The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-09-13
Jepsn's People ana Institutions a.
Seen by an 4 IN bassador's wife.

With Japan and the United States so
much interested In each other as they
have been Of late years every published
utterance by a member of either nation
about the other becomes a public docu-
ment Of more or less weight and infiu-
cnce for smity or conflict between the
two peoples so far apart on the map,
30 closely associated on the stage
where nations are the players Interna-
tional politics savors Of the Manich@an
philosophy. dualism of plus and minus,
In which all that is good In creation
sums in opposition TO the aggregate Of
evil: n cumulative force Of tone, rills of
feeling. friendly or hostile. continent in
the reservoirs OF national sentiment. I;
is this inevitability Of practical infu-
cnce, and not the mystic sentimental
stop about romance and lure" ''iri-
descent glamour" the aerial vehicle Of
the imagination" ideal conditions based
on solid foundations OF Truth" Fate
ideahzing reality" and so on dispensed
in AN Introduction by Nathan Haskell
Dole. editor Of rhe Spell series to
which the book belongs. that COM
mends to the consideration Of the in
telligent The Spell OF Japan, by ISABEL
ANDERSON the Page Company Bos-
toni. Mrs. Anderson |. the wife Of
Larz Anderson, President Taft's n9l2)
Ambassador to Japan. Politics. internal
and national, is in the scheme Of the
book secondary to the account Of
Japan's modern social structure resting
on the ancient base. Friendliness rather
than profundity is its quality.
The travellers on their way to the
Embassy went round about by Seoul.
and the report from Oorea, which pre-
sumably has more back OF 1t than this
merely curs,ry inspection, is rather
more hattering to the japanese. per-
haps. than the opinion 81 the character
OF Japan's protectorate, now sover
eighty, commonly entertained in this
country:
Tho japanese Governor General. Count
Terauchi is q very strong and able man.
and under his administration many i'm
provements have been made, This has not
always bsen done without friction between
the natives and their conquerors, II must re
confessed. but the results are astonishing.
The Government ha. been recognized,
courts have been established, the laws have
been revised. trade conditions have been i'm =
proved and commerce has Increased. Az
riculture has been encouraged by the open
Ing of experiment stations railroads have
coast and harbors have been dredged and
lighthouses erected. japanese expenditures
in Corea have amounted to ti?. 900, 900 a
year,
The author indorses Japan as the
missionary In the Far East" her infiu-
cnce in Corea and Formosa most help
full. In Formosa she has had to fight
smallpox and other plaques: has pre-
vailed over them. and has increased the
revenues Of the island source OF nearly
the entire world supply Of camphor, by
COO per cent. The expulsion OF the
Dutch from Formosa supplies a theme
for a play of Chikamatsu, the Shake
speare OF Japan. There are now rail-
WAYS and electric light in the island
Japan's since 1895; and from It the SOW
ereign land gets supplies OF rice, tea and
sugar But Formosa is still sufficiently
untamed 10 have it's horde OF wild, head
hunting Malays. An ingenious scheme
has been devised for keeping them within
bounds; living in the mountains OF
the eastern half Of the land, they are
hemmed in by an electrified fence, which
Is gradually moved up the peakside. u
/ timately Mr.. Headhunter will be bottled
IN and perhaps subdued by starvation
II sounds mythical, and must he quite
an expensive device as well as bother
some to maintain.
The importation of Formosan rice
suggests the carriage OF Goals TO New.
castle, but the Occidental idea Of rice
as a national food OF Japan Ii CHROME
ous II is really such a luxury that
many people never eat II except II
sickness or on feast days" Though
| rice Ia thu fayorite crop.. thu best Of 4