The Days of a Man D911 



Satsuma, Choshu, and Settsu. Exploiters, militarists, and 

 bureaucrats direct the foreign policy. The populace clamors 

 for war because only war yields livable wages. The gono or 

 village "boss" controls the rural population. Only fear of 

 revolution gives the people any voice and that is mostly still 

 and small. The prophets cry in the wilderness, most earnestly 

 no doubt, but largely unheeded by the two chief political parties. 



Central- FoF cach point of view there is a certain degree of 

 xzed power warrant. The first arises from acquaintance with the 

 student class and a knowledge of the provincial 

 towns. The second pictures some phases of the 

 political life of the capital. Government, as I have 

 long insisted, is the most backward of all human 

 enterprises. Just in proportion as its power is cen- 

 tralized, it becomes obstructive and oppressive. The 

 remedy for these evils lies in the extension of democ- 

 racy and allowing the people to decide for themselves 

 the lines of their own welfare. 

 Minhon The guiding spirit of the Japanese government is 

 officially expressed in the word minhon'^ — that is, 

 "general well-being." It involves on the part of those 

 in power a paternal regard for the common good. In 

 this scheme, as education spreads, the representa- 

 tives of the people insist upon a larger and larger 

 part. Now that Japan has adopted compulsory edu- 

 cation, and the English language is required in all the 

 middle and higher schools, a rapid advance is im- 

 minent. Mutsuhito's reign is fairly called the "Era 

 of Enlightenment." In it democratic principles began 

 to bud, to bear fruit later — and let us trust without 

 subjecting the people to the strain of revolution. 



The hope of Japan, as of every other country, it 

 seems to me, is found in its democratic element; these 



'Sometimes defined as "the effort to keep the people busy and poor." 



n 404 3 



