Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-07-13

IcldllOu Oh QAlL. Tue WCTlO 10 the OCncT
half. They destroyed at one stroke the
old belief in the innate superiority Of
the occidental. Japan gained new
status for every oriental and for her
self the. place of leader and represent
alive Of the orient-and she gained 1t
by force. -
There is the matter Of Japan's ma
tional pride to be considered. Theo-
retically at least, and to very large
extent practically, the individual Jap
anese puts the glory of the empire and
the semi.divine emperor above all per.
sonal considerations of profit or, we'll
being, even above his life. Such a
people can Ill swallow arbitrary dis
tinctions drawn against them by other
nations, especially distinctions which
cast an imputation of inferiority. The
Japanese are keenly alive to this as
pect of the situation. They have be-
gun to tell us that the time has come
for us to stop declaring how much We
admire them, and do something to
prove it. They have givon form to
their dissatisfaction with our attitude
in violent press campaign directed
against us that has filled the nation
with hostility to America. .
Japanese statesmen have never Tor
a moment lost sight of the opposition
they may meet from the United States
in dominating China and in emigrating
across the Pacific. They are preparing
to meet that opposition. No other pos
sible object can be found for Japan's
great military and naval program. =
Japan has learned the lesson OF mod
ern diplomacy. She has seen the law
demonstrated to perfection in the last
few years Of her own history-that the
weight of diplomatic utterance ana
protest is neither more nor less than
the weight of the fighting power back
of it. She has seen one of her cities
shelled by the British, in the days OF
her weakness, to collect an indemnity
for q single murdered British citizen.
She has seen Europe, in the days OF
her weakness, dictate the terms OF her
peace treaty with China. A few years
later, grown strong she saw that she
could take from China whatever she
wanted, without a shadow OF a right,
by sole virtue of that strength. There
was no necessity to fight for 1t. The
mere threat of her power was enough.
\ Faced now by problems far greater
than those she has solved she is going
to enter the diplomatic game OF adjust
ing them with every ounce OF possible
force back of her diplomatic utter
ances. The greater her force, the less
the chance that she will have to use
it. =. r.. =:
The player, across the board Is the
United States Of America. What weight
Is Japan going to attach to his d1plo-
matte, utterances?
The case of China gives the answer.
II helplessness, If appropriateness
backed only by the right, were any de.
fence against aggression, China would
have been impregnable in the China
Japanese negotiations. China was az
helpless as it was possible Tor a natlou
to be. Her sole weapon was the rlgn!
and it won her exactly nothing at all
What is the United States going ia
do about it? There is only one reason
able answer. one possible solution. Fut
behind our diplomacy force that Will
enable it to deal with the diplomacy OF
japan at least on equal terms. When
we consider the relative resources OF
the two nations, we are put to shame
II any idea Of economy stands IN our
wav. Japan is the poorest OF the great
movers: the United States Is the r1ch'
est It has been estimated not long
ago that the bank deposits OF New
York City alone could wipe out the en-
fire capitalized wealth of Japan, includ-
inr hank deposits. Yet Japan, carry
ing a national debt greater than our
own. at a higher rate of interest, Wild
her neople incomparably poorer and
far more heavily taxed, is rapidly out
stripping us in her progress lowalu
power. If motives OF economy nave
anything to do with our stand, we are
indeed open to the charge tnat our
patriotism does not go deep enough 70
reach our pockets.
II unwillingness to spend the neces-
sary money is not the true cause OF our
apathv-and as matter OF TACT II IS
not If we have let ourselves be iuileo
into g. false security. baseless penet
that we do not need preparedness. anu
nreparedness on large scale. then we
Law ourselves open to the charge OF De-
ing wilfully blind to the trend OF
events of stubbornly refusing to open
o,r ewes and see what is plain to De
seen The issues we shall have to meet
arc clear. The methods that Will pc
employed in adjusting them nave
been demonstrated:
those issues can be adjusted peace
ably and satisfactorily. They Will o.
40 adjusted If Japan and America meet
over them as man to man. with the
mutual consideration born OF mutual
resnect. They will not be so adjusted
if our statesmen have to meet inc
statesmen of. Nippon with nothing to
lend weight to the claims Of our rights
and our interests but our unapplled
money and our empty hands. If the ad-
iustment is made under such circum-
stances, it will be made at our expense.
It is for the American people to say
whether our power shall gain our case
consideration, or whether like Korea
and like China we shall be a pawn in
the hands of a superior force.
weather is a crouch. He would kick