The chief problem of the Pacific so far as Japan is concerned has
been caused by the methods that the Japanese Government has followed
in promoting what they believe with all sincerity to be their
interests. I have no desire to blame the Japanese Government for
its policies. Under the conditions, it seems to me that they have
been normal. In 1916, before the United States entered the Great
War, but after Japan had expelled the Germans from Shantung, seized
control of that territory, forced upon China the twenty-one demands,
and insisted under threat of war upon the acceptance of all of them
but the fifth group, while holding that for future consideration, a
leading Japanese statesman said to me that Japan saw in the Great
War an opportunity for promoting her own interests. He advised the
government to select the very best men to take advantage of that
opportunity to make Japan as great a state as possible. It was a
normal spirit for a Japanese patriot.
Another Japanese statesman of high standing at about the same time
said to me that it was natural that the Japanese Government should
be militaristic: her constitution had been modelled after that of
Germany; her armies and the officers of her armies had been trained
by Germans; her army was modelled after the German army; all of the
great strides forward that had made her one of the great powers
instead of a small nation had been won by armies (Corea, control
over Manchuria, the victory over Russia, and her great influence
in the councils of the nations); what more natural than that she
should believe in militarism and in German methods! Yet he personally
thought those methods should be stopped. One need not blame the
Japanese statesmen for the policy which they followed, but it is our
business in this discussion to question whether these methods are now
in accord with the teachings of Jesus, and whether it is incumbent
upon the rest of the world, especially the Christian world, to
encourage the continuance of those methods or to put what obstacles
it can in their way. I have just given the testimony of two leading
Japanese statesmen, testimony given to me personally. Many instances
could be cited in the writings of Japanese statesmen to the same
effect, and no careful student of history of the last twenty years
will deny the facts.
The conference at Washington, in its consideration of the problems
of the Far East, should face facts in the bold clear-seeing spirit of
Jesus. Japan secured the control of Corea by violation of treaties,
deception of the rest of the world, and the employment of force.
She cannot deny this now. I think the question of Corea should not
be raised now, but it gives a basis for judgment. These same methods
were followed in the extension of her control over Manchuria and in
such measure of control as she has in Shantung and other parts of
China. Japan's government of Corea has doubtless in many respects
been better than the government by the Corean monarchy, and this
in spite of universal testimony that the Corean revolts of the last
year have been largely caused by the cruelty and despotic methods
of Japanese administrators. The annexation of Corea by Japan was
assented to by all of the leading nations of the world really because
the previous government had been so inefficient and corrupt that it
was believed that the welfare of the nation would be promoted by the
annexation. Some of the nations who had promised in their treaties to
use their influence to protect Corea against aggression from outside,
before acting should have investigated with greater care than they
did both the conditions surrounding the annexation and the prospects
for the future; but, however that may be, if the Japanese Government
were now to administer Corea with the welfare of the Coreans in
mind, with the purpose of enabling them to develop their own feeling
of responsibility so that as rapidly as possible they might be
granted, in their internal affairs at any rate, the principle of
self-determination, most people would believe that whatever the past
may have been, the present and the future would be as nearly as
practicable in accordance with the spirit of Jesus' teachings, and
would readily assent. If, however, cruelty and coercion continue,
the decision would be the opposite.
The other questions regarding the open door in Manchuria, Shantung,
the Pacific islands, have not as yet been universally accepted as
settled. They are questions still to be settled. The methods that
have been followed for years, practically up to the present time,
have been those of force and fraud in the countries themselves, and,
so far as it was practicable, deception by means of propaganda in
countries abroad. These statements are made, not with any bitterness
or blame, but merely as facts necessary for judgment, based on
overwhelming testimony of practically all foreigners who are in a
position to know the facts and of the liberal Christian thinkers
among the Japanese themselves.
Is it for the welfare, morally and spiritually, as well as
industrially, of these countries and of the rest of the world, that
these practices be permitted to continue, or would the Christian
nations be following more clearly the teachings of Jesus if they
were to insist that these methods should stop? The nations assembled
in the conference at Washington will follow the teachings of Jesus
if they give to Japan the opportunity to promote the welfare of her
citizens along all lines that will tend to inculcate in them the
spirit of the Christian teachings; and they are also the teachings
of Confucius and the Buddha and other great teachers. We ought not
to attempt to force Christianity upon Japan. That would be unwise,
unjust, and unchristian. There should be encouraged among them not
only mercy and justice, but also the spirit of individual thinking,
individual self-determination, just as rapidly as they can be trained
enough to accept that responsibility; and the welfare of the other
peoples who have been under their influence can certainly best be
promoted by the adoption of international policies enforced by the
influence of the united nations that shall prevent fraud and force
from triumphing, but shall secure to the peoples concerned and
the nations interested full and free opportunities for a greater
self-development.