Evening star., 1923-08-13
EAST is EAST
By Frank III. Hedges

Where are you going?" asks the
street car conductor OF Toxic, walk
ing the full length of the aisle to
the spot where the American Is
seated. He grins from ear to ear and
perhaps ducks his head in a little bow
as he thus airs his knowledge Of the
English language. II the American
answers him in Japanese. a wave OF
chagrin spreads over his face, for his
sole object has been to show that he
speaks the tongue of the foreigner.
Napoleon is credited with having
made French the language Of dfplo-
macy and the chief medium OF inter-
national intercourse. That this su-
premacy is tottering. both in the old
world and the new, is evidenced by
recent international conferences.
What Napoleon did for Europe more
| than century ago. the business men
Britain have been doing in the far
east for many years. North OF the
French colonies and protectorates In
southern Asia. French Is rarely heard
along the opposite shore of the
Pacific. English is the international
language of the far east.
+ X X X
This is but natural 1t is not an
| artificial or stimulated growth. but
has come from the fact that the
| major international interests Of China
| and Japan have been with the Eng
| llsh speaking nations. Trade and
| commerce have doomed largest in the
| far casts foreign relations, and Eng
! land and America have been the
greatest factors in that trade and
commerce. The Japanese or the
| Chinese who studies English does 1t
not because of a belief in the su-
| periority of that language, but be-
cause it is the language which will
prove of most practical benefit to him
| throughout his life.
| Evidence Of this is to be found in
the, foreign language press of Japan
! foreign language daily newspapers,
all of them published in English
Yokohama has one, Osaka one. Kobe
| two and Nagasaki one. There is no
Japan. OF the seven newspapers
printed In foreign language in
| Peking. six are in English and one
| in French. The same ratio holds
good throughout the republic.
X X X X
The world knows that America is
! Japan's largest customer, and the
! maritime customs returns Of. China
give Great Britain a larger trade
| there than is shown by any other
| nation. Modern business institutions
| in both countries are modelled along
| British and American lines. The
young Chinese or Japanese intending
to engage in business which will
! necessitate contact with foreigners
| realizes that the chances are all in
favor of his dealing with English
| speaking peoples.
In the ports and cities of Japan
frequented by foreigners. there is
| scarcely a Japanese who does not
| know a few words of English. 1t is
| possible to shop anywhere in Toxic
with less than half-dozen words Of
the Japanese language. If the shop
keeper or one of his clerks does not
| speak English. his neighbor or his
! neighbor's neiRhbor does. and the
shopkeeper hastily dispatches a mes
! senEer to bring the interpreter. The
| 'rikisha men know at least enough
I to ask for their fares. Bilingual
signs are seen on many street cor
ners and street cars. while many of
the theaters print an English synop-
! sis of the Japanese drama being
1 presented.
In the schools of Japan the study
Of English is compulsory from the
| sixth grade upward. The student
\ may choose a second foreign Ian
guage in addition. but there is no
option as regards English. In GER
| tain universities many of the classes
are conducted in English. 1t would
| be somewhat ridiculous to teach Eng
| lish literature in Japanese transla-
ton. it is true. but the English
| sneaking classes are not confined to
| literature but may deal with eco
| nomtcs. science or any other subject
In China many of the mission schools
are conducted entirely in English
! This. too. is natural for Americans
have been and are the leaders In
| educational matters in both countries.
In the early days of Japan's open
ing to the west. members Of the
service with foreign family merely
for the sake of learning English.
| This Is no longer the case. but n
somewhat similar incident occurred
| In my own home in Toxic The
front room Of our house was a
Buddhist temple. and a young Jan
anese student rented one corner OF
this temple for his living Quarters.
| He told US frankly ar the first on-
rortunity. that he had done so be-
could overhear what we said. as
1 a paper screen formed the sole par
4 tition between our dining room and
the temple.
! x r
The difficulty of learning Chinese
or Japanese has also played an i'm
portant part in bringing about the
supremacy Of English. 1t requires
such a great effort on the part Of the
American to learn to speak, read or
| write any of the languages of the
far east that he often gives up in
ldis"ust. hs n consequence the native
; is forced TO learn the language of the
| foreigner in order to communicate with
| him
There is scarcely a book store IN
! Toxic that does not have a few Eng
| lish books magazines on the
| shelves besides those published in
! Japanese. The assortment Is some
times ridiculous. for mail order cata
logueS may rest peacefully in com
pany with the poems of Edgar AIlan
Poe or treatise on mining engineer
ing. Sales Of books published IN Eng
lish are high in japan. and next In
order come those in German. due. the
book dealers saw. to the tremendous
respect entertained bv the Japanese
for German science. There are fewer
books in Russian than might be ex-
pected. when It is remembered that
except Tor emma, Russia Is Japans
! nearest neighbor
Manv of the statesmen Of both
| countries speak English, although
they often refuse to trust them
selves to any but their native tongue
when being interviewed for pubIica :
tion. Those who do not know Eng
lsh themselves Invariably have an
| English speaking secretary The
same is true of the heads of the larger
| business firms.
| X X X
Differences of dialect are so great