Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1914-05-19
JAP DEMOCRATS
WIN A VICTORY
RETURN To POWER OF COUNT
OKUMA. WHO ASTONISlIED HIS
BEST FRIENDS. TAKEN To MEAN
A MONETARY VICTORY.
BY VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
HIS RECOMMENDATION To THE
PREMIERSHIP DECLARED TO
HAVE BEEN MADE IN DEFER
ENCE TO PUBLIC OPINION.

ISSOctdffd TTfSS tOfrfSpOndcHcc.1
Toxic. May lS-Everything In Japan
today Indicates. 10 use the words Of n
leading japanese newspaper. that ia
pan il i'm the midst Of n silent but great
struggle between the Democratic forces
and the conservative and bureaucratic
machines" The rctur to power Of
Count Shieenobu Okuma. who has as
tonished his best friends by the radical
SIN of his uiteranccs Of the past few
years. shows that democratic frOccs have
won n signal victory for the moment. IL
* not too much to say that the recon-
mendation Of Count Okuma as premier
by the few remaining elder statesmen Of
the empire was really out of Difference
Ia the voice Of the pople.
The elder statesmen. or genro. had
previously selected Nisconnt Kiyoura in
an attempt Ia keep the reins Of govern
ment in the hands If the b~ureaucrats
and reactionarics. but the protest from
the different groups in the house Of rep
resentatives was 50 strong that Kiyoura
was forced to abandon his task Of form.
ing n cabinet. AT the same time the
genera. who now number fewer than half
a dozen very aged men. were severity con
dcmned by the press rs no longer repre-
~scnting the new Japan which desired
that the government should pass from
the hands Of n few men into the hands
lof the people. Count Okuma himself
had been n member of the gcnro but his
radicalism made him no longer welcome
among the burcaucrats and he resigned.
The astonishing feature of this most
remarkable chapter in recent japanese
history is the shift from a man If the
kiyoura tpye To Count Okuma. The lat.
ter has always j%oyfully preached his he
lief that he will live to be- 1a5 years old.
This gives some inkling of the %jocular.
Democratic nature Of the man himself.
When he formed his cabinet he called
the newspaper reporters into his office
and said: Now I want YOU "a give nS
a fair chance. Nv mission is to remove
all the forces Of the bureaucracy which
have impcdcd the progress If constita.
iional government. especially when il
has joined hands with the so-coIlcd 20
litical parties. | am going 10 be- the cap.
tain. The crew and Passengers must
trust the captain. I have 4 COOL deal
10 do. | am an old sea commander but
II ] keep aboard too long 7 will have 70
take back my old declaration about liv.
inc 60 IT, 10" The new premier il now
- wears old.
Count Okuma said he wanted To get
rid Of the evils Of elan government and
elan favoritiSm. lie wanted 10 stop The
~frf-tion between the army and navy and
establish harmony on questions Of ma
%tiOnal defense. lie would stop all cor
ruption. lie was optimistic about ia.
paneSe finance. believing il Ia be on a.
healthy and sound foundation. The pro-
pie were heavily burdened with taxes.
but this was 10 be- relieved by admins
%trativc reforms he had in mind.
The new premier gathered about him
\ striking corps IT ministers. Baron Ia
kaaki kato. the foreign minister. il on,
Of The ahlcSt men in Japan today. lie
has served in The office before and was
once ambassador 10 Great Britain. lie
= regarded n a forccful diplomat and
a the probable heir "a the premiership.
But perhaps the most interesting per.
~>onality in the new cabinet II Yukio
ozaki former mayor of Toxic. and one
II the leaders If the opposition in The
lower house. He has been warning al
ways for a more representative govern
ment. and he j. especially opposed To he
domination Of army and navy clans. He
has Just written n series Of papers on
Constitutional government with such head
ings a Clan influence in lawmakinc.'
"liow the people have been kept Under
control" and The navy must be cleaned
before IL j. expanded
He declared that the true constitution.
aiists in Japan demand n fair field aud
no favor. AT present. he said They
are bound hand and foot in the iroa
chains II laws and regulations and con
%vcntion official ideas. while their on
poncnts are quite free under the protcc.
tion Of the same laws and rcculatinrs.-
The rcformer concluded: ".All intclIi-
gent observers have recently noticed
great changes in the political psychology
Of Japan. but few sec lis true canS,. The
mohs the demonstrations and III Kinds
of excitement have hut one hot cans,
namely the strong desire and increasing