$SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
anese government is forced is the zone
year volunteer service" Any young
man of means who desires to tighten
the burden of his enforced CONSUMPTION
may do so by volunteering for one
year. This cuts his time in half, but in
return he must pay his own barrack
expenses.
While the Japanese navy has thirteen
battleships on paper, the two largest OF
these will not be in commission for
more than a year, the patching up OF
the captured Russian ships has not
been completed and other ships are out
of commission. By the time the Ameri-
can fleet gets to the Philippines Japan
will have eight effective battleships
and twelve good armored cruisers in
commission. In the United States fleet
at that time will be eighteen battle
ships and eight armored cruisers. But
the Japanese are rushing to get their
other ships in shape, over $4,000 men
being employed in its navy yards. This
is a greater number than was employ
ed at any one time during the prep
arations for the Russian war, and is
the high-water mark in Japanese naval
activity.
Japan is making the utmost endeavor
to get into a position where it will
not have to depend on other nations
for the raw material necessary for
ship building and armament, but the
government steel foundry has thus far
been a practical failure and the Jap
anese ship builders must continue to
depend on foreign countries for steel.
The average wages paid in the Jap
anese navy yards where warships are
constructed is twenty mine cents day.
This saving in the price of labor is
partly neutraliZed by the fact that it
requires two japanese workmen to ac-
complish the same work done by one
European or American craftsman.
But at the same time, if Japan could
get the steel at the same price paid by
European countries it could build ships
twenty per cent. cheaper than they can
be built in Europe. The difference be-
tween the cost in Japan and the
United States would be even greater,
as the Americans must pay much more
for labor and much more for steel than
any other nation.
If Japan had the money, it could,
and undoubtedly would, equip an army
and navy great enough to try cOnclu-
sions with almost any nation. But it
has neither the money nor sufficient
credit to borrow it. 1t has the founda-
ton of a great army in its magnificent
fighting men, but the army itself does
not exist in the magnitude which the
alarmists claim for it, Japan also has
a creditable navy, ranking fifth among
the nations of the world. and it has
proved that its navy can do things.
But its entire navy, patched up boats
and all, is not half the equal in
of the American squadron now
in the Pacific. Here again Japanese
poverty comes in-its navy has not the
money to spend in target practice.
Only the British and American navies
spend great sums for target practice
which approaches the conditions of
actual
Full credit must be given to the Jap
anese as fighting men. But this does
not mean that the rest of the world
must look upon them as supernatural
beings, absolutely fearless and mys-