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Show II' . "The Oder Statesmen of Japan f' . -- BY FREDERIC J. HAS KIN -- fj: Occupying ;i position absolutly unique fcfj. ; in modern statecraft, the older states- ;r mou of Japan exercise an influence 'tf that is all out aupremo in tho affairs ;C of their country. This remarkablo , proup of old men has no lejral status; ' and their existence is not recognized L by. tho constitutional form of covorn- I mcnt. They nre the survivors of the f'l ' young Nipponese patriots who fifty ( years ago undertook to bring their Vi' country into the family of nations u' and induce their people to adopt West- J crn civilisation. The Japanese nation ' recognizes their success and defers to them in all questions of great moment, - much in the same fashion that the ft American nation might defer todaj- to I the opinions of Gcorgo Washington, I ' Benjamin Franklin. Thomas .Jefferson fK and Alexander Hamilton if those men Avero still in the lnnd of the living. If M ' The Oenro. as the elder statesmen m group is cullod in Japanese, is not sharp- m Ty defined. Historically considered, tho Japanese recognize six living men as ' dlder statesmen, but in recent politics I L,' tho active croup is limited to four. Wit. Prince Ito, Prince Yamacnia, Marquis m Fntsukata and Marquis In 0113-0 are, the controlling spirits today. Marshal f'l Princo Oyama is n military man and III,, he declinod to aft in the political con- jl , ' clnves of tho Geuro. Count Okumn is L one' of "the elder statesmen historical, ft ' ' but ho has boon for many yenrs tho . loader of the opposition in Japanese li politics, and therefore has not partici- m paleil in tho work of the elder states- jjj men as a group. II t: ' The domestic revolution which pro- I jy ducod modern Japan wns not the work I W of an3r one great loader, but tho si- H' inullaneouti action of a great, many rfi 3'oung men who responded to tho force Jm- of long accumulating dissatisfaction at. jijj homo, and fo the ncwlj- felt pressure , from abroad. The leaders of tho rev-' rev-' oliition which deposed tho Shbgunate M and restored the emperor to actual as y',f well as nominnl power, were Olcubo. Lyj Kido and Suico. They have all passed fJ! away, but the six living elder stales- fnji men were closely associated with them Jtjj! in .tho ;earl.v days, and afterwards born .Jj the brunt of the political battle which III resulted in a constitutional form of gov- ,i erumenr. Ill s u Iih The most interesting of the' living IK' elder statesmen are Princo Tto and si Count. Okuma, the one supreme in power jj and the other insistent in opposition. m, Prince Ito is better known to foreign-i foreign-i ers than any oilier Japunese statesman. Of: Ho is now noaring the sixty-eighth p' mile-post of life and is tho power bean, be-an, hind the throne, the director -of eabi-Ij eabi-Ij nets ami closest personal advisor to w the emperor. In 1S63, when ho -was 22 years old. he evaded the authori h ties ami escapod from Japan to Eng-jll Eng-jll land, in companv with Count Tnouvc, : another of tho living older statesmen ! oth were disguised as snilors. Thcv ;i were provided with plentv of monev . when they loft home, but thcv gambled jj ' with tho sailors on the way "and when I hsy arrived in Loudon thev had but l;1 silver dollar, faro, alwavs master If -sf 'he art of shiftjng rcsnonsihilitv iff; r'V -i dangr-rous undertaking, sent kj Inouye out. with. the dollar to buy some-J some-J 'h'Htr to eat. He weiit into a baker's 1 , shop nud not knowing a word of Eng- glish, pointed to a loaf of bread nnd hold up his dollar. The shop woman gave him the loaf, took tho'dollar and ended negotiations The two bovs lived on this loaf of bread until tnc next da3" when some friends, who know of their mission, found them wandering about London. When Ito came home he found himself in a precarious position, his foroign-hating clansmen despising him for his English learning and tho foreigners at the ports distrusting his intentions. But tho great Kido trusted him and invited him into the. councils ! of those men who were about, to bring on the revolution. When the Shogun was overthrown and tho mikndo enmo into his own, Tto acted as interpreter for the boy emperor when he first saw the representatives of tho foreign powers pow-ers in 1S6S; the first ocension in an unbroken histo- of 2o00 years that tho emperor of Jnpau had recognized the right of embassy. It was llo who had much to do with the preparation of the imperial edict which granted to tho Japanese people a voice in government, govern-ment, and to which was appended the fiignnture of the -mikado, the first time in all history that the name of an emperor em-peror of .Tapnu had been written during dur-ing his life time. It was Tto wlio wrote the constitution by which Japan is governed todav, and it was Tto who guided the ship of state through the storms of tho wars with China and Russia. ITo retired onco, but the lato war again brought him into activit- and ho is now cimdueting the affairs of Japan in Korea, acting as resident, res-ident, general and practically autocrat of tho effete Korean empire. In this long earoor. Ito tins filled ovorv office of importance which fitted him, has been prime minister several times, and in rank has risen from plain mister to count, marquis and prin.ee. TTc has encountered much bitter and determined opposition at home, and his foreign policy pol-icy has been often criticized bv other nations. But witli all his faults, lie hns proved his great abilitv and in history he will lie reckoned " with the list of the great, constructive statesmen of .tho latter half of the- nineteenth century where shine such names as Bismarck, Bis-marck, Gladstone and Diaz. t Supporting him at times, and at other times in opposition, are the three other political members of i.hc Genro Mat-sukala, Mat-sukala, Tnoin-c and Yninagata. Marquis jNTatsuknta is a 3'onr older than Princo Ito. and has been connected with financial finan-cial affaire of the government ever since the foundation of the present era. His first great work was the restoration restora-tion to value of the depreciated paper currencv which flooded tho eonntrv after af-ter the civil war of 1S77, and tho crowning crown-ing glory of his career was the estab-I estab-I lislnneut of the gold standard during his premiership in 1S96-JS97. He does not lake active interest in tho politics of the da3 but ho is influential in the Genro and is looked upon us tho highest financial authorit3- in Japan. Marquis Inouye is of Prince Ito's" age. ajid they liavc been closely associated asso-ciated ever sinco their runawa3- t ri p to England in 1S65. When thoy returned Tnoux-e advocated opening the country to foreigners, whereupon his fellow clansmen, who hated the "red-haired barbarians,'1 waylaid him, beat him and lcft him for dead. When the rcstorn-tion rcstorn-tion was accomplished, Inouyo was soon token into the oflicinl famih' in a high position. Tie. has boon a great executive, execu-tive, but a certain narrowness nnd intolerance in-tolerance has pre.vontcd him from rising to tho full measure of his opportunity. The business of the Elder Statesmen in politics is wire-pulling, because it is onby through this method that the' make (heir InTlucnco felt upon emperor, cabinet or parliament: and there is none to deny that Inouye s reputation iw a king among wire-pullers is deserved. Prince Yamagala, fourth but not the least of the political!' nctivo Elder Statesman, is 70 'ciirs old. He represents repre-sents an active opposition to Prince Ito, which extends even into the councils coun-cils of the Genro, and he also embodies tho conservative ideas of the most old-fashioned old-fashioned class of modern Japanese. He hates political parties, has but little patience pa-tience with evon the Japanese make-believe make-believe popular government, and is largely responsible for the continued control of the military spirit in Japanese Japan-ese national affairs. Samngata is a soldier, and was himself one of the ablest leaders of the armies of the clan, of Choshu which resisted the military power of tho Shogun a year before tho restoration of imperial powor. Ho was practically the head of tho imperial armies in the civil war. of 1S77 and has always been identified with tho army. Twice, however, he has been primo minister min-ister and is now tho president of the privy council. Ilis military notions of disciplino kept him constantl embroiled em-broiled with the members of his cabinet cabi-net when at the head of tho government, and ho despises politicians as only a soldier can. Yet it was ho who wai at tho holm in the stormy days just, before be-fore the adoption of parliamentar-government, parliamentar-government, and his conservative influence influ-ence prevontod the radicals from going too far with their plans and wrocking the wholo scheme of popular representation, Marshal. Princo Ch-ama is tho purely military man in the Genro. Tho world came to know his name when ho was commander of the victorious Japaucso armies in tho Mniiehuriau campaigns against tho Russians, but in Japan his prowess as a soldier has been a proverb for forty 3'ears. lie is a nephew of the great Saigo, tho militnr- leader of tho restoration, and took a distinguished parL in the civil wars which led to tho downfall of tho Shogunatb. His life story is that of a soldier. He has now retired to private life, full of honors and of years. His wife, the Princess Oy.'ima, was one of tho first. Japanese women to go abroad being one of tho students sent to Americn 111 1S7J. She wns graduated from Yassar. and through her Marshal Oyania has always kept, up an intimate acquaintance with American affairs. Tkcso are the live men who nre called the Elder Statesmen. When a great crisis in the affairs of Japan eomes about the wholo. nation turns to them and asks them what to do. They .ire all practical politicians and know how to pull' wires but the people right! v think that as thoy have been connected with new Japan sinco its birth, and as their interest, in its welfare is as great as their knowledge is deep, 110 other set of men could be trusted as far. (Copyright, (Copy-right, 100S, by Frederic J. Ilaskin ) |