Evening star., 1923-09-04
JAPANESE IN j. s.
FEAR EMPIRE LOST
Press Dispatches Give In
complete Picture of What
Nation Is Facing.
BY ROBERT SMALL,
Special Dispatch IN T'ha Star

Speciai Dlspatch 10 The Star.
NEW YORK. September 4.--The
great japanese colony in New York
was more than ever bewildered today
by the blow which has fallen upon it's
kingdom in the east. Striving I'm vain
Tor direct communication with rela-
tlVes, friends and mercantile connec-
uons' they could only conjure up from
the spasmodic press dispatches the pic
ture OF what has happened
Prominent Japanese with whom the
correspondent talked today see in the
disaster far more than any mere state
ment of property damage or figures as
to loss Of life can convey.
They see the entire kingdom literally
n nnaken 10 ITS foundation and the Japa-
nese people facing the greatest test OF
tnelr history. The modern life of the
: empire practically centered in Toxic
ana fokohama, which apparently have
oeeh wiped from the face of the earth
Are Stoical People.
Inc Japanese are stoical, fatal
lStlc. plodding sort Of people. Their
elasticity has never been subject ed
to such strain as has now befallen
them, and the representatives of the
country In New York feel that much
OF Japan's position in the world OF
UnOn
quickly and how well she comes
| back" from a stroke of in fortune
Sreater than that ever directed at a
modern people
The destruction of Toxic. Yokohama
ana the surrounding towns and viii
! lagos has thrown the entire king
dom out of joint OF that there can
De no doubt: great channels OF
| commerce have been destroyed, a loss
! Which cannot be estimated as easily
\ "a m a 90 NN,
| stone and steel
shocked as they are by the unim-
aglnable reports of loss of life, with
| pictures OF the dead in great heaps in
the open spaces and market squares
| local Japanese are pondering the
| greater fate of their nation The way
| back to anything like normal actiy-
| n.y. they realize, is long and tedious
Japan mas not been any too pros
porous in the years that have follow
| ed the war. She was not prepared for
| the suddenness of the world conflict
! Her business program envisaged a
/ longer struggle. The process of after
| war reconstruction has been com
paratively slow. She now faces q
| struggle which would try the heart
ana courage of the bravest and most
resourceful people. The Japanese of
| New York are confident their land
Will come out of the catastrophe with
the greatest possible credit to them
| selves.
| They will also come out of IL with
the outpouring sympathy of a world
Which. perhaps. had looked just a
| little askance at the military and
naval ambition of this leader of the
! oriental nations. The world has
| been perhaps. just little disturbed
also by the Japanese program in
China. Japan. overcrowded at home.
was looking for an outlet for the &C,
tiVities of her people. Today she
faces task at home which will
stretch out over the years-the rebuild
ing of her capital and her chief COM
| mercial city.
! For all the modern activities of
| two great cities suddenly to be. en-
| quilted in destruction is beyond the
| comprehension of most of the japanese
who attempted to discuss the situa-
| tion today. The Japanese are not
| imaginative. They do know, how
ever. how Japan has worked and as
| pired through the last sixty or sew
| enty years to make herself modern
| and powerful among the nations of
the world. Now the great centers
of her modernity have been trans
| formed into a vast and desolate waste.
Some Of the Japanese now in New
| York stood among the ruins of San
| Francisco. after her great fire in
1906. Others there were who recalled
the Baltimore fire of twenty years
| ago. The picture of the vaster de-
struction in Yokohama and Toxic is
| one, however. at which they shook
| their heads in a refusal to believe
| or comprehend.
| Not only has japan been turned
| into a vast house of mourning, but
| the shock to the commercial life of
| the nation is as difficult to compre-
hend as the picture of the actual
physical destruction.
Great concern was felt in the Japa-
nese colony here today as to the
| fate of the empire banks. AS the
earthquake came upon the city at a
| time when the banks probably were
| in full operation, it is doubtful if
| there was opportunity in many cases
! to close vaults and safeguard finan-
cial papers. The financial chaos will
undoubtedly be one Of the most diff
i cult to straighten out.
Missionary headquarters in New
York was vastly concerned over the
| fate of their representatives in Japan.
They could only hope that no news
might be good news.