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8.
orders of the Japanese Foreign Office since the post is held
by the Commander-in-Chief of the wantung Arny. He may in fact
be regarded as a form of viceroy except that in practice it
secus to be the Chief of staff who actually wields the power.
The Army has always been supreme in Manchoukuo. Since the out-
break of hostilities in China, the swing towards military
government has become even more evident. Both the defence and
the mobilisation laws provide for the temporary supersession
of the civil by the military authorities and the suspension of
civil law. In addition the army maintains military missions
in many important centres. The exact scope of their duties is
not known but it is evident that where military requirements
are in question, particularly in outlying districts in the west,
their powers are considerable. Large forces watch the borders
of U.S.S.R. and it would probably be not far wrong to say that
along the frontiers to a depth varying from 50 to 100 miles
approximately martial law prevails.
90 Osaka in Japan has a justly famed puppet show. If we
ignore the chorus seated at the side which chants or sings to
a musical accompaniment the ballad that is being enacted, if we
ignore the presence of the puppet-masters and overlook the stiff-
nesa of movement of the marionettes they manipulate, weway say
that the performance is almost life-like. In the study which
follows of the progress of Manchoukuo since its inception, I propose wherever possible to ignore the power behind the throne and to treat it as though it were in fact a separate, independ-
ent state and not a mere make-believe.
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