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Show Merry-Co-Round ' By DREW PEARSON and ROBERT 8. ALLEN WASHINGTON These are days when Hiro-hito, Hiro-hito, modest, bespectacled emperor of Japan, is very much on the spot. Entirely aside from the demand of President Roosevelt for the emperor' apologies, the emperor em-peror has some pretty stiff problems on his hands the most important of these being whether he will be the real ruler of Japan or become the mere puppet of the army and navy. For even before young Japanese officers began be-gan to go haywire, the emperor was on the spot because of the fascist revolt within the army. It began two years ago when a handful of young army officers walked with drawn revolvers re-volvers into the home of Japan' leading statesmen, states-men, shot them down in cold blood and proceeded pro-ceeded to take over the city. Only a personal command from the emperor, plus the threat that they would be blown out of their barricaded barri-caded building, brought these young men to time. The statesmen they shot were leaders of the moderate wing who had urged a more cautious Japanese policy abroad. They opposed the army' tactic of shaking the mailed fist under the world's nose. Though the young officer finally surrendered, surren-dered, they did not altogether fail For the Japanese government ever since has veered toward to-ward their aggresesive course in order to prevent further uprisings. Democratic Hirohito Hirohito Is rather a kindly, democratic person per-son much mora moderate and modern than most of the statesmen around him. When he returned from a European trip while (till prince regent, he issued an edict that henceforth traffic should not be cleared from the streets as he passed through. Previously the street had been completely com-pletely cleared of human life and the window shuttered. . , , . ... On hi trip, Hirohito noted that traffic did not stop for European rulers, and returning to Japan he remarked: "The idea of any one man holding up thousand thou-sand of people. It' all foolishness." Japanese Quaker On the trip, Hirohito took as hi close companion, com-panion, a young Japanese Quaker named Saw-ada, Saw-ada, later counselor of the Japanese embassy in Washington. His diary gives important insight into the character of the man who heads the world's most belligerent nation. It should be noted that hitherto, few people were allowed to ee, let alone touch, the Japanese emperor. The court physician felt his pulse through silk gauze, while the court tailor took his measurements by guesswork from across the ""Sn Hirohito' hip passing through the Red sea, however, Sawada recount that Marquis Komatsu wrestled with hi highness, who seemed , not to mind the heat nor the intensity of the exercise. Later, in Pari Hirohito persuaded his bodyguard body-guard to let him ride on the subway despite strict orders in Tokio against it. He even insisted in-sisted on having his thrill of buying the ticket himself. Thi he did, and presented three to the fat old lady who guarded the gate. But he handed hand-ed them to her in a bunch, rather than spread out fan ahape so she could punch them quickly, and (he loosed a storm of terrific abuse on the future emperor of Japan. Army Intrigue Hirohito is the second emperor in a long and unbroken line who actually has taken a part in the government of Japan. Hirohito, a moderate and intelligent emperor, em-peror, faces tha fate of being boxed in by the extreme militarist group within the army and being made a mere puppet to cloak a completely fascist dictatorship in Japan. (Copyright, 1937, for The Telegram) |