The Hawaiian gazette., 1918-07-12

triendrI cannot be unfriendiy. rs anti
English. What / wish to convey above
al is that / am Japanese, but AT this
juncture when we are fighting an en-.
envy how can ] be indifferent 10 the
Allied Powersi Please understand me
Do you believe in the permaneney
Of the Anglo-Japanese AllianceP -
THE question has come TO me before
from foreigners, including some Eng.
liahDien. II the whole world changes,
IL the sun were to rise in the west,
then anything might happen. Other.
| wise--,p
Japanese German Relations
1.-THE strange pro,Japanese demon
stratiOn In Berlin on the day Ger
many declared war on RUSS "a still
mystifes people In England who
know the facts. Can you explain itf'
80 Interpretation is difficult bat
will give you my view. Before the
war there was no incident hurting the
feelings Of the two nations Germany
and Japan). We were on very cor.
dial terms. Therefore when the Ger
man people thought that in the com
ing war Japan might take sides on
her own account, they did not believe
Japan would do any harm against
! Gerr,nnv md they wanted to demon
strate their friendliness. -
"Did they not think you would take
; an opportunity to move against Rus
siaf Some may have thought so
but l do not agree. Germany must
have known that Japan and Russia
wou',l remain good friends -
"Critics of japan say you fEht for
your own materialistic ends and not
for japan had no pnrti-
cular reason. to go TO war with Ger
many She came in in obedience to
the obligations of the Anglo-Jai anese
Alliance. And to keep faith. The
I facts ere there to justify us -
h'But, pardon me, that was duty.
not iJeaIism f''-''True. but behind
the dirty was the ideal The late
Emperor Meiji left 10000 poems en-
shrining the beautiful ideals Of man
Kind and in my moment of stress or
crisis the nation turns TO them as to
Bible. Years ago the Kaiser speaking
OF the Yellow Peril was vcrv rude to
people whose color is yellow
Jtp"n Suffering From War
"Ycs, he referred TO you rs mon
keyf''--'' Yes, but as was going to
say, these poems, expressive and elO-
quent sermons against aggression and
enmity, informed our attitude when we
entered the war might recall that
il was in the Emperor Meiii's reign
that the Anglo-Japanesc Alliance was
concluded. 4
"You do not deny Japan has gain.
ed materially from the war: &c But
Japan has suffered as well That
suffering is entirely due to the war.
The gain is not as great as people
imagine. Before the war the balance
Of trade was admittedly against US;
IL is now in our favor, andIit is a fact
that our gold reserves are much larger,
On the diverse side is the rise in the,
cost of living. IN spite of all, Japan
ia determined to do all in her power
to help the Allies and maintain peace
in the Far East. May l remind you
that we arc policing the Indian and
Pacific Oceans in addition TO sending
our warships to the Mediterranean and
supplying tonnage. Z,
'Have the Allies ever asked you TO
send forces to the Westf''-"Ro."
How long do you think the war will
last i''-"At the beginning imagined
that disease and famine would bring d
quick decision but sanitation and army
feeding are so wonderfully efficient that
| now believe that unless the notion OF
, ending the war in this way is agree
,ble to super human power the conflict
viii not end in the near future. 1t may
asst very long
Mustn't Be In a Hurry
However long it may last you do
not doubt that it will result in an Al
lied victory -" No, of course, but
YOU must not be in a hurry. People are
generally in too much of a hurry"
People who have only one life to,
i've may be pardoned il they are ip
hurrvf'-A sympathetic nod was the
| Minister'S answer.
After passing reference to Mr..
| lloyd George expressive of admiration
'or his energy and enterprise, Baron
ioto spoke in feeling terms of the valOr
Of the Allied armies and the stanch'
ness of front they presented to the
ehemy's most violent onslaught
"Their courage and tenacity and pa
thence is beyond praise" The Baron
adIed that he could nOtElaim to be
soldier though he had fought in tn"
later wars of Japan and had received
n military medal, but his experience
enable him to appreciate the difficulty
Of fighting a war honorably and in &c
r"rdance with International practise as
the Allies were doing. japan had so
fought and was proud of the fact. The
AIh"s could be equally proud.
The impression, which the interview
left ON my mind was that Baron GOto
was DESTROYS of correctly representing
what he considered the national scnti
mrnt Of japan. He emphasized that
he was not speaking personally but as
Foreign Minister.
w. SIS
! p0l cuEuIVI u0cTAHE