New-York tribune., 1917-12-30
Bernard Shaw Calls Upon
.JaDan to Heed Warnings

by the government in the interest of the
whole people through an elaborate code
of factory acts and building acts. And
when. i'm response TO their inquiries, they
became acquainted with the system Of
female selfdom by which many Japanese
factories seem TO be worked. they con-
c,uded that as they had suggested, there
was no more Busnido about Japanese CAPT
talism than about Manchester capitalism,
and that. as the Irish poet Goldsmith
put IT,
"Honor sinks vacrc commerce long
prevails
Thus q division Of opinion, or rather a
change of fashion. began as 70 the virtues
Of the japanese. A tendency 20 idealize
the Chinaman tool, the place Of the ideal
ization of the japanese. Ming porcelain
suppanted japanese sword hilts in the
esteem of art enthusiasts. The honesty
Of the Chinese was extolled 10 the skies;
it was said that the Chinaman never
breaks his word, and that mis- wife never
leaves him; and since the human imagi-
nation delights in contrasts and never in
vents an angel vsi;hout inventing a devil
as we'll it vas soon implied that a Japan
ese never tells the truth, and that his
domestic morals are atrocioUs.
On the other hand, Englishmen who had
actually visited the two countries ridi-
culed these notions; praised the civiizing
feats Of The japanese in Corea, and rep
resented the Chinese as little better than
savages.
But this only made matters worse in
some respects. The truth is, the West
was beginning 20 fear the East. From
the moment when the japanese in the
Manchurian war showed themselves so
formidable in conflict with one Of the
great powers Of Europe that they them
selves had to be reckoned as one Of the
great powers Of the world the West not
only began to fear that its old military
superiority to the East was lost. and that
the white man might have to fight FOR his
liberty, if not for his life, against the
yellow man; it also began TO concentrate
its fears upon the japanese as che Prus-
slams Of the East" Western America
feared for itself. England feared for
Australia.
That is how the matter stands at pres
ent. We are extremely glad to have the
japanese on our side in the war, just as
we were extremely glad to have the Rus
slams. But no sooner did the revolution
in Russia set us free TO express our real
feelings toward the fallen government of
the Car than it was published to. all the
world that we had dreaded it even moro
than we had dreaded the Kaiser.
Now, l must not imply that we feel
toward the government Of the Emperor
Of Japan as we did toward the govern
ment Of the Gar; but | do most earnestly
warn our japanese friends that only in
so far as Japan makes itself felt in the
West as a socially advanced state will it
gain the confidence Of its Western allies.
At present what Japan stands for in
our eyes is efficiency organization, re-
Goubtablc military achievement and what
the Germans call Kultur. OF this the
japanese may be legitimately proud, as
the Germans were; but the Germans used
their reputation to make themselves feared
instead Of making themselves trusted;
and there is nothing 50 cruel and danger
Gus as fear. All our silly romantic admi-
rations and enthusiasms would evaporate
in an instant if we saw Japan organizing
the East. not as socially advanced state,
but as an aggressive and conquering en-
pire.
Much of the prosperity Of modern Japan
is due to her power Of following Western
example; but that prosperity will be her
ruin il she does not study the fate of
Europe for warnings as well As for ex-
amples