79° 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



Octohvr 1. 1913. 



JAPAN'S ACHIEVEMENTS AND FUTURE. 



Japan's status among the nal lys 



it Nihal Singh in the L uar- 



terly A indirectly indicated by 



the treaties which Japan has been able to 

 secure from the Powers, and the manner 

 in which the Nipponese diplom 

 nnancie mmercialists, students, and 



immigrants have been treated in foreign 

 lands. When compared with Western 

 ltries, Nippon can give a good ac- 

 count of herself. In fifty years she has 

 succeeded in actually outstripping all 

 but four or five of the European nations 

 in many respects, and is not far behind 

 the most progressive amongst them. 



The most remarkable thing in connec- 

 tion with the record of Japan's achieve- 

 ment is that it has been accomplished in 

 the face of much unthinking conser- 

 vatism and with limited resources. In 

 1867-68, the first year of the Meiji era, 

 the revenue was only 33,000,000 yen. 

 With the development of agriculture, in- 

 dustries, mines, forests, and other 

 national assets, this income has gradu- 

 ally increased, until in 1909-10 the ordi- 

 nary revenue stood at 483,241,169 yen. 

 But even with such an amount Japan 

 would not have been able to achieve one 

 tithe of what it has done but for the 

 most rigid economy in administration, 

 sagacious finance, and recourse to 

 foreign loans. The point to be noted is 

 that the new regime started with a de- 

 based coinage of little real worth, value- 

 less paper money of some 1600 kinds, 

 and that it had to pay nine per cent, 

 interest on its first London bonds ; and 

 that gradually its financiers have 

 adopted the gold standard, State-aided 

 and otherwise, and so metamorphosed 

 the monetary system that the fori 

 rate of interest has been rut in half. 



It would be wrong to disguise the fact 

 that her militant policy has of late been 

 pressing very hard upon her finances 

 and ni taxation heavy, almost to 



the back-breaking point ; but enough in- 

 dications have been given of late to war- 

 rant the belief that with the wiser 

 Nipponese statesmen alive to the gravity 

 of the situation, and strong opinions 

 on the subject originating with the 

 populace and voiced by its representa- 



tives in the Diet, recklessness in this 

 respect will be checked in the near 

 future. 



THE PACIFICATION OF FORMOSA. 



Formosa is an island of which little 

 is known to the outside world. Shinji 

 Ishii, in the Asiatic Quarterly Review, 

 gives an account of what the Japanese 

 are doing to open out and pacify the 

 country. North Formosa is occupied by 

 the Taiyal head-hunters, who still main- 

 tain a tierce resistance against the Jap- 

 anese. This tribe are trained as warriors 

 from their youth up, and use poisoned 

 arrows and such guns as they can get. 



The Japanese have made seven diffi- 

 cult campaigns against them since 19 10. 

 However, the country is gradually being 

 pacified. The writer says:- 



When these wild men recognise the futility 

 of further resistance — especially if our force 

 occupies an important position, which might 

 greatly arrest their movements — the chief, or 

 one of the village elders, will come out to the 

 fighting line, and by waving a flag, as a sign 

 . or shouting in a loud voice, he will 

 demand an interview with the authorities. 

 We call this act on the part of the savages a 

 '.surrender," but they rather seem to con- 

 sider it as peacemaking on an equal footing. 

 The chief is usually a good diplomat, and 

 an eloquent speaker. As soon as he enters 

 upon the negotiation he tries, by using every 

 ful means within his ability, to secure the 

 advantage for the interest of villages 

 under his command, and at the same time 

 to carry out his exorbitant demands. A 

 - of interviews and negotiations is thus 

 lired befo^ terms can be concluded. 



Though about 4000 natives have set- 

 tled down under Japanese rule, there are 



ut 30,000 still wild and unconquered. 

 Xo mention is made in the article of 

 the terrible methods the Japanese em- 

 ployed when they first occupied the 

 island. In those days it was an offence 

 punishable with death for any China- 

 man to cany even a knife. One of the 

 leading men in the mission station there 

 was .promptly executed because a pen- 

 knife was found on him when searched 

 in the street! No man's life was safe. 



olesale slaughter followed the 

 slightest repris 1 f a Japanese soldier 



policeman disappeared the village 



dd be surrounded quietly in the 

 ! nil the inhabitants rounded 



