Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1921-02-14
Monday, February "a, 1927.
aTwo men looked out from prison
bars. The one cav mud; the other
atars,"
Improved Conditions in Japan

Thc Japanese have never oeen
found as plant and docile as the
chinese. i'm fact those in this coun-
try have been found to be quite lnde-
pendent and self reliant. Some nave
wondered at this attitute in people
who until recently have lived under
autocratic government. high spirit
would naturally be expected of the
Sa,r,urai class, brought up to consid-
e,. themselves the flower of the nation
and the common herd as far beneath
them and ready to die on their sword
if need be. But apparently we have
more to learn respecting the common
people of Japan before we come to an
understanding of them.
4 contributor to East and west
News offers an interesting explana-
ton. to the effect that there is SEN
timent among the common people,
"a mixed sentiment of rebeii1oh
against bully power, sympathy Tor the
helpless, and willingness to sacrince
self for the sake of others who nave
done kind acts. This admirable SEN
timent must be strictly distinguished
from the spirit of Bushdo, because 1t
has arisen among the plebians in
place of Bushido, which was the way
of the Samurai or aristocrats, al
though it may have been, as some
scholars claim, the source Of inspira-
ton for the growth of proletarian
chivalry,
Under the Tokugawa regime the
s;amurai was the flower and the rest
were nothing. The Samurai often
abused their privilege and oppressed
the common people not little. di3re-
garding their rights and personality.
Then a class of plebians appeared
who called themselves linen of men,
and who made it their profession to
defy the bullying Samurai and to- de-
fend the oppressed people. 1t was
the virtue Of this class. always to help
the weak and crush the strong, and
to be ready to lay down their lives
at any moment. The story Of Saku-
ia Sogoro, who fell martyr to the
cause of oppressed farmers, has be-
come classic.
''T'l,us originating in defiance of
despotism, the spirit of proletarian
chivalry permeated among the lower
classes Of people, and to this day 1t
forms the bulwark of the rights and
froo6nyr, nf tho naOO1n Pc
fined and enriched by the embodi-
ment in it of enlightened knowledge
and ideals, the sentiment came to be
on one side "a keen appreciation Of
kindness and sympathy, and on the
other strong hatred of oppression
and injustice. The present, proletari-
an movement in Japan, movement
which is destined presently to become
Il mighty social force, owes it's source
and guidance to the ways of the
common people,
The years of the recent war saw
great changes in Japan. 1t is said
that 1.-THE status of the working class
es is greatly improved through a
persistent, costly struggle against
the nisused power of capital; wages
have been increased. hours shortened,
and, in the near future, we may ex-
pect the triumph of industrial demo-
crazy. a triumph which will secure
for labor the deserved right of indus
trial o-partnership. Already the sta
tus of women has been greatly i'm
proved by their emancipation from
the traditional and social bondage
under which they suffered so long.
Political rights have been greatly en-
larged, and universal manhood suf-
frage is now within view. The edu-
cational system. too, has just been re-
Vlsed, rendering its spirit a great deal
more liberal than ever before"