Each man has a right to his own opinion, and it is only natural
that opinion should be divided upon so momentous a question.
In deciding to conclude peace the Government carefully
investigated the present financial capacity of the Empire,—the
plans made for its future development,—the general political
situation of the world,—as well as the fact that Russia was
constantly aggressive and warlike. After full consideration
the Government then came to the conclusion that if hostilities
were continued any longer it would hardly be possible to obtain
compensation for the vast expenditure involved, and no better
result could be secured than was to be obtained by concluding
peace there and then. The continuation of the war, it was
thought, would require a further heavy sacrifice and the only
result would be to exhaust the funds required for the promotion
of works in Korea and Manchuria. Thereupon the members of the
Government agreed without a dissenting voice to conclude peace
without delay. There was no difference, as alleged, among the
members of the Government—no ‘strong party.’ If the peace be
condemned by some people, I am for my part quite willing to
accept the name of being a member of the ‘weak’ party, and all
the other Elder Statesmen and Cabinet Ministers will share my
view.”
Marshal Yamagata emphatically repudiated the allegation that he had
advocated peace on the ground of the difficulty of further continuing
the war because of the inadequacy of the country’s military strength.
“The assertion,” he said, “reflects upon the prestige of the army and
cannot be passed over unnoticed. The Government prosecuted the war with
the greatest determination, and is still competent to carry it on. I have
been in the military service over forty years, and have been through
several wars. We have experienced greater difficulties in other wars
than in the one with Russia, though the wars of the past were of less
magnitude. We have always managed to overcome difficulties.”
It will be admitted that this speech was not conceived in any spirit of
boastfulness, but that it was a plain unvarnished statement of fact.
Japan was by no means exhausted by the struggle with Russia,—on the other
hand, nothing was to be gained by prolonging it to exhaustion point.
The combination of soldier and politician is not so uncommon that it
need occasion remark to find it exemplified in the case of Marshal
Yamagata, whose abilities as a leader in the field have been almost
equalled, though they could not be surpassed, by his talents as chief
of a numerous and powerful party in the State. He is the acknowledged
head of the Japanese Conservatives, and has served his country as Prime
Minister with signal success. He always displayed a perfect genius for
organisation, and in the Parliamentary arena he shone as brilliantly
as in the “tented field.” But for all that it is not for one moment to
be imagined that he is in the usually accepted meaning of the word a
parliamentarian. He is not, strictly speaking, a politician or party man
at all. When he was originally invited to form a Ministry he accepted
the task, not from a desire to achieve political success, but in order
that he might, if possible, be the means of removing from the arena of
party conflict those great questions that were at the period alluded to
becoming daily of real importance to the nation at large. He has ever set
his face sternly against the subordination of national interests to the
ambitions of a party. He is essentially a soldier, and his heart is with
the army, on which he bases his hopes for the future eminence among the
powers of that country which it was called into being to protect. And
Marshal Yamagata has every right to be proud of that magnificent force
the enrolment of which he so strenuously advocated from the very first,
and to the complete organisation of which he has entirely devoted his
energies for forty years. True it is that he received the utmost help in
this great work,—one surely worthy of a life’s continuous effort,—from
those military and other experts from the Occident whose services he had
known how to secure, and that this loyally rendered assistance was at all
times recognised by him. It was none the less a result of his personal
and unflagging zeal that the course of training for the army, once
entered on, was never suffered to deviate a hair’s-breadth from the plan
on which it had been determined that the vast structure should in the
main be raised.
Two maxims have always had weight with him, and he has steadfastly
inculcated their observance by every individual in the army in which he
takes such justifiable pride: they are:—
Gi wo mite, nasazaru wa, yu naki nari.
(Duty recognised, but unfulfilled, means lack of courage.)
Gi wo omonzuru koto tai-san no gotoku
Shi wo karonzuru koto, ko-bo no gotoshi.
(Duty should weigh (with us) as the mass of a lofty mountain:
Against it, our lives resemble in lightness the swan’s down.)
There are six kinds of decorations in Japan, that of the Golden Kite
being the Japanese equivalent of the Victoria Cross. Its first grade
carries an annuity of £150. The Grand Cordon of the Rising Sun and
Paulownia is the Order of Merit, held by very few. Marshal Yamagata has
both, and in February 1906, he was invested with the British Order of
Merit, at the hands of Prince Arthur of Connaught, an honour which was
universally appreciated in Japan. His heir is Mr Yamagata Isaburo, his
adopted son, who took office as Minister of Communications in 1906.
XIV
COUNT OKUMA SHIGENOBU
Very few of those who have been prominent as Statesmen in Japan have
wholly escaped the personal dangers which there appear to be inseparable
from a political career, and though the attacks have not always been
fatal they have been painfully frequent in the past forty or fifty
years. Count Okuma was maimed by the explosion of a bomb hurled at his
carriage as he drove past on his way to the Finance Department one
morning in 1889, and has but one leg. The marvel was that he survived the
attempt on his life at all, for the fanatic who was guilty of the crime
unquestionably intended to murder him outright and did succeed in killing
his coachman and groom. Count Okuma, who was raised to the peerage in
1887, is a native of Hizen, having been born in that province, at Saga,
in February 1838. He is a big, broad-shouldered man, endowed with a
bright, cheery disposition, possessed of most genial manners, and is
brilliant and entertaining to a degree in his ordinary conversation. It
is generally conceded that in the qualities which go to form a successful
politician Count Okuma and Marquis Ito have much in common, for in
respect of their prestige as party leaders, and the remarkable mental
vigour and activity by which these renowned statesmen have ever been
distinguished, there can be no doubt that they both take exceptionally
high rank in the public esteem. Both have been the consistent advocates
of progress, and both date their service to the Crown from the very
beginning of the present reign. In one sense the Count’s success in
politics was more noteworthy than that of his colleagues among the Elder
Statesmen, since his clan took by no means the leading part in the course
of events immediately antecedent to the Restoration of 1868 that fell to
the share of Satsuma, for example, or of Choshiu. Hizen nevertheless was
a progressive province and its feudal chieftain had set up an ironworks
in his territory, and had commenced coal-mining upon a practical basis,
long prior to the establishment of foreign industries in the Empire on
a large scale. Thus it was that Okuma Shigenobu, who had studied at
Nagasaki, came early to the front in connection with the dissemination
of foreign ideas, and it was perhaps as much by his energy as that of
Marquis Ito that arrangements were made for the construction of the first
line of railway connecting Tokio with the port of Yokohama, immediately
that the Central Government was removed to the new Capital.
[Illustration: COUNT AND COUNTESS OKUMA]
The capital for that railway was found in England, and its Engineers were
engaged partly there and partly in India. It seems difficult nowadays to
imagine Japan paying 9 per cent. for a Loan, yet that was the rate at
which she procured the means of developing the Scheme of Public Works on
which the Government embarked, and it is matter of history that the short
railway of eighteen miles by which the Japanese metropolis was joined to
the chief treaty port in 1872 was phenomenally expensive. In recent times
it has been feasible to build railways and execute other works of public
utility in Japan on the most economical and satisfactory terms, but
thirty-five years ago economy in construction was, owing to the novelty
of the undertaking, practically out of the question.
Count Okuma is, in his native tongue, a fluent and effective speaker,
and he has a most retentive memory. Early in his life he closely studied
Finance, and was an able Minister of that department in the seventies,
prior to the institution of the Cabinet, which dates from 1885. In 1881
there were serious differences of opinion between the Count and his
colleagues in the Dai-jo-Kwan, and he resigned office, forming a united
party named the Shim-po-to, by the amalgamation of several smaller
ones, in opposition to the Government of the day. Latterly it has borne
the title of Kai-shin-to (from _Kai_ = to alter or correct,—_shin_ =
to advance,—_to_ = a party) in Chinese Kai-chin-tang,—and thus it is
literally the progressive party in Japan, in contradistinction to the
Sei-Yu-Kai or Constitutional party, now headed by Marquis Saionji, but
formerly by Marquis Ito. In the Cabinet of Count Kuroda, of 1888, which
was replaced by that of Marshal Yamagata within two years, Count Okuma
acted as Minister for Foreign Affairs, and it was during his tenure
of this post that the Constitution was promulgated in 1889, and Okuma
received the congratulations of the Yokohama Chamber of Commerce on the
auspicious event and on his personal endeavour to effect a satisfactory
revision of the Treaties. He was succeeded at the Foreign Office in
the late autumn by Viscount Aoki, and, having just become Minister of
Finance, was attacked in the manner already described, for no other than
the fancied reason that he was willing to give away too much in respect
of concessions to foreigners.
Okuma’s return to ministerial life after seven years spent in retirement,
between 1881 and 1888, was a source of general satisfaction to the
nation, for the fusion brought about between the Government and the
Kai-shin-to by his taking office was regarded as a valuable massing
of strength at a critical time, when supreme efforts were being made
to secure the abolition of the extra-territorial privileges thereunto
enjoyed by the subjects of other nations. On this much-vexed question
an undercurrent of discontent had agitated the nation for many years,
the obnoxious clause in the proposed new treaty with which Count Inouye
was identified in 1887, and which led to his resignation of the post of
Foreign Minister which he then held, being one relating to the suggested
establishment of mixed Courts, like those in Egypt, or that at Shanghai
which has in recent times been the object of much hostile criticism on
the part of the Chinese population of that port. Count Okuma in 1889
was anxious to remove this source of irritation from the path of his
own countrymen, and sought to minimise the objections to the clause by
restricting its application to the Supreme Court, whereas Count Inouye
had been ready to admit foreign judges to the lower tribunals also. The
misguided “patriot” who threw the bomb which shattered Count Okuma’s
limb was not even well posted in regard to the circumstances of the case.
When in 1891 the Privy Council was instituted as the Sovereign’s “last
resort of counsel” and Marquis Ito became its president, Count Okuma
issued a manifesto to his followers in which he strongly advocated
the spread of education and the perseverance by the entire nation in
a policy of enlightened tolerance of innovations which make for the
industrial and political welfare of the country. He is a firm believer
in the advantages of Free Trade, and his experience in former days at
the Finance Department, coupled with a marvellously retentive memory
for figures, directly tended to enlarge his views upon matters relative
to international commerce, a subject on which he is always listened to
with the keenest attention. He is ever in sympathy with the national
hopes and desires and enjoys for that reason immense popularity with
the masses of his countrypeople, but although there is everywhere the
highest appreciation of his eminent qualities, singularly enough, Count
Okuma has not shone particularly as a Statesman when holding office.
He is, on the other hand, great in opposition, and to his untiring
endeavours to stimulate the energies of the Government of the day,
at any time during the past quarter of a century, may be ascribed no
little of the success which has attended the efforts of those Cabinets
which have been most conspicuous for effective legislation. But if his
attitude, in the ordinary way, has consistently been that of an opponent
of the Government, he has given it most loyal support in national
crises, putting aside all considerations of party and rendering to
the Ministry the invaluable assistance which he alone, as leader of
a practically united Opposition in the Diet, has of late years been
in a position to offer. At the Election in February 1891 the Yamagata
Ministry was defeated and Count Matsukata took office, but Count Okuma
remained outside the Cabinet until 1896 when his party joined hands
with that represented by the Second Matsukata Administration and Count
Okuma accepted the portfolios in it of Foreign Minister and Minister
of Commerce and Agriculture. But the alliance was destined to be very
short-lived, and in June 1898 a Coalition was brought about between
the Jiyuto, or party of Freedom, headed by Count Itagaki, and the
Kai-shin-to, or party of progress. In the Cabinet then formed Count Okuma
was Minister-President, but it existed no longer than the following
October, and after being Premier four months the Count gave way to
Marshal Yamagata. The official career of the great progressive leader may
be said to have terminated at that point, but he has continued to wield
an immense political influence and he is above all things interested in
educational projects and has striven might and main to promote the spread
of Western knowledge in his own land. Where Marshal Yamagata may be
credited with the development of a military power that has made of Japan
a nation to be envied for the perfection with which her sons have been
trained to fight her battles, and Marquis Ito has striven successfully
to secure for the country the blessings of constitutional Government,
Count Okuma has made it all his life the one aim of his existence to
promote the adoption of an educational system throughout the Empire
which shall be effective and thorough, and if he has in this way led
successive Governments to regard the work of education as a pressing
duty laid upon them, and to expend large sums in its fulfilment, he has
not hesitated to devote large sums from his own purse to the attainment
of his ideal. As a rich man he has been able to do a great deal to
further the cause which he has always had at heart, and he certainly
has displayed a most commendable readiness to add practice to precept
when advocating the allocation of Government funds to the endowment of
schools and colleges. The University of Waseda, which he founded in 1882,
has prospered exceedingly, and is numbered among the most valuable of
those institutions,—and they are many,—which afford facilities to the
Japanese youth for the acquisition of a liberal education. The Japanese
name of the College is Semmon Gakko, and Waseda is the suburb of Tokio in
which stands the Count’s mansion, adjacent to the institution in which
he takes a natural pride. It aims at the higher education of girls as
well as boys, and among other things it possesses an extensive publishing
bureau, designed to provide for the efficient translation into Japanese
of foreign works of an educational character. Here his own articles for
foreign magazines have at times been rendered into English, for though
the Count is fairly conversant with our tongue he does not attempt to
speak or write it save on very rare occasions.
In March 1904 there was a gathering in Tokio to celebrate the fiftieth
anniversary of the treaty made between Japan and the United States of
America, consequent on the visits of Commodore Perry in 1853 and 1854.
Count Okuma, in giving a sketch of the Educational progress achieved
by Japan in recent years, made some thoughtful remarks which showed
how thorough is his grasp of the teachings of history as well as his
breadth of view. Alluding to the circumstances which had compelled
Japan to close her doors to Western nations early in the seventeenth
century, he remarked that for a long period prior to that time she had
been in free and unfettered intercourse with Europe, particularly with
Spain and Portugal. That intercourse led to the introduction of a new
religion, which made such rapid progress that tradition put the number of
converts at several millions within a hundred years. “The first religious
propagandists,” he said, “were men of noble character. But they were soon
followed by men of inferior quality. These began to meddle with politics.
People began to suspect that the real object of missionary work was to
conquer the country. The home Governments at Lisbon or Madrid might
possibly have been innocent of any evil designs, but their missionaries
in the Far East behaved in such a manner that the rulers of Japan came
to the conclusion that the object and presence of foreign missionaries
was inimical to the peace and tranquillity of the country. At the time
Japan adopted this policy it so chanced that Europe was also grappling
with a religious trouble. It was the harassing period of the Thirty
Years’ War. But during the seclusion of 216 years which followed Japan
was not altogether out of touch with the West. The light of Western
Civilisation was all the time penetrating Japan through the little port
of Nagasaki, where the Dutch, alone of all Occidental nations, were
permitted to reside and trade. The result was the spread of a knowledge
of medicine, astronomy, botany, and other branches of Western learning
among the people long before the advent of Perry. Preparations had thus
been steadily made during the period of seclusion for the reception
with advantage of the full flood of Western Civilisation. As to Perry’s
mission in 1853, the Pacific Coasts had been touched by more than fifty
Japanese fishing craft driven across the ocean from their own islands by
storms. And in 1860 Japan herself sent the Oguri Mission to the United
States, in a warship of her own, commanded by Count Katsu, at that time
the lord of Awa province, at the entrance to Yedo bay,—a mission which
received as much attention, if not more than was accorded in America to
the Iwakura Embassy a dozen years afterwards. One of the many beneficial
results of the Oguri Mission was the discovery which the members of it
made of the importance of studying the English language. At that time
Dutch was the only prevalent European tongue cultivated in Japan.” Count
Okuma’s opinion has always been that the adoption of English as the
standard foreign language,—it is a compulsory subject in the national
schools, while all other Western languages are merely optional,—had wide
reaching effects on the mental bias of the people and in the direction
given to national development. Coming down to very recent times, Count
Okuma spoke of the fact that Japan was at the moment unfortunately
entangled in war with a great power. In that conflict his country
represented, he said, the aspirations of the civilised world, since she
was striving in support of the great principle of the open door. She had
had to draw her sword to sweep away a great obstacle in the path of the
practical realisation of that principle. Her success in the struggle
would therefore be the triumph of the common policy of the Commercial
Powers.
In one of Count Okuma’s best speeches, made not long since in connection
with the rise of Japan, he claimed that the whole nation had acted from
the beginning on the principle which was so clearly enunciated in the
Imperial Rescript at the time of the Restoration in 1868 of “seeking
knowledge throughout the world.” The Emperor’s words, in the fifth clause
of the Rescript were:—
“We shall endeavour to raise the prestige and honour of Our
Country by seeking knowledge throughout the world.”
The intention was to copy what was worth copying in every country and
to enter into an honourable rivalry in culture and civilisation with
all nations. It is the fundamental principle which accounts for Japan’s
rise: she has never hesitated to adopt anything that she has found to
be good; she has ever tried to swim with the current of human progress;
she has never shrunk from any sacrifice in eradicating that which she
has found to be bad. The voice of the people can make itself heard in
the management of public affairs and it was the same Rescript, as Count
Okuma always declares, which gave to the country the keynote of a liberal
form of administration, when the Emperor bade his subjects “settle
affairs by public opinion.” If the principle of swimming breast-high
on the tide of human progress is to be adhered to in its entirety, the
intellectual faculty, as Count Okuma urges, should be applied to all the
concerns of daily life, and that cannot be done without education. For
more than thirty years the Government of Japan has devoted much attention
and energy to the question of education, and the best training that
could be procured has been given with a generous hand to students of
political, social, and military affairs, as well as for those preparing
themselves for humbler but no less important walks of life in commerce,
industry, and agriculture. The country, declared Count Okuma, has also
stepped out into the wider area of the world of reality and has become a
formidable competitor in the field of international trade and commerce,
her policy during the last thirty years having greatly assisted her
development along this line. The Japanese nation is not merely a nation
of fighters,—it has no mean skill in agriculture and commerce, for the
statistical tables which are available show that the national wealth
has increased six or sevenfold during the last thirty years, and if one
compares the present revenue of the country with what it was at the
conclusion of the Japan-China War only ten years ago it is seen to have
already more than trebled itself.