Los Angeles herald., 1909-05-25

A COMPANION volume to Thomas
| Ia f. Millard's 1.-THE New Far East
IA is the same authors latest work,
a. bulky book on America and the Far
Eastern Question" in which the con-
illusions of the earlier study are APP
piled to the relations of this country to
the new world powers which are loom
ing on the Oriental horizon Mr.. Mil
lard is thoroughly American in his
viewpoint, but there is in the main
healthy tolerance in his dissection Of
conditions in Japan and China. Ihat
there is an eastern peril the author
is very sure, and very emphatic IN eX-
planning. That its power for evil is not
irremediable is also his firm conviction.
and the present volume treats, as DIS
passonately as may be, the COUNTERPART
ancing factors in Oriental civilization
which may be depended upon to that
end.
economic factors are to be reckoned
with as fundamental to the new Japan
csc spirit, and the genesis of the idea
| of government control is seen in the
| central idea of the ancient Nippon cult
! of ancestor worship. The sociaIlzatloh
] of industry in Japan, so far as II mas
proceeded, is thus rather paternal thah
fraternal a fact which has given TO
the propaganda of Japanese Socialists
a distinctively individualistic tinge:
The advance of the protective tarlIL
into governmental favor is explained
as a part of Japan's foreign policy, and
the closure of the open door TO Man
churia is handled unsparingly.
Particularly interesting is the chap
ter on 1.-THE Philippines Today" in
which those troublesome islands are
described as 1.-THE shuttlecock of poll
tics" and the waning ambition OF
Americans to civilize the inhabitants
is admitted despite the gradual disin-
tegration Of the once menaclng lhde-
pendence movement.
In the concluding chapters on Amer
ica's Position in the Pacific it is boldly
asserted that only the unrivaled dom
nation Of the ocean by American war
ships and American trade can assure
lasting world peace. Without Jlngo-
ism. without rancor but merely as
question in economics and national
character, Mr.. Willard casts up the
probabilities of war and comedies that
peril from the American standpoint,
with both China and Japan as very
possible antagonists. The geographical
aspects of the case will naturally APP
peal first to Californians.
"It is probable that initiatory, offens-
i've or defensive, in a war between
Japan and the United States will be
| determined by geography writes the
author. manila is nearly three times
as far from San Francisco as from
Nagasak, and Guam is two and one
half times farther from the United
States than from Japan. These places
represent pieces in any naval and mill
tary game between Japan and the
United States"
He fixes on ten wears as a conjectural
date for mostilities with Japan, on the
suDposftion that the mikado shall
oh to q r11 ch before the COM
pletion Of the Panama canal An In
vasion of either country by the other
he dismisses as chimerical. but Jap
anese attack on Hawaii he regards as
inevitable. From Pearl harbor as a ma
val base he fOresees an alert and VigOr
Gus campaign of defense, if the loss of
the islands is not to be suffered. The
Philippines, he thinks, would fall into
Japanese hands at the first onset, and
he nictures the first effort of American
arms as a struggle for their recapture.
The temptation to prophesy proves
irresistible, and the author goes on to
imagine England siding with Japan
against America and this nation sur
rendering the Philippines while forcibly
annexing Canada At this point a
reader, not immune to humor, may be
hardened the luxury of a smile IN
deed. Mr.. Willard hastens to add that
Great Britains neutrality could be
nracticallv counted on in the event
of war unless her own interests should
be endangered.
The conclusion is a plea for the es-
tabIishment of a real naval base in the
Philippines and the declaration that
American domination of Pacific waters
is, after all, for the best interests Of
the orientals themselves.
Japanese readers may be INDUCED a
mental reservation as to certain con-
illusions of the author, but in the main
the volume must be commended for its
fairness and the cogency of its rea-
soning on an issue of inestimable mo-
ment.
America and the Far Eastern Cues
ton. BY Thomas F. Millerd. Moffat,
Ward &, Co.