56
NOTES FROM JAPAN,
[FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.]
TOKYO, July 2nd.
A STATEMENT ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
Mr. Ishii, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, has issued a statement on the condition of several pending questions that is of interest, With regard to Pratas Island the Minister says Japan has never laid claim to the island, but has looked upon it as a no-man's land, ownerless. But on the Chinese putting in a claim to owner- ship Japan did not hesitate to recognise China's rights. The claims of a Japanese who was engaged in collecting manure there are being subject to investigation and on the settlement of this matter China will henceforth assume the government of the island. The sum total of the Japanese trader's demands amount to 500,000 yen. The Kirin-Changchun railway negotiation will shortly be settled. Construction is to be undertaken by Chinese, while Japan furnishes half the funds and the chief engineer. The Antang-Mukden railway affairs, which has newly arisen should be very easy of settlement, -the principal business of Japan being to press upon hina the necessity of observing the conditions of a treaty.
THE LATEST. 198UE.
China
A few weeks ago Viceroy Sih was appointed to the Three: Eastern Provinces, and owing to the fact that this high official seemed bent on carrying out drastic reforms among the official personnel of his government. it was thought in Japan that here was the right man in the right place, and it appeared that a really energetic Viceroy had at last taken charge. But His Excellency Sih had hardly settled down before he began to wake things up in the wrong direc- tion and to embroil his country in one more international affair. He objected to the trans- formation into a broad-gauge line of the Antung. Mukden light railway and demanded the with- drawal of the Japanese railway guards and police. Whatever doubts there may be in other questions between Japan and it seems clear in this case that the Viceroy has blundered, although there is doubt. less policy in the blundering. A rigorous protest was made by the Japanese Consul General at Mukden, when the Viceroy avoided further discussion for the time being by starting off for Kirin, attended by 160 officials by the way to effect more drastic reforms among the trembling office-holders. Japan's claim seems to be incontestable. It is based upon an article in the Peking treaty of 1905, in which the line may be improved for the purposes of a commercial highway, and the broadening of the gauge is part of this improvement. Further, according to the agreement. Japan is to transfer the whole line to China fifteen years after the transformation of the railway, in which case it is to China's interest that the work be done as soon as possible. The great object of this transform- ation is the establishment of a direct trunk line from Fusan to Changchun under Japanese management, when the most direct route between Tokyo and London will be via Fusan and Antung. Naturally it would prove a dangerous rival to the Vladivostok route and also, probably, to other Chinese or Russian interests. But if time can be saved by this new means of communication and distance lessened, the work should be accomplished.
THE YOKOHAMA JUBILEE.
We have had little else but rain for the past ten days, but Yokohama escaped yesterday, the 50th anniversary of her existence as a treaty port, with nothing more than, an overcast sky. In other respects the weather was quite seasonable-an atmosphere damp and close, making life burdensome, especially with the addition of a frock coat, top hat, tall collar, and all those things that human beings persist in wearing against all the dictates of reason. The ambassadors were there, and there was as much speech-making as such an occasion demands. Something like thirty thousand yen were spent on yesterday's celebrations, yet Yokohama is poor, some parts of it are dreadfully poor; trade is anything but flourishing, and it does seem that the money spent on these doubtful enjoy. ments could have been used to much greater advantage of the people. A permanent memorial of the first fifty years of Yokohama as
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
an open port is to take the form of a Memorial | Hall, and 500,000 yen are being raised for this purpose, of which over two hundred thousand have been already subscribed.
THE HONGKONG GARRISON TEAM.
The compliment has been paid the officers from your port of having brought Hongkong weather with them, for it has been little else but rain since they have been here. Yet between showers there has been some good sport, and in other ways the holiday has been so enjoyable that it is likely to become an annual affair. If the truth were known the officers have probably enjoyed their stay in Kobe most, for the unrivalled links of that port on Rokkosan not only furnish excellent golf at an altitude of 2,500 feet, but superb views and a pleasant mountain and club life, while in Yokohama or Tokyo they were restricted to an indifferent existence on the flat.
THE SUGAR SCANDAL TRIALS.
The Court of First Instance has excelled itself in the energy with which it has proceeded with the trial of the M.P.s charged with the offence of receiving bribes. For about thirty days, Sundays excepted, the hearing has proceeded, and it is evident the court had special instruc- tions to hasten the case, for the "promptitude and despatch" shown in this trial are quite remarkable. Judgment is to be given to morrow. The procurator, all the defendants having been found guilty in the preliminary court, advocated punishment of from one year downwards and fines of 3,000 yen downwards in all cases, but recommended suspension of the execution of sentence in one or two instances. Among the latter is the defendant Yokoi, whose career, until he accepted a bribe of 2,000 yen, was considered to be of the most promising character. Yokoi is a leading Christian, was formerly a clergyman, and abandoned the cloth for something more worldly and substantial. He was looked upon as a leader of young Japan and an example to be followed. He studied philosophy at Yale for two years, but suddenly changed his way of life, became a politician, entered the Diet, was subsequently Editor of the Nichi Nichi and correspondent of a London paper. The tribulations of this defendant since his arrest have been very keen, and procurator and counsel have referred at length to his repentance. It is possible we may hear again
of Yokoi. A man of his abilities should not be condemned utterly for one false step.
In connection with scandals the preliminary court has found the accused guilty in the Dai Nippon Marine Products Co. prosecution. This company failed after a brief career, and from the beginning it seems the directors, General Enya and his associates, did much as they liked with the funds of the company. Judging by the finding of the procurator the scandal in this case is much more flagrant than in the case of the Dai Nippon Sugar Co., though the import- ance and standing of the two concerns differ widely.
THE IMPERIAL HOTELS, LTD.
The two principal hotels in Tokyo have up to the present been managed by foreigners, a Swiss at the Imperial and a German at the Metropole. Both these hotels are run by the Imperial Hotels Co., Ltd., and although profits have not been great they have paid a dividend of about 6 per cent. The day before yesterday, however, a sudden council of the directors was held, when the Metropole was closed and the foreign managers and all other foreign employes were dismissed. As these disconcerting proceed- ings took place in a single afternoon the as- tonishment of those concerned and not less the surprise of the guests at the hotels can be easily imagined. In a statement issued to the Press the directors say in effect that the reason for the sudden change is unremunerative business, caused in no small degree by the great expense of the foreign managers and other employes. This action of the directors, however, is probably the sequel to the recent change in the chairman of directors, Mr. K. Okura, the well-known Tokyo merchant, having succeeded Baron Shibusawa, who recently retired. Mr. Okura is an energetic man who believes that Japanese can do things quite as well as foreigners, and in the matter of hotel management he is probably right, for what is reputed the best managed foreign hotel in the country is a Japanese concern, namely, the Fuji- ya at Miyanoshita. If Japanese can run
were
(July 18, 1909. first-class steamships, why can't they manage first-class hotels, argues Mr. Okura, and so the foreigners have had to go. Mr. Hans Moser, manager of the Imperial, had a three-years' agreement, of which eighteen months served. Six months' notice on either side was sufficient to terminate this agreement and Mr. loser has been handed six months' salary, at the rate of 700 yen a month. Others have been treated in like manner, and in a week, we are informed, will be en route home. According to the press reports a curious procedure was taken. by the directors with reference to the dismissal of Mr. Moser. They dispatched a messenger to the Swiss Legation to inform the Minister of the reasons for dismissal, probably in order to If the dismis- forestall unfavourable rumours. sal of Mr. Moser and other foreigners is considered desirable by the directors, and so long as the Japanese observe their con- tracts, surely there is no need to make a diplomatic affair of the business. It has nothing to do with the Swiss Legation.
JOURNALISTIC.
Recently there was formed in Tokyo a society of newspapermen called the International Press Association of Japan. The idea in the minds of some of those who joined the society at the outset was that it should be a sort of glub, where local men could meet visitors to Tokyo, native as well as foreign journalists, would have a centre whither to repair for a quiet drink and talk amid surroundings not so uncon- genial, say, as those of an hotel. This idea is capable of great development, but a start seems to have been made in the wrong direc- tion. The society started off with a dinner to princes and statesmen. One can overlook this as one is in Japan, for here it is the custom to have a very flourishing beginning. At that dinner something like a thousand yen was sunk in eating and drinking, but, again, as this is the custom of the country, one must gracefully submit. The writer of this note was congratulat- ing himself that the inaugural dinner was over, and that there was now a probability of the committee getting down to work, when he informed that one of the members, and a foreigner at that, was not satisfied with having entertained several princes, counts and journalist-statesmen, but wanted to dine the whole diplomatic corps! This disaster was fortunately averted and things went along smoothly for a few weeks. It is not unnatural in the circumstances that these pro- ceedings provoked criticism from foreign papers, which allege that the society is official. This is
was
8
serious indictment and, individually, the majority of the members would resent such an imputation. In the accepted meaning of the word the society is not official. Probably some cf the members are pro-official, as in the case of the gentleman above referred to, whose idea of a grand start and success is to be on good terms with the diplomatic corps. But the majority of this society are hoping it will do something useful, both in the way of reforming and elevat- ing the Japanese press and bringing foreign press representatives together. The great majority of the members of the society Being Japanese they have it in their hands to do good: in a direction where improvement is badly needed. The Japanese press nowadays has re- presentatives all over the world and especially in all the centres of Asia. These then show no lack of enterprise, but they do show a disregard of the value of facts. Now this is not the fault of the representatives abroad, but the fault of the newspaper editors in Tokyo, and it is not exaggerating in the slightest to say that the Press Association would be doing a real international service in considering this matter and instructing their representatives not to sacrifice truth to enterprise. Of course such charges can be brought against foreigners also, but as the Press Association is practically a Japanese society they have it in the power to chiefly exert influence on their own countrymen.
་་
A Naval Yard employee who on being. searched at the gate by an indian, policeman was found to have in his possession a quantity. of brass and copper." He struggled with the policeman and assaulted him, but this only aggravated his offence. Yesterday Mr. Hase- land at the Magistracy sent mood. him to two months imprisonment and six hours in the stocks.