Evening star., 1924-01-27
ATTACK UPON HIROHITO -
STIRS JAPAN TO DEPTHS
Political and Social Outlook Sure to
BE Beclouded by Attempt to
Slay Prince Regent.

fore emphasized them at the risk of
redundancy. IN order that n clear con-
ception may be had of the awesome
and agelong veneration with which
the imperial fa mily has been regarded
without exception-from the time
of remote antiquity 10 the present
day and in the present state of en-
ughtenment
Only by grasping this typical
psychological state of the Japanese
mind can we begin to understand
that such an uuheard-of thing as an
attempt on the person of the prince
regent can be regarded by the Japa-
nese as an act for transcending mere
lese majestic, nothing less than an
act of sacrilege.
Results Held Obvious.
The tangible and visible results are
, obvious to any student OF Japan, and
may be safely predicted;
First. The cabinet will tender Its
resignation as a whole.
Second. Viscount Goto. minister for
home affairs. will at once assume
particular responsibility, inasmuch as
he is In direct control of the metro
politan police bureau.
Third. The chief of the metropol-
itan police and all his executive sub
neutrality-suspicious. the head of
that district in Toxic i'll which the
AFFAIR occurred--wili be dismissed
Fourth. All the policemen in that
particular district viii probably be
discharged and returned to their
! homes.
Fifth. Those particular policemen
; or gendarmes who were in the i'm
| mediate vicinity will in all probable
ity. find that the only way in which
they can expiate their crime is by
! committing suicide.
Possible Further Effects.
i The intangible but much more far
reaching results are not as readily
to be predicted. However. from the
sta ndpoint OF one who has spent five
ana a half years in intensive study
OF the racial characteristics and
psychology of the Japanese nation
ana who has but recently returned
from almost four years of residence
IN Japan, l may venture to predict
that they will be made manifest prin-
c!pally as follows:
First: This incident will be used
FOR delaying the immediate passage
OF the universal manhood suffrage
bill, now before the diet. on the
ground that the people have not yet
become able to govern themselves
ana that the use of the ballot would
| tend TO produce license rather than
liberty
l. Second. Even sterner measures
! than heretofore used will be adopted
IN attempting to stamp out the social
unrest which is now the cause OF
profound national disquietude. and
every effort will be made to suppress
What is known colloquially as dan
gerous thoughts"
Third. There will be an indefinite
postponement of the attempt spon-
sored by Fiscount Goto TO effect a
recognition OF soviet Russia under
the guise of a commercial treaty.
rms is perhaps the greatest inter-
nauohal question Of the far east to-
Gay, and so bitterly has Viscount
Ioto been opposed that during the
late negotiations In Toxic he was
compelled TO keep a Judo expert as
oodyguard wherever he went. The
case or the Russians has also been
severely hampered by the fact that
the two relief ships sent to Japan
after the recent catastrophe were
turned back by the japanese officials
on the ground that all supplies were
said to have been wrapped in propa-
ganda literature