The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-02-26

A young, unknown army captain named Ncnaka was named as leader of the coup. He was supported by troops from Q regiment of the First Infantry Division garriscned in Toe kio.
 Dispatches which told of these events were subject to revision but they were from reliable sources and it was indicated that they told in bare outline the story of the coup.
 Late dispatches indicated the coup was confined to Tokio and that af- ter the first shock of assault the government acted firmly to sup- press it.
 Taken by Surprise The extremist patriots, 1t ap. peared, formed their forces at 6:2O q. m. (3:20 D. m. EST Tuesday,. Their plans seemed to have been worked out with great precision, and dispatches indicated that they took the government by surprise.
 By 5. p. m. @ .. m. EST) dis- patches reported the government again in control though Q strict censorship continued and informa- ton came only from ronsJapail- csc but reliable sources.
 The coup was the answer to the parliamentary election of Q group of men who hold that the army must be paramount fin national af. fairs, that the emperor is the gov- ernment and not merely its highest organ, and that parliamentary rule is inefficient and un-Japanese--- the defication of the fascist theory of the western world.
 Emperor's Own Guard Though dispatches were not clear as to the means by which the re- ported suppression of the coup was effected, 1t was indicated that the efnperors' own imperial guard was called out to suppress the men who revolted in pursuit of their ideal that the emperor is above every- thing.
 It was regarded as certain that the civilian police remained loyal to the government. But they gre not armed, except for one picked dee tachment, and would almost cer- tainly have been helpless against well armed soldier rebels. The revolt was not surprising.
 Several months ago Dr. Tatsu. kicki Minobe of the imperial uni- versity, Q constitutional authority, advanced theh theory in Q book that the emperor was but the high. est organ of the government, not the government itself.
 Conservatives Shocked This theory shocked conservatives and enraged extremists. It became @ political issue. The dominant Sei- yukai party demanded that the gov- ernment, which was supported chiefly by the less powerful Min- seito party, state clearly It's disap- proval of the Minobe theory. The government did make Q statement but the seiyukai men, army sup- porters, held 1t iasufficientlyHtrong.
 The Minobe theory was . prin- cipal issue in the election of Feb- ruary 20, and was partly rcspon- sible for the political disputes that led to 1t.
 In the election the Seiyukai's representation in parliament diIn- inshed from 242 seats to 176. The Minseito party increased it's representation from l27 to 206, which, in Q parliament of 4e6 seats, assured 6 working majority with the support of other parties re- garded having liberal tendencies.
 Even more distasteful to the rev actionaries was the increase of rep- resentation of the proletarian or social mass parties from three seats to a.
 Young Patriots Peeved
 Something had to happen, for 1t was certain that the young patriots of the army would not accept the election as likely to promote the welfare of Japan for which any of them would give his life without he slightest question.
 It is Q fight which goes back to the dark days of history when Japan was Q country closed to the outside world, Q world of It's own with knightly tradition un. matched, even in the day of Eu- ropean chivalry, by other nations.
 For Q generation 1t has been e sharp issue as Japan absorbed western political ideas, and each stage has been marked by blood shed. Prince Ito. called the father of constitutoinalisn, first challenged the aradition that the armed forces directly under the eIia- peror are the supreme power and the inheritors of the national tra- ditions.
 In 1882 Premier Tsuyoshi Inukai supported too vigorously the consti. tutional theory and he, also, was killed by junior officers.
 Liberal Victory Only last week, after election rec turns showed e victory for liberal- ism, Prof. Minobe was attacked. He was wounded in the leg.
 Of the men first reported killed today, Finance Minister Takahashik was believed to be ct the head of the list the young officers made ID of men who must be removed for the countrys good, in view of the situation in Manchukuo, the Jap. anese- sponsored empire wrung from Chinese Manchuria, the Japanese sponsored empire wrung from Chi- nese Manchuria, the Japanese penetratoin in China proper, and, even more important, the delicate situation on Manchukuo's outer Mongolian and Soviet Russian from tier. It was Takafashis duty to oppose the demands of the army and navy for big appropriations.
 During the recent election caEln- paign. alsho, Takahashi spoke stout- ly against the army, and defended the people against tax levies.
 Premier Okada and Admiral Saito, keeper of the great seal. were re garded as secondary objects of at- tack but as inimical to the ideal