The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-04-19
PARTY SPIRIT IN JAPAN
CONTINUED from Page One,

5 CONTINUED from Page one.1
first granted, the necessity for stand
( ing together for the new form of ad
. mlnlstratlon made party divisions
: dangerous. and Prince Ito. tn,
: George Washington of Japan, frowpet
: upon them. The cabinets were mad,
up of ministers from a very importan
faction. This condition continued
! nominally until quite recently, and
: while cabinet was really a party
!, affair it was not until a few months
ago that all the ministers were actu.
ally of one group. The cabinet head.
ed by Marquis Saionji gave to the
party called the Seiyukwai, or Constf-
tutionalists, the first exclusive con-
troll of the government by party. Thai
it's hold is only by sufferance is shown
by the fact that it can muster but 1T
votes out of the total of 377 in the
Lower House, and must always have
at least twenty-four votes from the
other party groups or from the indie
pendents. The strength of the other
parties are: The Shimpo-to, or Pro-
gressists, ninety-three; the Daido
Club, sixty; the Yukowai, thirty-five;
and Independent, twelve. In the
|
| vision.
These so-cal1ed parties have no ex-
| istence in fact outside of the Lower
House of the Diet. Members are re-
| turned from the various districts for
one reason or another, and their party
| alignment is fixed after they get to
| Toxic. This leaves much room for
bribery and corruption, and it is no.
ha+ ny 10
of the Lower House, in fact a whole
group of them, who may be had by
the highest bidder and in no other
way. 1t having been virtually decided
that Japan, is to have government by
party cabinets responsible to the Diet,
it is becoming important that the cor
ruption in the parliament be purged,
and that the people themselves take
an interest in the views and prfnci
pies of political organizations, as well
as of individuals.
This interest is being aroused by
the commercial movement and by the
newspapers, so that in the elections |
this summer candidates will declare |
their party Affiliations in a much more |
distinct fashion than has been done |
heretofore, and the people will begin
ton, the Japanese are following close |
ly the trend of early American his
tory When our government under
the constitution was first organized.
President washington. as did Prince
Ito, feared the effect of party dissen-
sion at a time when it was necessary
for all hands to pull together to save
the constitution itself. Therefore he
fofn a lQXan0Prl
Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, the
leaders of the two schools of thought
in the country, although their follow
ings were not parties" as the term
is understood in these days.
Questions essential to the very ex-
istence of the government were upper
most for years, the party alignments
were made mainly at the Capitol, and 4
the congressional caucus ruled, just :
as the parliamentary caucus rules IN
Japan today. Then came the 9 Era OF a
Good Feeling resulting from q strong i
foreign policy which united all factions.
In Japan this era came Immediately up g
on the heels of war, in the United n
States it was some little time after the
seeomd war with England. The great
est event of that era in American his
tory was the PRONUNCIATION of the Mon
roe Doctrine, E'America for AmeTl-
cans In the same era in Japan the
Japanese Monroe Doctrine of Asia for
the Asiatics'' made it's appearance. :
In the United States the peaceful era
If no parties was followed by the most
bitter political battles of our history
and under the administration of An
Drew Jackson, political parties came
into being as they are known today,I
he party convention was invented, and 4
since that time the voter has not ask Il
ed @1Who is he2" but ''What is heH' t
Japan is just now at thef
,oint in its constitutional evolution that +
he Americans reached in Old Hickory s g
line. Here the analogy ends. II
The American constitution is the re- r
suit of a meeting of business men called
20 consider ways and means of lmproV- =
ng trade conditions between the states. h
The very foundations of the natlon =
we're laid upon the rock of Commerce. a
This disposition to foster business re-
sulted In the Bank of the United States. :,
70 DESTROY that bank and to take the =.
control of politics away from the COM =
nercial interests was the work OF jack =
ION IS great political battles. In Japan
he constitution was not ordained by
he people, but was granted from aooNc =
~ the Emperor. The lowest class OF
hose people were the merchants, and e
hev have not been considered. fhe Il
literary and military men rule the ma
ion and the merchants must shift for s.
themselves Now comes Japan s. great Il
st political battle in which the COM Il
nercial interests are trying to- obtain G
presentation
If predictions made by close students
# political affairs here are borne out te
W events. the country will divide along Z
he same lines that have divided all tt
peoples. The party now In power Will p
eeeive the conservative strength and Il
he Progressist, or Shimpote party, Will
rather the radicals and democrats to- c
yether. The business men are trying G.
o capture both parties, but are Feeelv- e1
ng much more encouragement from the Il
Shimpoto. which is now in opposition b.
N Japan the unit of the State, so far g
Is the people are concerned, is not the
Individual but the family. Family d
,,aoor n I.-hO1a clan of ano1Aut lluea ge, -