Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 91, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 July 1907 — JAP INSULTS UNCLE SAM. [ARTICLE]

JAP INSULTS UNCLE SAM.

Official Wellington Stirred by Sloes of Mikado’s Admiral. The highest officials now in Washington have been stirred to strong indignation at the gratuitous insult handed out to the United one of the chief officers of Japan’s navy and a man who stands close to .the Mikado, in an interview printed In the Hochi at Tokyo. The slurs expressed by Admiral Sakamoto on the American navy in this interview are angrily resented by the military and naval chiefs and, it is believed, will add force to ill-teeling that i/* * engendered against Japan all the United States. Both military “and civil officials of high rank, who, of course, refuse t* be quoted, admit that the insulting utterances of one of the Mikado's chief officers have greatly Intensified the gravity of the situation between the United States and Japan and increased the possibilities of war between the two countries. The text of the interview as printed in the Hochi is aS follows: “Should hostilities break out between Japan and America, the result would be indecisive, owing to a want of proper bases qf operations. Such bases as exist are too far distant for practical purposes. “Even the nearest bases—-namely, the Pescadores, Cavite and “Manila — are at a distance of GOO miles from one another. Even if the Washington govern ment shoulddecide o n_ a war, .1t 1 s doubtful if the Americans serving in the navy are sufficiently patriotic to fight. “American naval officers are brilliant figures at balls and social gatherings, but they are very deficient in professional training and experience. It is too much to expect a burning patriotism In the American naval service in case of war with Japan. It is very likely that most of the crews would desert and- leave the ships.” Admiral Sakamoto commanded the ill-fated battleship Yashima when she struck a mine and sunk off tort Arthur in May, 1904. Subsequently he was made naval commandant at Dalny for the Port Arthur operations. The transfer of the American battleship squadron to the Pacific coast has caused a .storm. A significant feature of the affair is that all of the vessels will be stripped as though for battle, and will be supplied with a full supply of ammunition and erms. In outlining the plans for the next session of the Australian Parliament, Premier Carruthers proposed the enactment of pensions for invalids, subventions to aid friendly societies to enable the poorest persons to purchase annuities. He argues that this policy tends “to uplift the community, increase the inducements to thrift and aid in the battle against improvidence.”