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January 26, 1903.]
and the emigrants were landed the flowing day, probably to be sent by steamer instead.
Later.
DECAPITATION OF THE PIRATES
The eleven pirates arrested on the 6th instant while attempting to capture a fishing junk in the harbour and sent to Limehow for trial are reported to have been decapitated.
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T PHENIX AT PAKHOI. H.B.M. gucboat Phæniz arrived here on the afternoon of the 10th instant and left this morning for a cruise.
Pakboi, 17th January. PIBATIC LATTACK FRUSTRATED.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
JAPAN.
[FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.]
Tokyo, 12th January. SOME DEFECTS IN JAPANESE EDUCATION.
Speaking at a meeting of his party in the early part of December last, Marquis Ito made an attack ou the Provincial Governments for the way in which they are spending money.
14 The central Government," he said, " took the prison expenditure off their shoulders sc me time ago, but they have now spent two or three times the amount taken off. If we enquire into the way in which they thus augmented their local expenditure, much may be found to have been paid out in order to meet political necessities; but to me it seems that they have diverted a good deal of it toward perfecting the system of education." This seems a singular statement, but the translation of the speech is that of the Japan Times, the Marquis's It is curious to observe the impassivity af the own organ (according to the genstal report) two Chinese gunboats in port-the Kwong Kamaud its correctness has never been challenged, and Kwong Yeuk-which remained at anchor | The translation goes on as follows:- as if nothing had happened, instead of going after the pirates, who were sure to have been found in the vicinity, lying in wait for the first opportunity to commit the next depredation,
A passage-boat, from this port to Hamchow, was attacked by three piratical junks on the evening of the 11th instant, scarcely one hour after she had left the barbour. The passage. boat, having temporarily managed to resist the attack, and being probably a faster sailer, escaped from her assailants and returned to port the same evening.
STEAMERS IN PORT.
Seldom do we see such a large fleet of steamers in port as on the morning of the 13th instant Tiere were no less than vine vessels | six merchent steamers and three men-of-war. They were the Ape rad, Hué, Hailon, Frithjof, Peluse, Tsintau, H.B M. gunboat Phœniz, aud the Chinese gunboats Kong Kam and Kwong Yeuk.
EMIGRATION TO MINTOK,
The 8.8. Teintau, with 1,087 emigrants on board, left this port for Mintok on the after noon of the 15th instant. She left behind some seven or eight hundred emigrants for want of accommodation. I hear that another steamer is being chartered at your port to take these surplus labourers to the same destination. As reported in my last to you, these men would have gone by native junks weeks ago, bad it not been timely prevented by the Commissioner of Customs and the Weiyuen of Foreign Affairs, the junks being inadequately provided to carry such a large number of human beings on a long voyage. Considering that the Teintau is a ressel of only 1,000 tons, the number of pisseugers she took away this time is a little over the usual limit.
CHANGE OF COMMISSIONER.
I hear that Mr. E. O. Reis, acting Commis. sioner of Customs, is geing home on leave next week. He will be succeeded by Commissioner H. B. Morse, who has just come out from home, where he has enjoyed his leave also. Mr. Morse is well known here, having been Commissioner at this port twice, the last time about four years ago.
A DRAWN NAVAL ENGAGEMENT. A guard-junk met a fleet of three or four piratical craft on the forenoon of the 13th instant to the South of this port, and an engagement begau, which lasted nearly oue hour; at length both parties gradually with drew, the war-junk probably perceiving that she was no match for the pirates. The heary cannonaling conld be distinctly heard by those in the upper portion of the town.
It is stated that a number of vagabond Chinese soldiers have for sonfe time past been committing depredations and robberies in the extreme north of Cores. The Government has awakened to the fact that this is an undesirable state of affairs, and has ordered a force of three hundred tiger-hunters-to whom arms have been issued-to huut these men down!
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One of the gunboats built at the Uraga Dockyard, Japan, to the order of the U.S. authorities at Manila. which left Karatsu on the 5th iust. for Manila, encountered a storm on the 6th inst. off Quelpart. Island and had her bow and the berth of the chief engineer stove in by heavy wares. She had to put back to Goto Island, where the damage was repaired. The gunboat was in charge of Japanese, who were to deliver her at Manila (o | the U.S. authorities.
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Indeed there are some people who seized by what I can only call an education mania, would go so far as to say that they would sell their farms in order to obtain money wherewith to satisfy their craze for education. This is absurd: even an ancient (sage) said that with clothing and food provided for him, a man (no matter how poor) will know how to be deceit and moral,"
1. (he Marquis had probably in his mind the text I. Timothy 6, 8: and baring food and raiment let us be therewith content.") "Why do we pay so much attention to-day to education? It is the ultimate end of all kinds of education to build up the wealth of a nation. No one wants to turn out an army of dreaming theorists by encouraging education at the expense of the national wealth."
This shows precisely how the Japanese idea of education differs from ours, or at least from what we regard as ours. For I must insist on the fact that, though the Japanese believe they are copying us perfectly-with the exception of a few us less formalities such as church-going, religious instruction, &c. the picture they present to our eyes is that of a profoundly materia istic people, as different from us ** can be imagined. In short, we find ourselves in the position of an Irish friend of mine who was perfectly convinced that his English pronunciation was free from the slightest trace of the brogne until one of his Japanese pupils once usked him, in the serious and most respectful manner common to all Japanese students, what he meant by the word "foight."
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effor and I could easily make. the list of such efforts ten times as long-is not encouraging. A great thirst for money has, it is true, been created, but the people have not become thrifty -quite the opposite; and as none of the religious systems of the West have spread to any extent among the people, that thirst for wealth seems to injure the national character and to upset to a certain extent the equilibrium maintained in that character under the rule of the Tokugawa Shoguns. It makes most students think that their time is lost if their studies do not bring them cent. per cent. within a few years; it has killed the old art of Japan; and has, so far as I can judge, prevented the rise of any modern school of litera.ure, drama, or music in this country. Instead of a Milton or Tennyson, we have a Mr. Tagnebi writing an epic poem on "Comme ce,' I for- get in how many books. Even when leading papers get up literary competition's the literary element is conspicuous by its absence. For instance the Yomiuri, the Yorozu and the Osuka Asahi each opened a poetic competition toward the end of last year. What do you think the subjects were ? Japanese Expansion," Success in Life," and Osaka -Osaku being, it should be stated, fond y called by the Japanes, the Manchester of Japan."
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More serious than the decline of poetry has been the rapid decline in commercial morality, due to the unscrupulons greed of certain business men, and a corruption in the legisle- ture and in various branches of the public service-always excepting the army and uavy- which, being officered as a rule by men who still possess a good deal of the old Samurai spirit of contempt for money, are so far incorruptible. The restraints urder which the old Samurai lived, led as such restraints often do to the production of a high and striking type of character, but now these restraints have all been removed and replaced by a fear of poverty
the only hell a Japanese child knows and a desire for success and riches-a Japanese child's only heaven. I mean that the tendency of the present system of education is to make a child regard poverty as synonymous with bell and riches as synonymous with bearen; bat needless to say the work of centuries of abnega- tion and restraint cannot be undone in a day, and the Japanese child still occupies a high rank among the children of the world. There are Japanese men also, like the late Mr. Fukuzawa, the great educationist, whose dis- interested devotion to a lofty ideal would do honour to any country.
Two events that iately occurred show in a striking manner how far this rot has enten is way into the country. I refer to the struggle in the House of Representatives and to what is known as " the school-book scandal." With re- gard to the first, it is a melancholy fact that the Legis ature in Japan is notorious for its corrup
tion.
I need not remind your readers that the Opposition lately rejected the Land Tax Contin- uation measure of the Goverument. The latter prorogued the House twice, with the object, it is said-according to A rumour which is evidently accepted as a fact by the Japan Times -of buying a majority. Commenting on this affair, the paper which 1 bave just quoted says that if the Government gains sixty
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We hope that ur system of education is calculated to make of our boys something higher than mere money-making tuachines; but the average Japanece seems convinced that our real aim is to each our boys to make money. It is amazing sometimes to watch the naiveté with which they proceed to follow our example. Smiles's Self-Help and almost all books of the same type that have appeared since in English, are put into the hands of their children at early age: the reading books used in school are full of encouragements to go forth and make money; the contiuual advice tain-ccats" by its process of "liquefaction of the teachers ja to become rich. In of members, that would be by no means many places children who have now prizes at sufficient to enable it to gain a victory. school have been presented with pass-books iu And what is this liquefaction"?
"In plain the local Post-Office Savings Bank containing English," says the Japan Times, it "is nothing # few sen to their credit, the objectshort of baying up votes.” This serious charge being- to cultivate the saving habit: aud against the Government is made in no hesitating again and again Japanese newspapers bure way. The oligarobical form of Government announced triumphantly that in such-and- has," says the Tokyo journal, "good points of such a village the school children have between its own as well as bad ones, and of its evil them no less than so many yen (generally about features the worst it undoubtedly its pronenees three thousand), so many sen, and so many rin
to fall back on the corruptive practice in ques- in the local Post-Office Savings Bank,
tion. This trafficking in votes is certainly not unknown even in the West. But occasions for having recourse to this underband branch of politics in order to remove a deadlock between the Government and the Opposition are far less those in countries than in one like ours, where cabinet the stands on an oligarchical basis.”
Mr. Balfour once said, I think, that Cobden looked forward to a bagmau's millenium, and certainly the Japanese seem unable to conceive of any other. When Count Matsukata returned fr m Europe recently he declared that the whole strength and power of Europe was built on the saving habits of the average European; and so impressed was he by this discovery that he fortwith drew up a new scheme for coaxing bis own countrymen-naturally anything but thrifty-to acquire habits of thrift. Unfortunately the result of all this
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THE SCHOOL-BOOK BCANDAL.
Even more disgraceful than the corruption of the Legislature is what is known as "The School-Book Scandal," a subject which is exciting wide-spread interest in Japan at the present moment. To state the question in a