The Duty of Citizenship. 



305 



physical training, and that in this way the martial 

 spirit of the country shall be maintained and secured 

 Irom decline."' 



All subjects must also pay taxes, these being con- 

 sidered as ■• the contributive share of each subject to 

 the public expenditure of the State. It is neither 

 iienevolcnce paid in response to exaction, nor a 

 remuneration for certain favours which have been 

 received upon a mutual understanding." 



THE QUESTION OF CONSCRIPTION. 



Conscription is, in the minds of the British and 

 .\mcricans, indissolubly bound up with constraint, an 

 impression strengthened by the disinclination of the 

 conscripts on the European continent to .serve their 

 country in the ranks. In Japan there is none of that 

 >ide of conscription. The Japanese look upon it as a 

 privilege to be allowed to receive such training as will 

 enable them to adequately defend Japan in all emer- 

 genc:es. Japanese conscription is rather a means of 

 the selection of the fittest than a system to compel 

 citizens to serve. Every Japanese knows it to be his 

 duty as well as a highly prized privilege to serve his 

 time in the army or the navy. There are none of the 

 hundred and one drawbacks which too often mar the 

 system of compulsory service. In Japan the duty of 

 service would be felt more compulsory were there no 

 conscription law and no regulations for calling up year 

 by year those available for military service. And in 

 thi.s'fact lies one of the greatest of all lessons for coun- 

 tries owning free institutions, and anxious to maintain 

 their right of independent progress. 



THE RIGHT TO BE AN EFFICIENT DEFENDER. 



There is a duty which every citizen owes to his State 

 which should lead him to desire the chance of fitting 

 himself to defend his native soil. In conscription such 

 as this there is no disgrace — no ignominy. Were the 

 British Empire filled by such a recognition of the duty 

 and privilege of citizenship, there would be small need 

 of polemic discussions as to whether the country could 

 or could not be invaded — there would be no doubt as 

 to the security of the heart of the Empire. There is 

 no doubt that it is the duty of all who see into the 

 future clear-sightedly to urge the development of this 

 patriotic spirit which lies latent in the breast of every 

 I ilizen. Who would doubt that, in the case of invasion, 

 all the manhood of the country would spring to arms 

 to repel the menace? Hut surely the olTer of amateur, 

 I untrained devotion is a much less thing than the 

 I readiness lo become to the highest degree ellicient 

 1 whenever the call to .service may come. Physically, the 

 benefit would he enormous ; morally, it would be no 

 ; less, and the nation would reach its true level of com- 

 I picte self-confidence and strength. It is no alien idea 

 ' which is suggested by the example of Japan ; it is an 

 mstinct whh h requires to Ik; called forth and deve- 

 loped along lines of practical patriotism. For in Japan 



may be seen the ideal form of national service, a 

 nution in arms, and educated to make the best use of 

 those arms. It is not necessary to dwell upon technical 

 details, intelligible only to the military or naval 

 student; these follow of themselves provided the 

 central idea, the national impulse, be right. When 

 Great IJritain shall have reached the point that every 

 citizen feels it his duty and privilege to be trained for 

 the defence, social and economic or militar)-. of the 

 Motherland, and is educated to understand the real 

 significance of this service, the Hritish nation will 

 become a greater, saner, and more efficient people. 



UNIVERSAL SERVICE SYSTEMATISED BY CONSCRIPTION. 



The national army of Japan is an educated force, 

 and each year sees the percentage of illiteracy sinking 

 lower. National pride demands education, and thus 

 the national privilege of conscription feels the benefit 

 of a unanimous progressive force. The defence of Japan 

 is the work of the nation, and it matters not whether 

 the individual atom works for his country in the field 

 or on the water — the same driving force is at the back 

 of him and there can be no retrogressions. Japan's 

 idea of the best means to secure the defence of the 

 country is no new thing, but the growth of hundreds 

 of \cars. Japan's military and naval greatness is the 

 result of the nation's determination to be fitted to 

 defend the country and to be able to secure its best 

 interests. It is no sentiment of part of the people only, 

 it is the whole nation undertaking a task which affects 

 every unit of it, and of which each one is proud to bear 

 his or her share. Universal service by all the 

 people, systematised by conscription, is the founda 

 "tion, with education, of Japan's army and navy. 



THE FORCE OF A NATION OF CITIZENS. 



Step by step the national dc\cl<)pment has led the 

 Japanese nation to a point where it is quite justifiable 

 for them to look with pride upon the progress their 

 practical patriotism has enabled them to accomplish. 

 Not only has Japan become one of the eight great 

 Powers of the world, but she has successfully demon- 

 strated that she is the one great Power which dominates 

 Eastern Asia. The wonderful force lying in Japan's 

 hands is not even yet properly realised, and there are 

 unknown potentialities of which the other nations 

 have not even a suspicion. But before very long, this 

 nation, which is able to think out problems as 

 thoroughly as any Oriental, and act upon the result of 

 the thought as energetically as any Western race, will 

 receive its full recognition in every branch of national 

 life. The fore e which is possessed by a people etlicient 

 in every department of national life, and possessing the 

 unique impulse of a sentient, practical patriotism and 

 an undivided public opinion, is so unknown, so enor- 

 mous, as lo defy its measurement by any standards 

 possessed by the Western world. 



