New-York tribune., 1919-03-25
M kin g Japan
Safe for Democracy
By Adachi Kinno.,L:

- 0enaa"u IL immediately, emnhs.
csiiy' plcturcsquely, as in the sa,,' n~'s
ing incident: More than 5000 stud.s. s.''s'
loklo gathered at the Hibiya Part ~ '' y
1lth OF February. This date ;s =" 'ss
historic holiday in Japan every essl
TINS year 1t was also the THIRTEEN .'s .a'
versary of the PRONUNCIATION of ~. -aa''
constitution Of Japan. And tho r'. ''s'
students celebrated it in an s,.o.'.' 1vs'
unique manner. 'sesaei
1t was very representative hoa.
the Leading institutions of learp;n. a''
Toxic we're represented, from the 1ma.. u
University, Waseda University (M,.aDa (s
okuma's great SCHOOL, down-som.,ss'ss sss
like seventeen of them in all. '1s
Over the massed students a buo.
swept and swirlcd; it bore tho fo,,.s rss.''
lcgend-dccidedly novel to the sss'
Toxic: Give us all the right to vot.,, ots "
More than that. In one corpe, =,
was red ag waving Some threo h,.ss' w
students of the Waseda University ,..s.'. .'a
in behind it. They were greeted wiz. s'De'
plausc. ~
The students formulated what m;ch.
called platform. They drew nm
OF resolutions; also a petition IN h.
sented to the House of Represcnt.,r.
the Imperial Diet praying for III. cr.,.
universal suffrage. There was no emo
tional storm worth mentioning. Tho uo.,
ing proceeded in a busincsslike m.,...
logically, orderly to the conclusion
The resolutions declared, amonc nth.
significant things:
Under the present day condition n,
Japan there IS no other way of main,
the demand of the nation for un;v.rs',
suffragel penetrate through to the fru;
tion than for us young men to rise and
make an effective demonstration
From the park the students proceeded -
the House of Representatives of N. l.,
perlai Diet. They wished to present the
petition. At the entrance of the uou,,
they were met with hearty welcome s,or
the members, who had gathered there that
morning to celebrate the national hol;dsv
IN form Many of the lawmakers Of N.
smpire seemed quite as enthusiastic 90 ,bs
students over the question of universal
suffrage.
There was perhaps bit more noise than
dignity about the reception. That NAV
have been what gave cue to tho nolics
Anyway, the uniformed officers rushed in
1t was then and there that something
unexpected came TO light. The gathering
Of students for the purpose of making
demonstration for universal suffrage wa,
brought about through the permission
given by-and il is even alleged by the
special encouragement of Mr.. Tokonsmi,
the Minister Of the Interior, in what il
widely hailed as the first really democratic
Cabinet Japan has ever had since the
classic days Of simplicity, centuries ago.
After this revelation the police had moth.
ing whatever 70 say, of course. But some
of the more enthusiastic and friendly
among the NJ. P.s were not slow in siding
with the students and putting the poor
police officers in their place.
Nothing out of order here cried one
of the NJ. P.s these young gentlemen
wish to present a petition to the House
10 receive it or to decline it is cntirely
with the President Of the House-we de-
fined constitutional prerogative OF his He
is not present here, however. We cannot
act on the petition of these men, there
fore"
That was somewhat disappointing to the
students. But Mr.. Jiro Okabe one Of the
leading members of the opposition party
the Kensei, addressed the students:
"We understand and thoroughly realize
the meaning Of your demonstration of this
day. More than that, we are in complete
accord with you. We shall do all in our
power to fulfil your wishes"
AS matter Of fact, the demonstration
above detailed was by no means either the
first or the most spectacular expression Of
the national sentiment for universal SUI
frage in Japan. On the 18th Of January
the leaders of the Kensei party talked The
subject over among themselves. The vet
eran leader Of them all, Mr. Saburo Shi'
mada, mildly advocated the principle Of
universal uffrage-advocated it and spoke
in favor of it as "a political IDEAL" but he
thought that the actual conditions Of The
people of Japan, at the present stage o.
their political evolution, did not maze
it either profitable or possible. Various
views were aired at the meeting every
thing from an unconditional universal SUI
frage to the extension of franchise pI
means of either taking away certain re-
strictions or reducing the present educs
tion and property qualifications for voters
All Of the men who expressed themselves
at the time were agreed on one thing
namely, that suffrage should be very lsfseV
extended by some means or other
Newspapers Of the country are quite 1875
in favor Of the extension Of The frsnebiss
The "Niehiniehi" Of Toxic. for exsnpN
reminds the seiyu party Of is promise y
feviss the election Laws Of The eeshtft'
end asks "WhY not adept universal sul'
ffagt7 Universal suffrage Is pfebs''
and common thing IN CONSTITUTIONS
country