Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-03-13
THE CRISIS In JAPAN
IV-NIPPONESE STATESMEN.
By Frederic J. Haskin.


Great men bring about great events.
The forceful characters who are making
| history in Japan today should be better
known to the people of the United States
who have a greater interest in Nipponese
affairs than they realize.
First to be considered is Prince Aritomo
famagata. who at seventy-fve Is the
| most powerful man in Japan. Chief
spokesman of the dominant Choshu cian'
president of the privy council and leader
| OF the elder statesmen, grand marshaa
OF the army. nestor Of the bureaucrats
| ne IS held personally responsible Tor tue
present difficulties. He upheld Uehara
| In his reQuisition for 40, 900 more men for
| Korean military defenses. brought about
the resignation of Premier SaionJi. pu.
katsura at the head Of the ministry. ana
to great extent was privy to the Sc
| lection of Admiral yanamoto. the pres
emit premier He has no patience with
the popular demands and says so with
Nehemence worthy of an oid-time
British tory or an American pluotocrat
The Chuwo says Of him: "Yamagata Is
| the destroyer of the constitution. the ma
tons enemy, disloyal and ins!ncere
Nevertheless the old warrior goes on
| his way rejoicing. Yamagata worked up
to his princedom from the ranks OF the
hero in the restoration period and be-
came a major general at thirty -Qne. He
has been minister OF war and chief OF
the general staff many times, and serv-
ed twice as premier and has made and
unmade premiers more than once. When
Prince Ito was assassinated he stepped
| into that great mans place. He has been
abroad. His recent course brought about
his attempted assassination in December.
His blood nephew and adopted son, Isa-
buro, f1fty-five years old, is deputy gov
ernor general of Korea
Prince Marshal Taro katsura is every
inch a man and a smaller Yamagata,
whose lieuten-
Advancement Slow, ant and fellow
But Called Lucky. He studied mil
itary science in Germany for four years
at his own expense. While the Japa-
nese call him kounji, meaning that ne
was born under a lucky star. his promo
tons were very slow. He was colonel
when his colleagues were generals and
marshals. and a commoner long AFTER
many of his contemporaries had been
given titles His chance came in 1888,
when he assisted the marvellous Gen.
Kawakami. who died t fifty-three, in
the reorganization of the army along
modern lines. The war with China made
him a lieutenant general and viscount.
His rule as premier for five years, 1901
1906, established his power and his fame,
although he counseled the suicidal policy
Of paying off loans with more borrowed
money.
His retirement from active politics by
becoming an elder statesman year ago
surprised the country, and his return TO
the premiership last December was ex-
pected. Then followed his rejection by
the people, public stoning by a mob and
resignation after less than two months
of Office. Today, at siXty-five, he Is Or
ganizing new party. which he hopes
will be an effective compromise between
summer he went to Russia and Is sup
posed to have negotiated a secret Japa-
nese-Russian understanding.
Marquis Kimmochi Saionji. around
whom the fight for rights revolves, Is
the Thomas Jefferson of Japan. A pa
trician born. endowed with all the quail
ties of greatness successful in public al
fairs since his nineteenth year, he Is to-
day at sixty-three one Of the most ar
dent democrats In the land. At nineteen
he was a volunteer general In the fight
for the restoration, and In the same
year was governor OF province. Inc
two succeeding years spent In France
made him so pronounced a democrat that
the newspaper which he founded upon his
return barely escaped suppression. I'm
der Itos personal influence, which began
in 1882, he became practical and useful
statesman instead Of merely theorist.
OcHdIOT duu " oiiA
Germany were posts he held in the pre-
constitutional days. Since then he has
held many cabinet places and was pre-
mier twice, besides succeeding Prince Ito
as head Of the Seiyukai party. As here
tofore stated. his resignation last De-
cember was In protest or the blocking
of his plan for financial reform and
constitutional rights. Saionji's great
fault les in lack of initiative and sus-
tanned eafnestness 1t IS believed that
he could have slashed the opposition to
reform into ribbons, but instead he re-
signed Nevertheless, it Is recognized
that he is ahead of his time.
Admiral Count Gombie Yamamoto. the
new premier, is a Satsuma clansman, pio-
neer gradu-
New Premier Is ate of the
a Satsuma Clansman. emv and =,
sixty is rather an unknown factor in
politics. He is not party man and the
nearest he has been to big politics mas
been the ministry of the navy, posi-
ton he filled most admirably researches
Of ministerial changes from 1898 to 1915
He Is full admiral, has Travelled arouno
the world twice and is a member of the
supreme council of war. He favors !;
greater navy, which is a popular issue N
Japan at present and is under tnt
Yamagata influence. He is not expecte'
to advance the peoples propaganda yer.
much. On the other hand he may no
adopt repressive policy.
The other Yamamoto, the retiring MIR