The Washington herald., 1921-12-18
By GABRIELLE D'ANNUNZIO.


Milan, Italy, Dec. 17.-Commo-
dore Perry continues to smile.
lowering slightly the corner OF his
mouth, which is denied by the con-
| slant use Of his pipe. carved from
| a root with a clasp-knfe. In the
! other. the symbolic world. he re-
tains his seamanly swaGger like the
/ perfect mariner that he was. He
has not abandoned the habit OF
keeping vertical, the center Of his
gravity thus assuring firm basis
| for his solidly planted feet.
| The commodore is erect on his
/ two legs. as though he were again
standing on the deck OF his good
ship Susquehanns. In truth he does
not show any trace OF that untime-
| ly govt which was his passport to
the other world. On the contrary
| his smile changes into coarse
| laugh at the merry suspicion that
| diplomatic govt will not condemn
the Washington conference to- i'm
mobility.
Perry Speaks In Spirit.
Commodore Perry. smiling. says:
Allow me TO intervene. although
not convoked by regular Presiden-
| tial invitation.
Almost seventy years ago I left
! the waters Of Yedo Bay, opposite
! Uraga. a sounding buoy. We sailors
say that a buoy watches when It
! floats. Well, my buoy has watched
and is still watching. do not
doubt but that my countrymen are
! better informed than ]. but the
conference is apt TO confound ideas.
even in the soundest Of heads.
when. on July Z. 1888. ] cast
anchor before Uraga. had in my
| friCate two gun batteries. one
covered and the other uncovered /:
but ] had two more batteries, still
| more efficacious One was a battery
Of simple ideas and the other was
honest good will. Both were quite
| uncovered.
My cook, too. possessed his
secrets. and not even his dearest
scullcry servant was able TO wrest
one from him. The kitchen of the
| conference is surrounded by spong
ers Of every country and quality
but il is true that its secrets are
impenetrable.
Meanwhile assure you that all
I
| laughing. Following a proverb Of
that country. when the white man
prophesies the future Of Japan or
expresses thoughts on the soul OF
Japan. the gracious rodents on the
paper roofs laugh in chorus I'M
ceasingly.
Jap Faces Masks.
Official representatives OF the
= -
laugh, do not make gestures or
signs. and speak only what is abso-
! lutely necessary, but perpetually
keep their faces like the old ivory
and giltwood masks.
THE governor OF Uraga. when he
tried to send me TO Nagasaki 10
treat with the rulers. remained i'm
passive on my refusal. / never had
the pleasure of seeing muscle OF
| Prince Idzu's face wrinkle.
1T has been said and said aga n
that when Charles Hughes. with
| unexpected boldness. proposed the
destruction OF ships, all the white
puppets jumped as though the
wires had suddenly broken. while
the yellow puppets remained as
| blandly insensible as sheathed
sabers of well-tempered steel.
"Fata immota manent. Destiny
remains immovable. Though / rec
| ognize myself as a man OF humble
knowledge. I risk this solemn quo
tation. hoping to augment my au'
| thority with the Industrious West
ern lights come to dine in the Fed
eral Capital.
"Destiny-that is the vital neces
sity of the race, that is will power
that is the purpose of aggression
and expansion: and it is INSOFAR,
able and Interchangeable from tn,
plans of the secretive people whom
il may honor to introduce to tho
world struggle.
This virile truth must be vel
imprinted upon the mind OF th'
people Of the starred banner whc
should aspire TO hegemony of the
world.
There are those who cry
Europe for the Europeans and
there are others answering. ASH
for the Asiatics Here il is not I
question of justice. for justice !!
yet to come to man. The Son %
Man sacrificed Himself in vain I,
establish il upon the earth.
Question of Power.
Here is no question Of justice
but of power. For a long time ye
the dividers of the world will b.
iron men. And for a long time at
tempts at vindications for socia
transformations will be problems
. of power and not Of Justice, act!
of violence and not persuasion.
TT does not help TO waste TIM
in deploring the harshness OF THU
reality any more than il helps q
wonder why England is ready e
give back Welhaiwei but keel
Hongkong.
81 pray my God that the reality
of these things enters well int
your minds.
An ARRANGEMENT OF hypocrisiei
Of the conference can have but tn
value of stratagems in a blood!
war. Alternately the negotiatori
take off the mask to put on thu
muzzle, which they again take of
to replace with the mask.
Japan since 1914 has conquer
ed her internal market, has elimt'
mated from China all foreign com
petition, has invaded the markets
Of Indo-China, Siam and India, ha:
created connections with Soutf
America and Canada. has alreao,
entered a trade battle with Euro
pean commercial firms, and ha'
copied from European models the
intimate mechanism of Industrial
commercial and financial systems
of the white man by excluding