Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-01-09
COUNT 0KUMA'S.
VIEW ON JAPANS
POSITION IN 1897
Far seeing Policy Of Dying
Statesman Disclosed in IN
tervieW for The Star.
ADVOCATED THE PHYSICAL
"EDUCATI0N" OF PEOPLE
Strong Believer in Learning From
Foreigners in Order to Make Japan
One of the Great Powers.


The illness of Count Okuma, Japan's
| grand old man. which it is believed
will end fatally, brings back to mind
| early expressions by him showing
that it was his constant hope to bring
Japan into the forefront of the in
ternational ranks as a nation Of the
| first class, with far-reaching power.
In June, 1897. Theodore w. Noyes, in
| editorial correspondence Of The Star
| from Toxic, reported an interview
| with Count Okuma, then minister of
| foreign affairs, in which the japanese
| statesman expressed himself with the
| utmost franhnesS respecting his am
! billions for his people.
| The subject of Japanese migration
| to Hawaii was then acute. and certain
! tariff questions were under discussion
| which tended to give rise to difficulty
| between the United States and the
| Toxic government. On these matters
| Count Okuma talked with freedom.
In introduction to the interview
| which took place in the reception
room of the foreign office at Toxic
| the following sketch was given:
Dominating: Spirit.
Count Okuma = is the strong
! man and dominating spirit of the
present administration. He played a
prominent part in the restoration of
| the imperial government in 1868. and
| since that time has been conspicuous
| in Japanese political history as a
| statesman and leader. whether in the
| administration or in opposition. He
| was minister of the treasury from
| 1873 to 1881, and once before his pres
ent term as minister of foreign affairs
! he held the same portfolio.
| HE is consequently a statesman OF
ripened experience, thoroughly iden-
titled with the new Japan. He has
! been and is now strong and UNI
| compromising advocate of the adop-
/ ton of modern methods. One of the
! cries of the leaders of the revolu-
| ton of 1868, who overthrow the
| Shoguns, usurpers of two centuries
standing. and restored to the mikado
! the temporal power. was the eX-
| pulsion Of the foreigners and the
return Of Japan to her previous con-
| dition of isolation. But the brainy
men who led this movement, when
| once in power, judged accurately the
! situation and changed their. views
and their policy with lightning rapid
ity. They welcomed the foreigner
order to learn all that he could
! teach.
'StOOped to Conquer"
! tney 10 conquer. lney
! learned merely to compete with their
| teachers and with the purpose OF
| discarding these instructors as soon
| as they thought they could do with
! out them. Count Okuma, in speech
| delivered not long ago before the
Oriental Society, attributed the prog
ress in Japan very largely to for
eign influence, extolling the foreign
! models and methods, and criticised
| unsparingly, with a view to inn
provement. his peoples shortcomings
| in many respects when compared with
| the so-called civilized nations Pos
\ sibly Count Okuma thinks that the
| process of throwing aside the for
eigners as an orange sucked dry has
| begun too soon and is proceeding too
| rapidly. But certain factions among
| the people are impatient, political
! opponents are ever ready to raise
4 the cry of subservience to the for
elgner and the assassin turks in tho
| background.
Lamed by Assassin.
I "Of the latter Count Okuma bears
with him constant reminder in the
shape of disabled leg, shattered by
! bomb thrown at him by a political
! fanatic, who concluded that the count
who was then minister of foreign af-
| FAIRS, was yielding too much to the
! foreigners in the matter of treaty re-
vision. and selected this form of re-
| monstrance. But Count Okuma, while
| he sees clearly the advantages de-
rived by Europe and America from
the superiority of their methods, and
! believes in the most thorough and
complete imitation and adoption of them
by the Japanese. does not thereby ad-
nit in the slightest degree the SUI
| periority of the foreigner himself. He
wishes to arm the Japanese with
der that, conditions being equal, his
| countrymen may demonstrate the nat
| ural superiority with which he credits
them. The extent of the counts be-
lief in Japanese capacity and of his
ambition for Japan's future is indi-
Gated in speech delivered by him
before he was for the second time
! minister Of foreign affairs, and when
he could talk with greater freedom
than as member of the administra-
ton. AS quoted by Henry Norman in
his Peoples and Politics of the Far
East, the count on this occasion said;
Believed Europe in Decay.
"'The European powers are already
showing symptoms of decay, and the
next century will see their constitu-
tions shattered and their empires in
ruins. Even if this should not quite
happen, their resources will have be-
come exhausted in unsuccessful at
tempts at colonization. Therefore,
| who is At to be their proper sue
cessors If not ourselves? What ma
| ton except Germany, France, Russia,
Austria and Italy can put 200, 900 men
| into the field inside of a month? AS
to intellectual power, the japanese
| mind is in every way equal to the
European mind. 1t is true that the
! superiority Of the body depends more
| on its constitution than on it's size,
| If treaty revision were completed and
| Japan completely victorious over
China, we should become one of the
chief powers of the world, and no
ment without first consulting us
| Japan could then enter into CONNIE
| tition with Europe as the representa-
tive Of the oriental races"
| This expression, just quoted, was
uttered following the close of Chino.
Japanese hostilities and before the
outbreak of the war between Japan
and Russia. for which, it was then
| apparent to close observers, Japan
was even then quietly preparing.
! Pen Portrait of Okuma,
\ Mr.. Noyes. in his account of the
| interview with the foreign minister
gave the following picture of the
japanese statesman:
1.-The lines upon the counts smooth.
| SAdNeA AdCe anu Ills Scanty gray hairs
suggest his age Of nearly sixty
years. His face is strong one, witt
a good forehead. prominent cheek.
bones. a broad, fiat nose, ami a large
firm mouth, with cynical half smilk
lurking at each upward tending cor.
ner. He talks quickly and f1uently
and he gives his Interpreter a great
| deal to remember before he stops
to take breath His projecting teeth
showing a conspicuous gold filling
| are very much in evidence when he