Evening star., 1937-01-31
CIVILIANS AND MILITARY /. !.
! ARE AT GRIPS In JAPAN
DEVELOPMENT of Governmental Crisis
Being Watched Closely by Officials
-. in Washington.

have come to. an end. There d, no
other way to meet the demands Of the
treasury. except by direct taxation m
every citizen. The dis
naked truth came finally to
the surface. During the five years oe
military administration the empires
debt rose from 5000. .000, 900 yen TO
10000 900 900 yen. It Is true that
into dollars this figure does
not appear 30 staggering to the Amer
lean reader. Ten billion yen repre-
sents not more than. $4,000 900 900.
But to the japanese 10000. 900 900 yen
appear as much Is $4,000, ,00o, 900 to
the American taxpayer. And when
now, the secretary Of the treasury In
Toxic announces that taxes must be
raised by between 40 and 80 per cent.
the japanese people begin to realize
how costly the military parades In
Manchukuo, Jehol. Shanghai and
Tientsin have been.
Course Depends On Emperor.
Whether the. japanese nation viii
decide to bring the. military to their
senses or will follow them along the
present path will be decided shortly.
It depends largely upon the attitude Of
the Emperor-on the support he u
willing to give his generals and ad-
mirals.
But should this support not Be
forthcoming. Is in the past. 1t Is more
than probable that the civilians backed
by the financial and industrial lead.
ers Of the country and by the ma
jority Of the taxpayers who see 40
per cent of the national budget. 80
to the army and the navy will de-
eide to put an end to the present
extravaganza Of the, military.
And this determination Of the Jap
anese people cannot fail to have . psy.
Geological effect on Europe. The Ital-
ianS and the Germans have been en-.
couraged to disregard the international
agreements and tear them to pieces
only after Japan had proved that
any nation backed by q strong mill.
tary machinery can get away with
anything.
The desire to change agreements and
obtain new territories by force rather
than by agreement became the policy
Of the European dictators after 1888.
And they realized that in order to
achieve their aims they must have
an interchangeable military force. It
is this policy which is partly respon-
sible for the present arms race.
And this policy has cost the world
so far . pretty penny. ~.
In 1918, when the European powers
were preparing for the great war,
when the European powers were
wealthy the total cost Of armaments
did not exceed $3.50, 100000.
In 1886, after q disastrous war,
after still more disastrous economic
depression, when all the debtor ma
tions confessed that they simply did
not have the money to meet the $20,-
100000 war debt contracted In
the United States. the re-armament
bill Of the world-exclusive Of this
country-amounted to 10000, ,000, 900.
Big Increases Over 1918.
In percentages, Great Britain spent
last year IS per cent more than In
1913; France spent So per cent over
the 1913 figure; Japan increased. It's
military and naval expenditure by
100 per cent and the Soviet govern.
ment by 500 per cent. The Italian
government has had . war on its
hands, and the figure Is believed to
be 81 per cent over the 1913 ex.
penditures. Germany for obvious reas-
ons keeps its budget-military and
otherwise confidential. But accord.
ing to authorities which have made
1t their business TO get thoroughly into
the German military expenses the
Reich, with q gold reserve Of not
more than $4,000, 900, has spent
in 1886 $4,s56, 100000 on its army.
tank corps, aviation and navy.
These are staggering figures; which
In many cases the taxpayers do not
realize. In countries like Germany.
Italy and U. s. s., r., the rank and
file of the taxpayers are not allowed
to know how much Of their income
is being spent on war preparation.
The income OF the nations and its
expenditure is 4 matter which con.
Germs only the leaders. -. %. -
The only. thing that should con-
Germ the masses Is where the next
meal will come from. And the dc
tators have made it their business
to see that some sort Of . meal Is be.
Ing served to every member Of the
nation. It u true that there is prac-
tically no unemployment In the au-
thoritiarian states. -.
Those who know how much Of the
peoples money Is being spent on de.
structive machineries and believe Il
could be put. to better use are
cowed by the government. The rank
and file Of the ilation only gueses
at 1t and = for the time being sat-
isfied with little. But should the bub-
bic burst In Japan. should that
Oriental power make an end to the
military rule which she has been the
first to accept rs the only beneficial
form Of government, the consequences
cannot fall to make themselves felt
in almost every other country In
the world where the army and navy
budget swallows the majer proportion
Of the national budget.
~ Strike WilCon1e
Courts This Week