Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1921-11-09

cess Of 'piling on the agony inform
their hearers and readers of the, plan
.of militarist Japan to take control
of China and organize that country's
millions into a Yellow Peril. The
phrase was first launched by the
Kaiser Wilhelm and was used subse-
ouentiy in the United States by his
agents in an effort to distract Amer
lean attention from the war in Eu-
rope. No one realizes more clearly
than the .Japa nese themselves that
such project is utterly unattain-
able. t.
'In the first place, we japanese
should come in conflict with the sew
eral European nations that hold es-
tablisIed positions in China. We
should then be required to dominate,
control, and ultimately organize the
Chinese. This would be an achieve
rnent such as no country has yet
been or will ever be able to accom-
plish. Human nature isn't that way;
a subject race IS generally a greater
burden than help in time of war; ana
Japan is not looking for war. Japan
needs peace, is willing to pay price
for peace, and believes that that
price. will be not only morally but
profitably paid.
But from China we Japanese be-
lieve we have a right to ask the PRIV
ileges of equal opportunity and the
open door. We are not SO richly en-
dowed as America with wealth, ter
ritory, and raw materials. Here you
have everything. You are self-sus-
tanning. But we are like the British
Isles. We have population, APP
proximately, of sixty millions, with
territory the size of one of your me-
dunn sized states. Our supplies of
raw materials must come from
abroad, and the markets for the
goods we manufacture must likewise
be foreign countries. Without sup
plies from over the seas and without
markets at the ends of our steamship
lines, We cannot live. The neishbor-
ing undcvelOped Asiatic mainland
has an abundance OF the necessary
raw materials and also affords an i'm
portant market We desire the rights
and privileges of trading on this main
land on equal terms with any nation.
near or remote: and in turn we are
willing that any other nation shall
enjoy, in fair competition, equal
rights with ourselves. There is trade
for all in these vast territories. more
extensive and probably as richly en-
dowed as the United States.
But here is an interesting point:
To the United States the materials
and trade of the Asiatic mainland are
only source of added wealth, While
to Japan they are a necessity of eX-
istcnce. We ask only an application
of the policy of live and LET live.
at is contended by the relentless
opponents Of Japan that in develop
ing East Asian resources we should
deprive the continental people of
what is rightfully and exclusively
theirs. The reverse is the truth; we
should benefit them. The Japanese
would be superhuman beings if
among them there We're no traders
who tried to exploit the native peo-
pie. There are always in backward
countries foreigners who seek only
their own selfish ends. and these for
eigncrs are not only Japanese. In
seeking their own advantage Western
Adventures have often been able to
teach the Japan tricks. But on the
whole the continental people, now
generally poor and unfortunate, are
greatly benefited by any develop
ment of agriculture or mining. any
construction of railways or organiza-
ton of steamship lines, that more
progressive people undertake.
'1n what condition. for instance,
would China be today without the
enterprise of European and Japanese
railway builders and promoters of
mining. of industries, of agriculture
and of the steamship lines that visit
her portS.-and, if | may go further
without the foreign education that is
being given her sons. primarily by
Great Britain, Japan and the United
States? | deliberately class educa-
ton with development, for one is os-
sental to the other and both serve
the cause of progress. Neither Of
these things are without their evils
but how much greater are their ben
cfts,
The cause of Manchuria is we'll
worth considering. Before the rail-
way lines were constructed there and
the brigands along them brought un-
der control, Manchuria was almost
depopuated. 1t was in effect an eX-
tension of the Mongolian Desert
with Mukden the only place worthy
to be dignified by the name of city
Today the opportunities that are af-
fordcd peaceful farmers. the protec-
ton that is given them. the railroads
that take their crops to the scaports.
and the steamship lines that convey
them as far as Europe and America,
these things create a greater de-
mand for labor than the Manchurian
population can supply. and hundreds
OF Chinese CROSS annually from the
provinces Of Shantung and Chilli into
South Nanchuria to reap the har-
vests. thereby earning in the tenn
perate months of the year sufficient
wage to. enable them to return to
China and provide for their families
throughout the winter.
likewise do foreign countries. In
Guiding Great Britain and the United
States. profit by the development. no
matter who undertakes it. America S
| trade with Japan today. both export
and import, is far greater than that
with China. in spite of the latter's gil
gantic size and natural wealth. Part
of the trade in cotton goods may
have passed from the United States
and Great Britain to Japan, but the
increase In the sales of machinery
has much more thnn connnnsatnd