El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-11-22


times Yamagata deprecated tne nit
itary spirit which was growing IN
Japan Said he:
1--WE do not want to be considered a
warIike nation and we hope to con
tfnua our national life along the lines
Of peace. not war Our military es-
Enlistment has been created Tor oe-
fence and not for conquest and We
hope that the time VIII eventually
come when we can dispense with ~
As for US we do not want war Win
any nation and most certalnly NOT
with our old friend, the united states.
Prince Yamagata objected as many
Of the Japanese do. to being put IN
a special class on account OF mis- yei-
low skin. I had asked him as 10 the
yellow peril, and whether CHINA ana
Japan were not combining to conquer
the world He replied that there was
no such thing as the yellow peril and
there was no radical d I1erence IN Ine
minds Of the east and the west we
have the same ambitions as to the bet
terment of mankind and Of the world,
and there is no reason why you should
set US off by ourselves
ItO's Death Great Loss.
One of the greatest losses that
japan has ever sustained in its great
men was the assassination OF prince
Ito in Mapchuria by fanatic Korean
about a year after I had this tax
with Yama gaia Ito was the Ii Hung
Chang OF Japan. He stood to the old
mikadO as prince Otto Won Bismarck
did to the Old kaiser Wilhelm. and ne
was one of the great organizing and
constructive statesmen of the empire.
He was a boy at the time that Japan
was opened to foreigners. and he told
me how he and count Innouye ran
away to England to study the secret
of foreign military and naval suprem-
acy He said that they were made
to work their passage as common SAIL
Ors. and told me how when they were
landed in London and were wandering
81
knowing where to 90 his boy friend
Innouye laid down silver dollar on
the counter of 4 bakery and picked Up
a loaf Of bread expecting TO get some
change back The baker, who saw
they We're foreigners. put the dollar
into his till and mOtiOued them to 20
on 1t was the last dollar they had
and they walked about lor some time
before they found the English business
house 10 which money mad been for
warded for them
At that place they had a credit OF
$4,000 and this enabled them to spend
the year or more in England, after
which they went back to Japan and
told the great men with whom they
were connected that here was no Use
IN the nation trying to fight the Brit
ish- This was not welcome news and
some of the high blOoded Japanese
Soshi of that dav tried 10 assassfnats
them as they left the council to 80
home. The effect OF their news con-
-AAlIEQ Llle Opinion or the princes LiltlL
they must have modern civilization
in Japan, and that was a part Of the
beginning Of the Japan or today
1t was q little later that the en-
perCr was transformed from a puppet
into q live acting monarch. and then
Ito became a leading figure. He was
soon made member Of the cabinet OF
the mikado and became one OF his
chief advisers. He cOntiued so through
out his life, and had a great deal to
do with making Japan what she Is
now
With other things. ITO introduced
our banking system into Japan He
came TO the United States and studied
modern finance here in the treasury
department at Washington He told
me he was very grateful TO our gov
eminent for the facilities IL gave him.
He said this was when Cen Grant was
president and George S. Boutwell, Sec
rotary Of the treasury. IN that talk
prince Ito said:
Il shall always be a sr1end Of the
United States, and I believe that the
best element OF our people have the
greatest friendship for your nation"
Last Interview With Ito.
Ny last interview with marquis Ito
was only few months before bis
ceah- was about leaving Japan for
Korea to write series Of letters
about that country. Ito had been gov
ernOr general Of Korea, and he had
the welfare Of the Koreans greatly
at heart He asked me 20 come out
70 his country villa near Toxic. and
spend the day with him. did so. and
we had a long conversation about
himself and his country. and also
about Korea and other matters relat-
ing to the far east Here he reiterated
MS former sentiments relating to the
United States President Roosevelt was
then in the white house. and he ex-
pressed the greatest admiration and
regard for him Mr. Roosevelt had
sent him a photograph and the prince
had had this enlarged to portrait size
and framed. He had one OF his ser
wants bring him the framed picture
into the room, and place it on a chair
before US so that We had Theodore
Roosevelt looking at Us, a silent par
ticipant in our talk. venture that
this is the only time that Mr. Rocse-
welt has kept silent IN any tripartite
conversation
In talking OF the future Of Japan
prince Ito emphatically said that the
mission Of his nation was peace rath-
er than war. He hoped that Japan
would engage in trading and manufaC-
turing and evidently thought that il
had a situation in the Tar east COM
pared to that which England has in
Europe, one that fits itetO be great
commercial and Industrial nation.
He said that he thought the friendly
relations of japan and the United
Staes would continue but fntimated
that he did not like our treatment OF
Japanese immigrants ana that the
japanese children OF California ought
not to be Disseminated against IN the
schools.
7 referred to Korea, and he said that
he was anxious that that country
should develop along modern lines.
and that the people be given a modern
civilization. I know that he did all
that he could for Korea. and neverthe-
less it was Korean who took his life.
The assassination occurred IN Manchu-
ria where prince Ito had gone from
Chemulpo, Korea His body was
brought back to Toxic for burial At
the time of the funeral the emperor
and empress each sent representatives
and thousands upon thousands accom-
panied the great coffin which was
carried on the shoulders OF mon 10
Hibiya Park, where the funeral cere-
monies took place in front of the
ShintO Shrine.
Ill