Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-15

of inadm!ssible concession due TO In
tervention, from which China Is en-
gagged in freeing herself elsewhere at
the present time, from the standpoint OF
Japan the situation Is one not only OF
acquired rights but OF the deepest
springs of sentiment
For those railroad lines which are the
heart OF the Japanese concession run
through territory that is sacred to
Japan from some of the most heroic
exploits In her military annals. Japan
is not the nation to forget, even II other
nations do, how heavy was her loss In
l904-1905 In what was at that time
reckoned to be the greatest of all battles
in the worlds history. The armies of
Gen, Nogi and those OF Kuropatkin
seem now, In the perspective OF the
World War, to have been hardly more
than few armed corps In comparison
with the great levee en- masse Of the
World War.
Struggle In Orient.
In the Orient, however, the struggle
for Manchuria or for Japan's rights
against those of Russia on that foreign
soil remains the one outstanding fact oil
recent military history. The slopes OF
Verdun are not so real as the hillsides
of Port Arthur. There Is. therefore.
ardent sentiment as we'll as vital eco
nomic interest in the claims OF japan
within this section OF Chinese territory
But equally the sentiment OF Nationalist
China and the rights of its citizens who
have moved into Manchuria In the last
few years In greater wave OF mlSra-
ton than any other in modern history
these are as strong forces OF national
assertion as any of the claims of Japan.
If not stronger Judging this situation
in the light OF all past history. one
would be led to only one conclusion
that OF an inevitable conflict In the not
distant future. And then. moving dimiy
in the background at present, but poten-
TALLY of portentous significance. is the
vast might OF Russia some day bound
to support It's claims or to revive them.
In view of this most serious situation
In the Far East and especially because
of its proximity to that nation which is
at once the oldest and the youngest as
well as the most populous In the whole
world-China-there are problems for
Japan of the most definite reality in
any proposal TO renounce war as an in
strument of its national policy. The
uncharted future is obscure enough.
even If statecraft were permitted all the
instruments which history supplies; 1t
surely calls for the highest quality Of
leadership In those responsible Tor the
government of Japan to accept as they
have done. the principle involved In the
Kellogg treaty, which. If effectively APP
piled, places such definite limitations
upon the freedom of action of a SOW
ereign state.
Still Another Difficulty.
But there is still another difficulty In
the situation; this time a historical one,
but with vital effects In the world today.
The peoples which are now called upon
to renounce war as an instrument OF
their policies have all of them used II
In the past in the process OF the up
building OF the national state. The
great powers OF the Western world. how
ever, had substantially finished this
process some time ago: and the World
War is thought to have rounded 1t off
for most of the smaller European ma
tons In our own day.
But in the case of Japan. and more
especially Of China, state building, In
the Western sense of the word. lies al
most entirely within recent and CO.
temporaneous history. The use OF war
for national ends has therefore seemed
not only legitimate. but symbolizes high
ideals and great endeavors. the living
memories OF which are not yet lost by
the present generation.
The result. tp speak OF Japan alone,
is that no other country In the world,
not even France. has such religious
sense of or devotion to la patrie as ex-
lists In the spirit of the Japanese people !;
nor Is there any other nation where the
sense of national honor penetrates more
deeply through the entire body OF Its
citizens
Under conditions like these the for
eigner would be led at first to the con-
clusion that Japan might naturally tend
to adhere to a gospel of militarism
rather than to accept the remuneration
of war. But study of recent discus
sions in the Japanese press. as well as
an analysis OF japanese policy, shows
that In this regard. as in so many
others, Japan offers surprising ca
pacity OF adjustment to the new order
OF things.