Evening star., 1945-09-07
Letters to The Star
Sees Future Peace in Kindness
and UNDERSTANDING of Japanese

and Understanding of Japanese
To the Editor of The Star:
OF all the utterances of Abraham
Lincoln, perhaps none more exemplified
his Christian spirit than his second
inaugural in which he said in part:
with malice toward none and charity
for all, with the will to do the right
as God gives us to see the right" 1t
was his idea as to how we should treat
our defeated enemies when the War
Between the States ended.
We now have peace with Japan. II
our policy is to be one of reprisals,
humiliation and vengeance for the ter
rible manner in which the japanese
have conducted this war, and which
all of the civilized world deprecates,
then. indeed it is going to be diflcult
If not impossible to bring the Japanese
back into the fold of decent society.
After more than 40 years of dealing
with the Japanese people. both Army
that we will have a third great sur
prise in their character and behavior.
In the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-5, the
world was amazed at the sudden emerg-
ence of Japan as a world power, with
an efficiency which won the admiration
of both Russians and the Western World.
The next great surprise came in this
war when the veneer of civilization was
stripped off and the japanese returned
almost overnight to the atavistic and
primitive instincts of feudal days.
But, it is the present writer's opinion
that we are to have still further sur
prise to learn of the Japanese once
more returning to the guise of human
beings instead of savages. They are the
most practical and expedient people in
the world and are not apt to make the
same mistake twice. In the Sino-Japa-
nese War Of 1894-5 they captured Port
Arthur from the Chinese in day and,
following the routine Of their own civil
wars, they slaughtered thousands of
coolies only keeping those they wanted
for labor. This was what always had
been done and they were shocked to
tears when what they conceived to be
a great achievement was called in
Europe the massacre of Port Arthur"
They never could understand why this
incident killed the sale of bonds in the
Western markets. 1t seemed so natural
to them. Japan next appeared in the
news at the relief of Peking in 1900.
All admit that the japanese were among
the best behaved troops in the Allied
forces.
People Are Teachable.
In the RusSian-Japanese War, the
japanese had an alliance with England
and the war was fought mostly with
funds raised in England and the United
States. There never was criticism by
friend or foe Of their behavior, as this
writer can testify.
The Japanese are quick to learn, and
1t is not going to take them so very
long to see the fallacy of their philo-
sophy. There are two dominant re-
ligions in the Island Empire, Buddhism
and Shintoism. The latter, of course,
Is myth and founded on 20 centuries
Of legends. In its inception it probably
was innocuous enough, but, as the mill
tary power grew and the forced draft
was put on, this fantastic belief in the
divinity of the Emperor and the in
vincibility Of the Japanese people was
transferred from a myth to reality
and from a military point of view even
the most ardent japanese hater must
admit it paid off in morale
The cold facts of utter defeat and
humiliation, as little by little they seep
through the japanese mind, are going
to shake to the very core of their be-
ings their faith in these legends that
have been drummed into them for 80
years In the opinion of this writer there
will be a drift to Buddhism and that re-
ligion next to Christianity is perhaps one
of the most rational of all. AS one who
worked among the japanese for 20 years
has said: Buddhism and Christianity
are converging PHILOSOPHERS"
Liberals May Emerge.
Those who have lived in Japan and
know the japanese realize that under
lying the despotism of terrorism and
militarism there is a strong liberal and
tolerant group. Government by asSassi-
nation and violence either has removed
these men or has driven them under
cover. That this matrix of potential
civilization will emerge in the form of
tolerant government is what those who
have known the japanese believe to be
the case.
1t must be clear to all now that the
wisdom of the Truman administration
in keeping the symbol of the Emperor
and refraining from ridicule of their
strange philosophy has paid off in every
way 1t is clear now that without the
imperial edict We would have faced a
guerrilla warfare in dozen places. The
order of the Emperor has brought about
in fortnight what 1t would have taken
six months to achieve by force of arms.
| 1t is impossible to administer civiliza-
ton with hypodermic. Neither can a
religion, no matter how fantastic to us,
be destroyed over night. The most con-
vincing method of educating nation,
either in its philosophy or form of gov
ernment is not at the point of the
bayonet. We have only to recall our
own era of reconstruction when Federal
troops and the Freedman's Bureau, op-
Grated by fanatics like Thaddeus Ste
vens, failed utterly and entirely to do
anything but create bitterness. With our
occupation of Japan, the Japanese will
] t,,,s H.