Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-02-20

don they were at loss where to 90
Ihey had letters Of credit on Jardine
Math1eson & Co. a great English trading
nrm' which still has its branches all over
emma but they had only dollar ir
actual cash. and they lost that before
.hey had gone many blocks. l referred
10 this story during my talk with the
prince this morning. and he told me i,
was a true one. He said that Inouye had
picked up loaf of bread from a bakers
counter. and had laid this, their last coin
down. expecting that the man would give
tEem some change. To their surprise. the
BAKER threw the coin into the till and
moooned to them to go on. They could
no. speak English. and they had to sub
init They soon made their way to Jar
dine, Mathieson & Co, and there found
the money waiting for them, as they had
expected Their prince had forwarded a
credit of $4,000, and from that time or
they had plenty
Prince Ito said that he and Narou;s
lnouye We're amazed at the wonders OF
our civilization and that they had not
been In England three months before they
realized that Japan must be Thoroughly
reorganlzed and educated along modern
INES before il could hope to compete with
the forces about them. That conclusion
or these two Japanese boys marks the
real beginning of the New japan. The
prince told me today how they came back
around the Cape in another sailing YES.
lance of their mission they reached Yoke.
hama. they did not dare land for fear OF
their own .,Countrymen there who had no
faith in their stories, and how they had
to be taken in a foreign gunboat back to
their home province, where the Prince OF
ChOsiu ruled.
Even then they narrowly escaped with
their lives because some of their fellows
thought they were traitors and that the
stories they told about the greatness Oh
orc fol Ssh
was some time before they could persuade
the prince to- aid in the Inauguration OF
the new movement. At that time Ito
was of just the age Of our boys who will
graduate from college this year He was
barely twenty-five and since then his
whole life has been ~rapt up In the New
Japan. He came with the emperor to
Toxic, and since then he has been his
majesty's right hand. There is no man
more close to the emperor. and no one
with whom his majesty advises so much
from day to day.
Prince Ito has been four times premie,
and during the war with China he was "A.
the head of the government In tie Rus
sian war he was the chief power behind
tie throne. and it is he today who Is
largely directing the foreign policy OF this
country.
| met Prince Ito when | was here in
1884. At that time he gave me an inter
view In which he fOreshadowed the war
with China. met him again in 400.
when the troubles Wee already begin
ming which brought about the war Will:
Russia. and now. at the age of sixty
seven. j find him hale and hearty, throw
ing his whole strength into the builng up
of the empire and in the reoraanizng. on
modern basis, the land and thc people
of Korea.
Etfore give you our CONVERSATION,
which covered a wide range, both per
sonal and political l would like 10 de-
scribe the circumstances of cur meeting
1t was Of his new villa. near Omori, half
"ay between TCkio and Yok ohama. that
his hiShness by appointment, received me.
took 4 jinrikisha at tic station and
with my human horse rode for more than
tw" miles on road shaded with pine
trees. There were many title shops a
temple or two ard some beautiful villas
along the way. l., aving the road We
climbed hill and entered a garden of
MANI acres filled with Zine shruobery out
of which looked several bronze storks and
other works of Japanese art. In the CEN
ter If this was large building with walls
az pine and heavy overhaneing roofs.
This was Prince lto'S villa. 1t has wide
Ncrandas running about it and the wa Is
are SO arranged that they slid. back
and forth, permitting many of its rooms