Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 252, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 November 1917 — Page 2

WAY JAPAN DIRELY SEEDS AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP

The Oriental Empire has incurred the enmity of Germany, is not in harmony with aims of revolutionary Russia, is• under suspicion of England and France for unfair activities in China::Mikado's people now turn to Uncle Sam for comfort and influence at IF\mid Court

By WILMOT LEWIS, in New York World.

Mr. Lewis, editor and wnr correspondent, has spent twenty years of his life in the service of Far Kastern journalism. He reported the Boxer uprising and the HussoJapanese War. He has written for or helped edit most of the important publications of v the treaty ports, including the North Chinn Daily Sews. For six years past he has been editor of the Manila Times, the leading daily of the Philippines. Mr. Lewis speaks both Chinese and Japanese, and.-through his long experience has mastered the intricacies of Oriental politics.

HERE may be five or there may be ■I twenty good reasons for the disPa ' Patch of Japanese missions to the Sg United States at this time. Each I and °f ie ® ve or the twenty 1 have I gmssed. and_.have, in tact, been publicly discussed. But ) behind the five—or the twenty— JuTjcAj there Is one reason big enough to swallow all the rest, and it has not been mentioned at all.

Japan comes seeking the friendship of the United States because she has not another friend in all the world, because she occupies a position of cruel and dangerous isolation. Her statesmen, when they look forward to that day of the congress of nations which shall remake a tortured world, know that as things stand now they will find at the council board suspicion where they desire sympathy. They know that there is none to whom they can turn with any comfortable certainty of support —unless it be America- Gan they win the friendship of America, a friendship based on mutual trust and liking? Only such a friendship will avail them. Official Records Ignore Isolation. The story of the isolation of Japan, of the paradox of the member of the great alliance against the central powers who is without a friend, is not to be found in official documents, but its truth is nevertheless indisputable. When war came, three years ago, the statesmen of Japan believed that Germany would be defeated in six months. In other words, they “played” the allies to win, and win quickly, and they acted accordingly. They demanded the evacuation of Shantung by Germany, they invested and took Kiaochau, and they made naval dispositions in the waters of the far East which were of undoubted assistance to the British admiralty. The aggregate effort involved was relatively small, but it ranged Japan, as her statesmen thought, on the winning side, and they felt they could afford indifference to the bitterness and the hostility thus caused in Germany.

Japan’s Early Part in the War. Then, as the months went by, with their everrecurring stories of German success on land, the statesmen of Japan were haunted by the fear that they had hacked the wrong horse. Little by little, therefore, they allowed the ardor of their championship of the allied cause to weaken. The government of Japan did not move as much as its little finger when a powerful section of the press over which it exercises complete control became openly contemptuous of the chances of Entente victory, when the attacks upon Great Britain grew daily in volume and bitterness, when the AngloJapanese was flouted and a strong pro-German tone became everywhere apparent. Nor did the government of Japan associate itself —save in a tardy and lukewarm way—with the commercial measures against Germany which the allies concerted and carried out. Japan in those days offered the extraordinary spectacle of a country at -war with Germany, but notably pro-German in feeling. Small wonder that, as this condition of affairs and its inner meaning came home to Great Britain and France, they grew suspicious and resentful. Developments outside Japan were not of a sort to allay this suspicion and resentment. In Kiadchau and throughout Shantung it soon became clear that Japan intended a long stay, and proposed also-that much more than the lion’s share of the benefit of that stay should accrue to her. The British and the French found a hundred little hindrances there—nothing large enough in any single instance to make dignified complaint possible, but enough aIL told to exert a verypowerful effect. In China generally, the allies of Japan had to realize that their preoccupation with the conduct of the war furnished a.n opportunity which Japan promptly and very cynically took. Japanese aggression became more marked than ever. denfands upon poor, disrupted China were unending. The nations of Europe, and with them the United States, could see nothing in this but a desire on the part of Japan to make profit out of the embarrassments of others—a selfish and unjust said the embittered critics. The statesmen of Japan were indifferent to this., criticism. They saw German victory approaching, and they were strengthening themselves against that day. For they had another card un their sleeve. They had before them the possibility-—indeed, it was at one time a prdbability—that a separate peace would be concluded between Germany and Russia, and that immediately thereafter a Ger-man-Russian-Japanese alliance would be concluded, a pact between countries contiguous in territory, a plunderbund to be conducted on the. autocratic principle to which all were loyal. Machiavellianism Astray. ’ And the months wore on, however, and 1916 drew to a dose; this faith in full German victory weak-, ened. The strategy of the allies was increasingly coherent and effective, the Britain they had condemned was making a gigantic effort and was achieving an unexpected and admirable national efficiency, and there was anxiety in the councils of They had antagonized Germany, they had

VISCOUNT ISHII, OF JAPANESE MISSION TO UNITED STATES, WITH WIFE AND DAUGHTER

—fallen deep into- t he- bad graces -of England andFrance.’ Remained only the possibility of that alliance with Germany and Russia which was splendidly to rehabilitate their international position. And then two events of extraordinary import played havoc with their plans, knocked out the supports of the structure they had been building. Russia flamed up into revolution, and the world heard of the sequestration of the czar and the downfall of his vicious and reactionary grand ducal circle. Where now was the plunderbund? A liberalized Russia, it was true, might make a separate peace with Germany, but it would never lend itself to the aggressive schemes so dear to the hearts, and so profitable to the pockets, of autocracies. Looking Toward Peace. Second, the United States severed relations with Germany, and then, in quick succession, declared war, passed a conscription law, made huge appropriations and set seriously about the business of building up an army and a navy commensurate with its size and importance. If any hope of German victory, and of a final rapproachrnent between Germany and Jhpan had been left to the calculating statesmen of the mikado, it went glimmering when the United States ranged itself on the side of Germany’s enemies. They looked forward to the day of peace, but now they know it could never be a day of Teuton triumph. They asked themselves what position Japan would find at the council board of the nations. She had-profited from the war, she is not so poor as she has been, and yet she is still a poor nation. The swift growth of her teeming population means a cry for room, more room. Where? In China, of course. Yet experience has shown that the Individual Japanese laborer cannot compete on equal terms with the Chinese. If the government of Japan is allowed its way in China this condition can be remedied —and it must be, say the Japanese, for the alternative is revolution at home at some time j.n the future. In this perplexity, where was Japan to turn? She has turned to the United States. Can her mission persuade America that Japanese, intentions in China are not selfish or imperialistic? Can the Washington government be brought to see the dire need for a certain freedom of Japanese action in China? Finally, can Japan look forward, on that day of the great peace conference, to finding at least one powerful and sympathetic friend? If not, the outlook is dark indeed. First and foremost, then, above and beyond all, the mission from Japan to America comes in quest of friendship. Japan needs the sympathy and the support of the United States more today than she needs anything in the world. And she should have friendship—if she shows by acts which support her words that she realizes and will live up to the obligations of that friendship. These obligations are incompatible with the carrying out of purely imperialistic designs in China, with deliberate and selfish aggressiveness, with the patent illiberality of her designs in the far East. In short, Japan must mend her ways if she is to hope for American sympathy and support. Her Interest in China. There is no reason why the peculiar situation of Japan in relation to China should not be admitted by Washington.. There is no reason why Japan should not find the outlet she so sbrely needs to effect her economic salvation, and at the same time bring immense benefit to China. All this can be done honestly, frankly, in fair and open competition with the other nations of the world, for Japan has tremendous advantages in her geographical position, to say nothing of a common script and of a hundred minor matters. But she cannot expect the United States to help her if she seeks salvation by means, of aggression and intimidation, and she cannot expect the United States to stand tamely by and see these methods used. K For sixteen years Atnerlca has been the champion of the policy of the open door, which seeks to secure equality of opportunity in China’s markets to all nations. Yet it is curious that, in what-

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER* IND.

ever part of-China the Japanese exert political control or influence, there does American and European trade diminish and disappear, while that of Japan swells amazingly. May not those be. pardoned who assert that Japan’s oft-declared loyalty to the policy of the open door is mere lipservice? For sixteen years the United States has stood behind the pledge that China’s integrity should be maintained, and Japan has fervently protested her agreement. Yet he would be blind or a fool who should deny that for a quarter of a century past Japan has in effect aimed at nothing less than complete military, police and political control over China. Much to Correct In Policy. These principles of the open door and the integrity of China were propounded by John Hay in 1899 and 1900, respectively, and they are still the leading motives of American policy in the Far East. Their maintenance has been more seriously jeopardized by Japan than by any other nation, and at no time so seriously as since the outbreak of the great war. America has nothing to be ashamed of, and Japan has (to put it mildly) much to correct'in matters of Far Eastern policy. If today Japan finds herself alone she has none to blame but herself, and the opportunity is the more favorable for seeing to it that she correct her faults. Not until she has done so can there be any settlement of such questions as the acquirement of citizenship by Japanese and the modification of the land laws of California and other Western states. These questions can only be settled, and the obstacles to full and hearty friendship between America and Japan can only be removed, when the American people have confidence in the good faith of the Japanese government in the larger problems of Far Eastern policy.

BELGIAN GEMS SOLD IN NEW YORK.

It is said that quite recently a number of diamonds have been put on the market at Amsterdam, London and New York which there is very good reason to believe have come from Germany, and in all probability form part of the looting of Belgium and France. The London Horologlcal Journal describes them as being cut in a manner which made it clear that they once formed part of old jewelry. In many instances old jewelry has been offered for sale under circumstapces which leave little room for doubt that it came from provinces occupied by German troops. Just now on the Continent a lot of old jewelry is being offered for sale. It fS~ not all loot; some of it represents the sacrifices which the people of France and Belgium have been obliged to make. Some of it has found its way into the market trom Russia. Roumanla and eastern Europe.

IMPORTS OF PLATINUM.

In 1915, 61.437 ounces of platinum (exclusive of < manufactured products) were imported into the United States, and its total value was $2,330,476. In 1916, the quantity fell to 53,484 ounces, but the value of this was $3,138,396. These figures are those of a report of the United States geological survey. According to the Engineering and Mining Journal, the price of refined platinum in the NewYork market, which avqtaged $49,63 an ounce in 1915, ranged in 1916 erratically from $62.56 an ounce in August to $101.25 an ounpe in November.

FAMILY ARRANGEMENT.

“I notice you sisters never go away together.” “No, our wardrobe would not permit of othat. So we take our vacations one at a time and pool the clothes.” —Louisville Courier-Journal.

DEPTH OF DEGRADATION.

Rookey—Why is the ferocious-looking Turk prisoner weeping so bitterly? Lieutenant—He was captured by a man wearing a wrist watch.

Battles Which Made the World

SEDAN The Battle Which Marked the Downfall of the Mountebank Emperor and the Second French Empire, but Which Saw the •x French Soldier Intrepid In Defeat.

By CAPT. ROLAND F. ANDREWS

(Copyright, 1917, by McClnra Newspaper Syndicate)

Sedan, fought on September 1, 1870, was the losing battle of a demoralized France. It cost the French arms loss of prestige; perhaps even temporary loss of h onor. It cost France'the huge Indemnity demanded by triumphant Germany. But, for all this, its ultimate effect was of inestimable profit to France. For Sedan marked the collapse of the Second empire, over which reigned the Emperor Louis Napoleon—Napoleon the Little. From its ruin sprang the splendid republic of today. Sedan lies in northern France, 12 miles from Mezieres, on the right bank of the Meuse. To it came Marshal MacMahon and the discouraged, already half-beaten army of France, its commander so despondent that he could contemplate nothing more than a battle to sustain the honor of his troops. He did not even communicate with Vinoy, whose corps was. concentratingatMezieres. To the east there was a strong position, where the Fond du Givonne presented serious obstacle to the German Infantry. However, MacMahon ignored it. The German host came on in two columns, with only a weak cavalry screen between. Before daybreak the Bavarians had thrown a pontoon bridge across the Meuse, advancing toward Bazellles. where Vassoigne’s division, containing a number of marine and sailor battalions, gave them such a warm reception that they were completely disconcerted. About six in the morning the heavy night fog lifted, whereupon the German artillery came violently into action. One of the first shells wounded MacMahon. General Ducrot took over the command. Now it happened that there was with the army General Wimpffen, who had only arrived from Algiers on the night of August 30, and who had in his pocket a secret commission, authorizing him to assume command in

event of the, death or disablement of MacMahon. No one save Wimpffen knew of this. He was new to the troops and new to this theater of war. Therefore he hesitated to displace Ducrot, waiting until nine o’clock, when, perceiving that Ducrot intended to retreat toward the west, and convinced that salvation lay only In moving eastward toward Metz and the anny of Bazaine, he produced his papers and took charge. As a result there followed dire confusion, a good part of the army already having begun the execution of Ducrot’s orders. Northward of Bazellles the French were withdrawing, so that the Saxons swept easily over the ridge south of the Glvonne-Sedan road. This cut off the retreat of Vassoigne’s gallant fighters, who fell into the hands of the Germans an hour before noon.

At about the same time the German Guard corps began to form up between Daigny and Givonne, when suddenly a great column of French infantry, 6,000 strong, obeying Wimpffen’s orders of movement, came over the eastern border of the valley and charged at full speed for the guns. There followed what was probably the most dramatic spectacle of the war, for the whole of the corps artillery of the Guard turned upon these devoted men, tearing the column in half and; almost annihilating it. The head of the column, 2,000 strong, struggled desperately on, but comihg under flanking fire from both cannon and rifles, it fairly dissolved before the German eves. Another detachment of the Invaders crossed the river at Doncherey, driving back the French outposts to the south of the niy road so easily that the German artillery became recklessly exposed. Perceiving this and acting instantly, General, de Gallifet —“Old Silver Top,” as he was afterward called, because of the silver plgte which replaced a part of his skull —rushed up his brigade of Chasseurs d’Afrique and hurled a most dashing charge against the batteries. Gallifet might have accomplished something here, but he was utte-ly unsupported, and could not hold his advantage. He fell back with his hard-punished horse behind the Cazal-Hly ridge. Next the French infantry tried its hand again, making a brilliant, if 11lcharge out of its position and driving the Germans until the reenforcements dashed up. Then once more the French retired in more or less confusion, hoTding strongly at Flolng. Now, however, the French Twelfth corps frond itself furiously assaulted and in i uch peril that re-enforcements were sent up from Douay’s force. So pronounced was the confusion of the day that these re-enforcements actually crossed re-enforcements from the First corps which were being sent to ; Douay himsalf. And now German shells were crashing among the trees of the Bois de Garenne, causing such distress that Marguerltte’s division was ordered to charge. Margueritte himself was killed as he rode forward to reconnoiter, so Gallifet succeeded to his command. “For the next half-hour," says the Prussian account, “the scene defied description.” Charging again and again, Gallifet and his squadrons covered themselves with glory. Thpy numbered a bare

two thousand sabers, and they were stormed at by a terrific artillery fusil-| lade, but their isolated attacks were magnificent in courage and so effective, they proved to the experts that the day of charging by C«Valry in mass had not yet ended. When Galllfet’s horse were exhausted, however, the Germans advanced in a charge which extended over a front of almost two miles. Wimpffen, in a desperate counter stroke, cleared the Germans out of Bazellles and Balan, and for the moment the road to escape seemed open. What Wimpffen did not know was that another Prussian corps stood waiting behind the gap. Galloping back to the town to find the emperor and Implore him to put himself at the head of all available re-enforcements, Wimpffen was astonished to see a white flag displayed from the church tower. The emperor, who during the, early hours of the fighting had exposed himself fearlessly to death, had been overcome by physical pain and exhaustion, had abandoned hope and had offered his personal surrender to the king of Prussia, at the same time ordering the white flag to be hoisted.

It was torn down at the moment of its appearance by Colonel Fauve, but it went up again a short time later when the Prussians were battering at the western gate. It remained for Wimpffen only to make terms for the surrender of his army. Thus passed into captivity 72,000 French soldiers with 558 guns. The cost to the victors for this Victory was 9,000 men. The French killed and wounded numbered 17.000. It Is indicative of the demoralization among the French that this figure is 1,000 less than the cost of victory to the Germans at Woerth, although In that case the number of French actually engaged was one-half that at Sedan. The day of the French mountebank emperorwas done. There followed dreadful days of the commune. And from it emerged the magnificent France we now know.

ONE WAY OF RAISING MONEY

Governments, in Napoleonic Wars, Made Counterfeit Coins to Finance Raids on Enemy. Numerous methods have been adopted from time to time for supplementing the currency of the various countries engaged in war, but it is scarcely possible that the powers will be forced again to the expedients that were often essential In the old days. Prior to Napoleon’s 1812 campaign, for instance, the Paris gendarmes made a raid one night on a house in the Plaine Montrouge, and discovered a manufactory of false notes. Quite a sensation was caused when, on the following day, the police minister made the announcement that the manufactory had been started “by order of the emperor.” The false notes, which were Austrian and Russian, instead of French, were intended for use against the enemy on the Russian expedition, but the bulk of them came to grief during the great retreat. The duke of Wellington was responsible for a similar stroke of business during the Peninsular war. Badly in need of gold when about to invade France, he conceived the idea of hunting out some counterfeit coiners from the ranks. A number of these gentry were forthcoming, and they were ordered by the great general to exercise their evil art by transforming English sovereigns into louis d’or and napoleons.

Keep Windows Open All Time.

Get - into the habit of living in a house with all the windows open, rain or shine —night and day. You can’t possibly get too much fresh air. The very fact that people say their houses are damp and chilly shows that the windows have not been open enough, says a prominent health authority. Damp houses come from not having enough air to dry them out. Even on the rainy <Jays it were better to open wide the windows and let the fresh air in and even a little rain—than to shut the windows down, stopping the en> trance of frefeh air. The healthiest people in the world are the savages, and they live out of doors in the rain as well as in the sunshine. Don’t be afraid of fresh air at any time.

No Advice Given.

An Inclination to advise is not a bad trait in character, even when youtt is passed. It shows a keen interest in human affairs, large and small, and a willingness to accept responsibility. The consent which* life extracts from some men and more women to let the world go its own way, to lay no restraining hand upon the shoulder ot friend or acquaintance, means that the mainspring of the nature has been broken, and that the whole character has become passive. It is a strange attitude, witnessing to a great deal of suffering, but accompanied very often by a-strong sense of humor. But most of those who refrain always from advising refrain out of pure —Exchange.