The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 28, 1904, Page 14

Almost Incredible Development Since the Shogun Was Overthrown Only Thirty-Six Years Ago. tting up and taking no- 854, en Perry's fact, she od one eye squadron then and » and the Shogun. In d the other and nations of th de- they meant for a asi treaty was made stare the ith vy th seems 1ctua case th Em us impression the 1l dealings were with him. The for first ought to be ed on vas then the me us n as its literal meaning was employed for Tokugawa officials tinct impression that reality one in that; some doubts as to his un, was in However itself, shows rper strength and privileges, for never even se early treaties was the title rresponding to “his Majesty” as- the Shogun. But he was so and clever that his actual po- unknown to the for- gn envoys for over fourteen years these vears if he could not be . called the power on the was at least the power be- the all powerful Shogun mmander in chief gf the military was created in the eleventh cen- nd was held by sheer force. In lle ages the warlike families urn seized the throne and kept it £ as they could, until two rival hemselves about equal in th T evidently realizing his v before these arrogant r P dictators, and, fearing that might become too great, play them off one against For instance, if one of the belled the Emperor authorized oto to rebuke him, and as sence both clans were only too to obiain an imperial com- the other. Incessant even bloodshed was the day until the twelfth cen- the question was finally n open warfare. Yoritomo, the ading spirit of the Minamoto, was tor, and he siraightway went work to set up a kingdom of his and never once did he falter until he had built a city that was the capi- al of East Japan To such an extent did he overawe he neighboring provinces that in 1192 the patched a special en- voy te invest him with the office of thiz Shogun (literally, “barbarian-subjugat- generalissimo™) and he and each Shogun who came after him were thus + nominated commanders in chief whose was to preserve peace and tranquillity in Eastern Japan. Thus the creating of another great power gave rise to the common beljet that Japan really possessed two em- perors—one “spiritual,” residing at Kioto, and the other “temporal,” resid- ing at Kamakura and afterward at Yeddo. As the Emperor is belleved to be an “‘earthly deity,” or son of a demi- god. this idea was not unnatural, for while the Shogun owed allegiance and was invested by the Emperor, his new position supreme head of the mili- tary force and his influence over the powerful lords of the country made him in reality almost the equal of the sovereign in his own right. Such a ar the ury, when e vi peror duty it HAZQLSS HTROBLArT TR state of affairs, lasted until the when the Shogun’s power was pitifully shattered and the Mikado reinstated in his all-supreme position strange as it was, revolution in 186, Of course the two courts of the rul- ers could not help Lut differ greatly. The attendants of the Emperor were the o!d court nobles, descended from the imperial line, and hile mapy of them possessed anything but ample their rank was recognized by On the other hand, th court of the military leader was vastly different. Instead of birth, ability counted and the men who were noted tor their warlike skill and great terri- torial nos: were the ones who means, all classes sicns found favor. This in itself gave rise to the feudal system that was inaugurated in Japan. The powerful territorial nobles were called the daimio and the vetty nobility the latamoto. The latter, about 80,000 strong, resided constantly at Yeddo, but the daimio were forced to come to the city only at stated intervals, and spent the rest of their time at their castles in their provinces. One thing they were obliged to do, however, to in- sure their good behavior, and that was to leave their wives and families be- hind as a sort of a hostage. As the power of the Shogun became more and more strong he slowly but firmly placed restrictions and terms upon the daimio, until they were treated solely as feudal vassals, with'a host of regulations that they were forced to follow out. Instead of being a united empire that acknowledged the Mikado as its sovereign, Japan was portioned out into any number of fiefs, that were in reality petty kingdoms. Each fief was vuled by a daimio, assisted by some councilors and a few other officials, but the daimio was supreme in his own flef and settled such matters as taxes and the issuing and valuation of paper money. Such a rule was thoroughly bad in more ways -than one. A per- son traveling was put to a great deal of inconvenience, for his money ‘was not good outside of his own terri- tory, and it put him to an endless amount of trouble and expense to make an exchange in order that he might travel comfértably and in style befit- ting hi€ rank. Again, the power to tax was frequently turned into abuse. In some cases, to be sure, the position of the wretched peasantry was duly con- sidered, but the great majority of times the ruler cared little how much he ‘wrung from his miserable serfs as long TIEST CH/EX AT TEL OF NER TIZI as he was able to live a life of ease and luxury. But this state of affairs couldn’t go on forever. Petty jealousies and quar- rels were constantly arising among the daimio themselves, until finally the sa- cred palace of the Shogun was dese- crated with bloodshed and strife. Every perscn in Japan, whether great or sim- ple, roge simultaneously, and the revo- lution in '68 was a complete restoration of the Mikado to his rightful own. The Shogun was declared an usurper and the only thing that was left for him to do was to retire, which he did in 1867, to the province of Suruga with only the title of a lord of the empire, and with . his passing the ancient form of government returned and the feudal system that had been such a powerful factor was entirely destroyed. From a nation that was in seclusion from the rest of.the world and that hated outsiders to such an extent that any of its inhabitants were forbidden to ‘leave - its shores under penalty of death, Japan suddenly waked up and the progress that she has made has been something truly astounding. She THE TIME OF THE WORLD. 4/Jrzazrvosion Z S04 Ara; O deep is the interest in the progress of the Russi-n-Japanese war and yet so universal ": the confusion over the difference in the time between San Francisco and other Pacific (oast points and the scene of the conflict in the Orient that faw can tell at precisely what hour of the day or night, or €ven the day of the week, important battles have been fought or are taking placc. The Sunday Call has secured from the United States Branch Hydrographic Office ‘at 331 Sansome street the schedule of clocks printed above, which furnishes an excellens and accurcte basis for computatic . Thus between San Francisco and London there is eight hours difference, while between San Francisce and Port Arthur there is teen hours difference. In other words, when it is noon on Sunday (to-day, for instance) in San Francisco it is 8‘o’clock on Sunday night in London and 4 o'clock to-morrow (Monday) morning in Port Arthur. Similarly the above table shows the difference in time between San Francisco and all ize principal cities in the world from which news of the war in China is being or may be received. Therefore by cutting out this schedule of clock dials and pasting it up for ready reference you may. accurately compute the Gifference in time at any hour of the day or night between San Francisco and any of the cities named above or uther puints ad- jacent thervm, ‘ suddenly came out of her long sleep, and aided and abetted by Marquis Ito, who is really the connecting link be- tween new and old Japan, has rapidly come to be considered a power in the world. Ito was a boy of 12 when Perry ran into the bay of Yeddo. He was a noble- man, although of the lowest grade, and, as a consequence, was being schooled in the matters of etiquette and tea ceremonies and to consider himself one of the flowers of his be- loved nation. Being a retainer of the Shogun, he was frequently sent on political missions to Tokio, but instead of regarding the foreigners that were commencing to pour into the port as the dust beneath his feet, he made it his business to learn all he could about hem and their customs and ways. When he reached the age of 19 was fully convinced that his Govern- ment would never be able to exclude the Toreigners and he resolved to pay them a visit in their own land. With five friends he led the way to the home of a British merchant, one Mr. Keswick, whe had promised to help him when he was called upon to do so. After evading the authorities they finally reached a ship, but the captain stubbornly refused to permit them to sail with him. He wouldn’t run the risk of breaking the Japanese law and of being refused an entrance to their port. Besides he might cause trouble for his own country. But, though Ito little dreamed that he would later be Pre- mier_of his country, he displayed the same forethought that has always made him stand out distinctly above his fellows. Thinking that there might be trou- ble, he had persuaded his boyish friends, intent on what they consid- ered a lark, to cut off their queues. Japan would no longer recognize them as Japanese and noblemen they would not stand the degradation and either they sailed on that ship or com- suicide by the refined code of hara- The result was they sailed, for the captain was between the devil and the deen blue sea. Five dead men would Le harder to account for than five live ones. This was [to's first lesson with the outside world, and it taught him that the noblemen of Japan, accustomed to- idling away their time with fans and being waited on hand and foot, were no better than anybody else, and if the truth were told not considered half as good. While they paid their full fare and went as passengers. the as mitted Previous to This Last Revolution Japan Was Governed in | ! Barbaric Ignorance by Feudal Military | Despot. i I * — —— in considered it his bounden duty to get even with them for forc- him to take part their flight and they were made to do the work of common sailors, whic their eyes was a great disgrace. > work of a low bred coolle was bad enough, but to do for the despised foreign- er was the last dregs of a \ cup. Yet Ito was philosopher enough to admit a might be, ress of oth fact, however unpleasant it he saw the and wher >untries h Japan simply had to change her en- tire code of civillzation or be ruled under a foreign flag. Eight months’ comstant duty had passed in England when they received word that a port in their own province was about to be bombarded ac- count of the harassing of foreign ves- sels that approached too near the hos- tile shore. All the love for their coun- try came to the front in an instant and refugees, disguised as Portuguese, rushed home to give their lord the benefit of their occidental study. But their persuasion amount- ed to nothing—the barbarians were told to do their worst, and that worst leveled the city of Kagoshima to the ground and sent what was left of & tiny army rushing away looking and calling for protection. Then it was shat Ito and his close and lasting friend, Count Inouye, stepped in and practically revolutien- ized the Government. The boys that returned were in constant danger for they had viclated one of the most zealously guarded laws and the pen- 2lty had not been dealt out. But they were so necessary, with their new and advanced ideas, and the clouds that already cast their shadows over the islands looked so heavy and threaten- ing, that they were chosen as advisers instead and inst faithfully and fully carr Things that had never been heard of were actually accomplished in the twinkling of an eye and prejudices that had lived through centuries were brushed as as though they Instead of war being a sort of pastime for the noble- men it became a business for every- body. For the first time in the history of Japan common men stood side by side with the gentry, and the Mikado had a trained army that had strength and force be it * Modern Japan is perhaps due more to Ito than any one or anything e and his has been the great power has been for the past twenty more yea Whether he was the Pre- mier or whethe the five their lightly away were cobwel he was the power be- hind the Premier has mattered little to him as long as he accomplished his ends—and that has been to see his country rank witlt the nations of garth, commercially, soclally and, in fact, in every other way. To be felt as a world power has been his am! . and never for a single instant has he relinquished his grip of iron. “A nation cannot stand still,” he on said. “It must go forward or back- ward. Ixpansion is a natural law. Ac- cept every that comes to you,” and he might have added, * any ng t you see fes of its coming go half- e to meet it.” So is it any that Japan has come to the front in such an amazing fashion in these late years? With such a power- ful hand steering her she could scarcely do otherwise but sail straight into her destined port. possit way or me wonder