The story of the government of Japan is of interest and of importance to every United States naval officer. When it is realized that the Kuriles are but a short plane flight from the Aleutian Islands ; that on a clear day southern Formosa can be seen from the northernmost Philippines; that this great sea power lies across the pathway of the United States to the markets of the Orient, as yet undeveloped but promising; and that she is placed on the flank, no, on the path, to the Philippines with her Class “C” mandates, it is clear at once that not only Japanese policies but also the manner in which she governs herself is of the greatest importance to the United States Navy.
Since the time of Caleb Cushing in China, the United States has been developing consistent policies in the Far East. These policies have often seemed to be at variance with those of Japan in regard to China.
It is for these reasons that the study of the government of Japan becomes of interest. It is well to know what the history of this government has been, how it has developed, and in what further direction it is evolving, to understand the manner in which the power of the state can give expression to the policies upon which her political leaders may decide.
The twelfth century marked the rise to supreme power in Japan of the Minamoto family in the person of Yoritomo as Shogun or Great General. The assumption of this title marked also the beginning of the loss of temporal power of the emperor, who was restricted more and more in his control of the state. Thereafter, a number of families successively controlled the shogunate. About three hundred years ago the Tokugawa family thrust all others aside and secured the first office to themselves. They were more successful than their predecessors in consolidating the government into their own hands. The previous shoguns had governed about one-half of the country but this great family gradually brought the powerful clans under their control until the country might be said to be a unit. The clan was a group of people of all classes, not necessarily related as to blood but bound together by ties of residence, clan spirit, and custom.
It is true that the control of the shogun was nominal because the daimios or chiefs of the clans were independent and impatient of curb. The constant interclan warfare ceased however. Under these peaceful conditions, the shoguns, like the imperial court, became weak. The daimios followed suit. The actual power was wielded by a group of younger men who were advised by a council of elders. This was particularly true of the clan government and it even became the rule in the shogunate. The elders or genro, as they were called, were too old to fight but old enough to be wise. The younger men were fighters and were called samurai. They formed the aggressive oligarchical group in control of the clan and later of the shogunate.
As has been said, towards the latter part of the Tokugawa regime the shogunate became weak. The clans, however, passed through a period of weakness and began to regain their strength. The struggle between the shogunate and the clans was renewed, but this time politically. Several important factors influenced the fight between these two forces.
In 1842 England acquired Hong Kong as the result of the Opium War. In 1855 Russia obtained the maritime provinces. France occupied Saigon in 1859. Perry forced the treaty opening Japan to commerce in 1854. The other powers were not slow to follow suit. In fact the warships of the three European powers had invaded the Japanese waters before 1845 and finally had attacked the Straits of Shimonoseki in 1863, which were guarded by the powerful Satsuma clan. More than a generation before this period, the Monroe Doctrine had closed the doors of South America to colonization and the European nations had been forced to turn eastward. The signature of these commercial treaties precipitated a controversy between the clans and the shogun in which England espoused the side of the clansmen and France that of the shogun. Some of the leaders on both sides now began to be alarmed and foresaw that Japan was in danger of becoming as helpless, before the demands of these barbarians, as China.
During the latter part of the Tokugawa rule, a body of wealthy merchants had grown up, who wished to do away with the isolation policy and throw open the country to trade. These men were on the side of the clans, not because they favored the change in masters, but because they thought that the return to power of the emperor would bring with it a more liberal trade policy.
Prior to the resumption of the struggle between the clans and the shogun, that is to say in the early part of the nineteenth century, a chauvinistic cult had been formed by a Choshu fanatic by the name of Yoshida Shoin. It was really a revival of pure Shinto. At any rate it grew in numbers of devoted followers and in influence until the government took notice of it by executing its leader in 1859. The man preached restoration, or return of temporal power to the emperor. In addition he advocated a greater Japan by the acquisition of Formosa, Korea, and territory on the mainland of Asia. His book was widely read. But he was just ten years ahead of his time as far as restoration was concerned, and a half century in his imperialistic policies. However, the cult made a deep impression on the Japanese nation which had long considered the emperor as a divine descendant of the Sun Goddess and fit to rule.
The old emperor was gathered now to his ancestors and the new ascended the throne. He gave promise of great ability although his education was not suited to the coming conditions. It consisted mainly in a thorough knowledge of Chinese classics. Still many a man has made an excellent king who was unable to do more than scribble his name. This young man was destined to lead his people out of the darkness into the light. Hence the period of his reign is known as the Meiji era or “age of enlightenment.”
All these factors made the position of the clans, in demanding the return of the power to the emperor, strong. The two leading clans were the Satsuma and the Choshu, then as now, the strongest forces in the land. The former desired the restoration, not so much for the sake of the neglected emperor, as in the hope that a shogunate would be necessary again, and in such a case, the Satsuma clan would provide the great general. It was a political move.
The infamous and inferior conditions of the trade treaties wounded the pride of this proud people and further undermined the position of the Tokugawa shogunate. It fell or shall it be said, it withdrew, in 1869. Let it be noted here that this illustrious old family was patriotic enough to relinquish the office without a civil war. The nation was enabled thus to turn to the task before it without the arresting scourge of a civil war. The emperor reigned, at last, after seven hundred years.
Upon the assumption of power by the emperor the two allies, Satsuma and Choshu, disagreed in regard to the method of government. The Satsuma group desired a return to the prefeudal government while the Choshu wished a government of bureaus much like that of the ninth and tenth centuries. Choshu won.
The mass of the people were non-existent politically. The first years of the monarchy saw the rise to power of the young samurai who had brought about the restoration. They were members of the Satsuma and Choshu clans, in the main, although one or two of the minor clans were represented. Three of these men had spent a short time abroad and had acquired some idea of the conditions of the times. Perhaps the leading one was Ito who soon formed a peace party and gained control of the government. He seemed to realize the tremendous work before the country and felt that Japan needed peace in which to accomplish it. He was opposed by a fighting party led by Saigo. A definite issue arose in regard to the military occupation of Korea as a punishment for a fancied insult. Civil war ensued but Ito was ready for it and the rebellion ended with the death of Saigo and the complete defeat of an army of samurai by one of ordinary citizens. Ito was now free to carry out his plans.
The seventies were busy years. Abroad the government was attempting to remove the restrictions and regain the rights which had been signed away in the treaties with the great powers. At home, twelve thousand elementary schools had been started by 1872 in an effort to prepare the people for the new civilized era and for a measure of self government. The clans were abolished and the country was divided into districts called prefectures. The governors of these prefectures were appointed by the central government and so were the advisory councils, at first. Later the councils were elected by a restricted electorate. Other reforms followed during these full years.
Many leaders did not believe in representative government; but a majority apparently favored a very limited form of self government. Some few others supported the latter group because they saw in representative government the only check to clan control. Thus a sort of liberal movement began to make itself felt. In 1881, the emperor issued an edict promising a constitution in ten years’ time.
The following year Ito and a selected party began a tour of America and Europe to study constitutional government. In Germany he met Bismarck, then Chancellor and at the height of his power. The Prussian system of monarchy resembled that which was traditional in Japan. BTsmarck had a compromise between autocracy and popular government which looked to Ito like that for which he had been searching. Accordingly, Prussia and the Imperial German Empire were the models which were used in drafting the constitution and many of the commercial laws of Japan. The criminal law is founded upon that of France.
The Japanese leaders desired to avoid “responsible” government such as that of England. The British system was in direct contradiction to the cherished belief of divine descent and unbroken lineage of the royal line of Japan. These leaders wished a continuance of power because they believed it to be for the good of the country. The subject of government by the people vs. oligarchy was threshed out. The president of the Imperial University of Tokyo proved that man had no natural rights and, therefore, the whole question of where sovereignty rested, was not one of principle but of expediency. Believing that the great mass of the people were still too ignorant to govern themselves, desiring power for its own sake, and, finally, because of the divinity and infallability of the emperor, the samurai of the great western clans, into whose hands the power had fallen with the restoration of 1868-69, easily persuaded themselves that a continuation was necessary although under another form.
At any rate, Ito returned from his travels in 1883 with the “Golden Fleece.” The transformation began with the selection of a hand-picked committee favorable to Ito’s ideas.
The following year, the nobility of five orders of peers was constituted in accordance with the Prussian system—princes, marquises, counts, viscounts, and barons. Here was the source of the greater part of the membership of the upper house of peers in the bicameral system which was to be established.
In 1885 a cabinet was formed. Its membership included a minister-president and the heads of nine administrative departments. Rules for the conduct of affairs by this cabinet were decreed by the emperor. The latter, personifying the rights of sovereignty by reason of his direct descent from the gods, appeared as a personal despot. He exercised his powers in accordance with the advice of the cabinet, through the members of a bureaucracy entrusted with the routine of governing. However, he was not forced to govern in such a manner since he was the actual sovereign.
Three years later an imperial ordinance established a privy council. Ito now resigned his office as minister-president of the cabinet to become the president of the new body which was to consider the draft of the new constitution. The council, in the utmost secrecy, examined and formally promulgated the new constitution without the assistance, as far as is known, of the emperor and certainly without allowing the people or representatives of the people to have a voice in the matter. Indeed, of the nine million adult males at that time, but one hundred thousand belonged to political societies.
In such a manner the written constitution of the empire of the Rising Sun was formed. The first diet was elected and met in 1890.
The first chapter of this constitution contains seventeen articles only one of which was of native origin. It is the first and reads: “The empire of Japan shall be reigned over and governed by a line of emperors, unbroken for ages eternal.” The article correctly and concisely states the Japanese system of monarchy. All the other articles, except the eighth, were copied from chapter three of the Prussian constitution. Article eight, in briefer and more absolute form, is section fourteen of the Austrian fundamental law on imperial representation.
In view of the fact that the powers, which are not given to the diet explicitly or by necessary inference, are reserved to the emperor, any compilation of them must of necessity be incomplete. Only time and circumstance can develop them in their entirety. But one thing is certain. The limitation of the exercise of rights of the emperor by the consent of the diet is expressly set forth in the constitution. Hence, it may be said that the emperor knows what he must not do but he does not know what he may do. Article four states : “The emperor is the head of the empire, combining in himself the rights of sovereignty and exercising them according to the provisions of the present constitution.”
These rights of sovereignty are divided into three classes: (1) those reserved solely to the emperor, (2) those reserved to him with the consent of the diet, and (3) those in which he will not interfere.
The sovereign orders the laws passed by the diet to be issued and enforced. He is not required to issue or to enforce the laws but does so in his own discretion. He convokes, opens, and prorogues the diet. The lower house can be dissolved by him and he has not hesitated to do so on numerous occasions. Indeed, the diet, as the lower house is generally called, has probably been dissolved more times during its few years of work than the similar body of any civilized nation in a like period of years. If the diet as a whole passes any law which is unsatisfactory to the emperor, he can veto it and there is no recourse open to the diet but acquiescence. In the past, the emperor, on several occasions, has ordered the diet to comply with his wishes. Such is the veneration with which he is held, that an indication of his desires is sufficient. The appointment and dismissal of all civil and military officers is his prerogative. He alone determines the organization of the different branches of the government. The emperor is the supreme commander of the army and navy. He declares war, makes peace, and concludes treaties. It is not necessary nor customary to submit treaties to the diet for ratification unless they entail a new demand for money. In this case the actual treaty is not submitted but the necessity for the new expenditure appears in the next budget which is sent to the diet. The emperor proclaims a “state of siege.” He directs the grants of amnesty, pardon, or rehabilitation. It is clear that the power of this sovereign is more absolute than that of any other head of a great nation. Furthermore, it is certain that the use of these powers, through the cabinet, enables the weight and strength of this nation to be concentrated rapidly and effectively in crises.
Under the second heading, the emperor exercises legislative power with the consent of the diet and house of peers. When the legislative body is not in session, decrees or ordinances are issued but these must be submitted to the diet at the next session. However, there is seldom any trouble in this regard. Perhaps one of the greatest limitations to his power is the necessity to get an authorization from the diet to make available funds for new projects and new taxes. This does not embarrass the government greatly a5 will be shown in the discussion of the diet.
The judiciary are given the power to judge according to the constitution and the law in the name of the emperor. This is the last division and it is the only one in which the emperor does not interfere.
The cabinet is mentioned in the constitution in one article, the fifty-fifth. This article reads: “The respective ministers of state shall give their advice to the emperor and be responsible for it.” They are answerable to the emperor only and not to the diet. In fact, many adverse votes have been passed by the diet without affecting the life of the cabinet. They are further responsible to the emperor for all laws, ordinances, and rescripts. To obtain an idea of their duties, responsibilities, and rights, it is necessary to go back to a group of imperial ordinances issued in 1885-86. Here they are empowered to issue departmental ordinances. Department heads send to the cabinet drafts of new laws which pertain to their particular department. The delegation to their subordinates of numerous duties is allowed except the counter signature of laws, personal reports to the emperor, voting at cabinet meetings, and issue of departmental ordinances. Now the consent of the diet is necessary to the passage of a law; but the cabinet remains the chief initiator of bills to be brought before the diet. Such bills have the right of way unless the government agrees to a delay. They can be withdrawn at any time. Tbe cabinet has access to either house even though they are not members. They may attend committee meetings and may speak if the floor is not occupied. The control of legislation by the cabinet in every phase is apparent and real.
The government of Japan is largely a bureaucracy with all the red tape and power of that type of government, augmented and quickened by the power of the emperor.
An imperial ordinance of 1888, creating the privy council, stated that “though the privy council is the emperor’s highest resort of council, it shall not interfere with the executive.” It is an advisory body and its influence depends entirely upon the strength of the members and the faith of the emperor in its good judgment. In the first years of the new government and up to about 1925, its functions were somewhat overshadowed by the greater influence of the genro.
It will be remembered that every clan and even the later shogunates had their genros or group of wise old men who advised. In a like manner, the late emperor obtained the advice of the samurai when they grew older and had given up the direct care of the state. These men came to have great influence. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that, after they had exercised the powers of government as cabinet ministers, they were so used to it that they continued to control matters when they became the genro. It is certain that no important matters, such as war, treaties, diplomatic notes, or changes of cabinet were decided without their advice and, generally, their decision. They did not mix in political quarrels but kept aloof from such small matters. It is noticeable that they procured the appointment of Satsuma and Choshu men for the great posts of the empire for years and years. If at times an outsider was given an important post, such as Okuma at the time of the twenty-one demands, it was because of the scandals in naval administration and the ready acquiescence of Okuma to their policies. Gradually, however, they have passed away and but one remains, Prince Yamagata, who was recently consulted by the emperor in the change in the premiership. The secret of their power over the cabinet lies in many things such as prestige, as founders of the empire, having the ear of the emperor, and so on. But they have one means which never fails. By imperial decree, the posts of ministers of War and Navy are filled by general officers and flag officers. If the ministers of these two portfolios resign and no one can be found to accept the vacant places, the cabinet falls. In this manner these wise old men always have a trump ready for emergencies. With the death of the remaining member of the genro, the institution familiar to all clansmen will pass away and the emperor will govern through his council and cabinet, unless a new genro arises.
The Japanese legislature is of the bicameral type and consists of the usual house of peers and the lower house, called the diet. The personnel of the upper house contains members of the royal family, nobles of the five orders who have been elected thereto by their respective orders, persons nominated by the emperor for meritorious service, one member from each county nominated by the largest taxpayers and who has been appointed by the emperor. The age limit for the royal family is eighteen, for peers twenty-five, and for the remainder thirty-five. The length of the term for all members, except royalty, is seven years, a decided change from the custom of other houses of peers. In 1925 the house contained 150 peers, 125 imperial nominees, 66 taxpayers, and 4 members of the imperial academy, a total of 345. The royal members are included in the peers. It is seen that the upper house is distinctly aristocratic and that it is controlled absolutely by the emperor. The two houses exercise identical powers in regard to legislation. The peers have little sympathy with the democratic ideas of the diet and this explains the constant support which they have accorded the cabinet, the success of the cabinets in the face of violent opposition in the diet, and, finally, the thwarting of the lower house in its persistent attempts to secure a democratic government.
The diet is elected, under the new universal manhood suffrage bill, by an electorate consisting of all the males who are twenty- five years of age and who are permanent residents of the district in which they vote. The qualifications for a candidate are that he must be thirty years of age and be able to vote; but he cannot be a priest, school teacher, government contractor, election officer (in the district in which he runs), officer of the imperial household, revenue or police officer, soldier, sailor, bankrupt, incompetent, head of a noble familj, or a student—a rather extensive exception. The representation is by districts; one member is allowed to every 130,000 population.
The legal powers of the house of peers and the diet were assigned them by imperial decrees in 1889-90. Briefly they are that every law requires the consent of the diet; either house can initiate bills; both houses shall vote on cabinet bills; each house may adopt its own rules of procedure, providing they are not at variance with some imperial law; the members are generally free from arrest except in flagrant cases; and they are not responsible civilly for opinions or votes in session. The actual powers of the diet are limited because the cabinet is not responsible to it but to the emperor. Indeed the cabinet can suspend sittings of the diet for fifteen days and the emperor can dissolve it. This means an undesirable, heavy expense to the members for a new campaign. Needless to say, the dissolution of the diet is not popular.
Although either house can initiate bills, in real life they seldom do. Often the only bills introduced are those of the government, which generally have to do with budget and taxes.
Like Imperial Germany, if the budget is not voted, by constitutional law the budget for the previous year is reapplied. It is true that when the budget fails to pass there is some difficulty, particularly when new and expensive projects are already undertaken in advance of the diet’s approval of expenditure. But even then matters are not desperate, since the cabinet always has rather large sums available which do not come under the budget. The sixty-seventh article of the constitution exempts from the competence of the diet, either to reject or to reduce without consent of the cabinet, all expenditures involved in the exercise of the imperial prerogative, such as salaries of military and civil officials, departmental expenses, expenses on account of the army and navy, the gendarmes or militia, and expenses arising out of treaties. In addition, all expenditures which may have arisen by effect of law or which concern the legal obligation of the government are exempt. The list not subject to diet control tends to lengthen year by year. If the diet in one year grants an increase for an extra division of infantry for instance, the amount thereafter appears in the annual budget as a regular expenditure and cannot be taken away without the consent of the government. The feeble grip of the diet on the purse strings is only sufficient to enable it to prevent the government from expending large sums on some new project. However, these generally pass when they have to do with some military plans, because of the strength of the military in Japan. If the diet cannot control expenditures, there are numerous instances where it has halted such projects as tax bills, election laws, and enforcement of civil codes. This has been accomplished by criticism, obstruction, and even actual violence. Not so long ago (1913) a mob was incited in Tokyo to attack the homes of government supporters. The government can neither increase taxes, lay new taxes, nor float loans without the consent of the diet. The power of the lower house over even those is not absolute, since the emperor can order compliance or dissolve the diet. Besides, the cabinet can generally secure the support of one or more parties. It may cost an important post or even a few bribes well placed, but the law will finally be enacted.
Public opinion is growing with the education of the people. The diet is beginning to feel the support of the masses and, with this backing, the government has been forced occasionally to comply with its wishes. Even so the cabinet has always the loyalty of the people to the emperor available. It is only necessary to indicate the wishes of the emperor and all is cleared for the passage of a measure. If the diet wishes to petition the emperor, it must be done by-address, with the approval of the majority.
The diet may pass a bill but there is no law which requires the bill to be enforced and applied. The execution of laws is the sole prerogative of the emperor. When the enforcement requires money, the cabinet must ask for money for the purpose or the law is dormant. Thus the Factory Act of 1910 was not put into effect until 1916 because the government did not choose to ask for the necessary money.
The diet is allowed by law to meet once a year for a ninety-day session. It has been customary in the past to call the session for December 20, rise for the New Year, and reconvene a month later. This leaves but two months. Should the cabinet suspend sittings for fifteen days, six weeks remain. Plenary sessions are held every other day and last about three hours.
Members of either house may interrogate the ministers, except those for the army and navy. The ministers may reply or not as they wish. In the latter case they must give their reasons in writing for declining to reply.
Modification of the constitution can be effected when it is submitted by imperial order to the diet. It cannot be initiated in the legislature. For ratification, two-thirds of the members must be present in each house and two-thirds of those present must vote in the affirmative. The houses vote separately.
No modification of the imperial house law shall be submitted to the diet, says article seventy-four. There is then no opportunity for the diet to determine the line of succession to the throne as has been done in English history several times.
The parties in Japan are not founded upon principles but on personalities. Some of the samurai who brought about the restoration are responsible for the two largest. Several smaller ones have sprung up since the establishment of the two older, the Seiyukai and Deshikai. The platforms of the larger are much alike while the smaller ones tend toward the labor point of view. The parties have found that it generally pays to support the government. Besides, the government controls the gendarmerie who supervise the elections. Both of the large parties seem to be anxious to support the government. The opposition is composed of the small fry and the larger party out of favor. No mention has been made of the Satsuma-Choshu party. It is really not a political party but a clanish perennial party. This Sat-Cho group have controlled matters for years through their leaders in the cabinet, the privy council, and the genro. At first the military from these two clans were the dominant party. Although the military faction is still strong, the Sat-Cho combination have allied themselves by marriage with the great financial and business houses. They still make their influence felt in the diet and in the government.
Article sixty-one of the constitution provides that no suits at law, which relate to the rights of the citizens, alleged to have been infringed by the measures of the executive authorities shall be taken cognizance of by a court of civil law. Such suits shall be judged by courts of administrative law.
All Japanese are liable to taxes and military service. Subject to restrictions placed by the law, they have equal rights to appointment to civil office. An examination is required. They can change their abode freely; their houses cannot be searched; they enjoy freedom of speech, public assembly, writing, association, and religion. They can be arrested only according to law and must be tried by judges. Juries are unknown. Their property is inviolate. These rights are subject to the restrictions placed by law, and can be curtailed in times of emergency. There is a compulsory educational law.
It is apparent from the foregoing that the government of Japan can be classed only under the oligarchical type. It is so ordered as to give the Japanese citizen complete liberty but little power. Like the Reichstag of other days, the diet could be called a glorified debating society.
From the beginning of the present form of government in Japan in 1890, the sessions of the diet have been notable for the constant and bitter opposition which the popular house has shown toward the government of the day. This continual uproar was only stilled into a temporary calm during the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars when all parties and every citizen united to support the government in loyalty to the emperor. Except for these two short periods of national peril, the yearly meetings of the lower house have indicated clearly the desire of the masses to control the government and, on the other hand, the determination of the elder statesmen to continue the oligarchical government. The genro and their followers, through the utilization of the best brains of the empire culled by civil service examinations and wise policies of prosperity at home and security abroad, have been able to overwhelm the efforts of the liberals. The genro were aided in this by lack of interest of the masses, who felt, and justly so, that the fight was merely between different factions of the same class and, therefore, no concern of theirs.
The years passed by. Education became more universal. Okuma and the liberals were able to make themselves heard more often. A class of merchants, educated, business like, and liberal, came to the aid of the lowly liberals. The business of the nation grew with and as the result of the fruition of the plans of the leaders to westernize the entire country—in a word to commercialize it. Many leaders realized that Japan, without raw materials, must industrialize like England, or remain a second- rate power. These business men, like others of a different nationality but in a similar island empire, became the democratic backbone of the liberal movement. Numerous measures were forced on an unwilling government by public opinion, such as the universal manhood suffrage bill. The percentage of illiteracy is one of the lowest of any civilized country in the world. The taste of the reading public—and over half the families throughout Japan take a daily paper—is essentially serious. Many articles of a thinking type are printed, such as bicameral system of government, decay of civilization, and the socialism of Karl Marx. The widespread popularity of this kind of reading indicates a quickening interest in government and its problems by the everyday man. During the latter part of the World War there was apparent a tendency in some quarters towards radicalism of a communist type, probably fostered by its agents. But after the earthquake common sense returned to the Japanese and all realized that work and work alone would make a great nation of Japan. Radicalism was not the answer. There still remains, however, an increasing liberal and also a growing socialistic party. In the last few years, the farmers have begun to advance their grievances which, like farmers elsewhere, result from the high cost of living. Some 67 per cent of the people belong to this class and an attempt is being made to organize them. The result of all these various movements and tendencies is to strengthen the growing liberal party. Although the cabinet is still responsible to the emperor, one fell recently through “loss of face,” following adverse public opinion. It is seen that even oligarchical governments feel the rising tide of public opinion and respond to it in some degree. But the old order passes away naturally with the death of the genro. The power of the Sat-Cho group does not weaken quite so easily. In recent years, particularly during the war and afterwards, big business began to take an interest in government and legislation. It is said that business has followed the western policy of subsidizing certain prominent members of the diet and even of the cabinet and departments. Many large business concerns are owned in part by an interested government. The royal family has invested heavily. Not long ago, it was charged that big business attempted to make sugar a monopoly through wholesale bribery of diet members. Be that as it may, much intermarriage of business families and the powerful Sat-Cho group has occurred. In the present and coming stage it cannot be said that the Sat- Cho alliance has lost all power, although it may be changed somewhat by the addition of other policies, notably those of business.
A careful estimation of these various factors indicates that Japan is gradually moving towards a more democratic form of government. But, in view of the policies of business men elsewhere in the past, it is by no means certain that this new government, as it is changed gradually, will be any the less imperialistic than the old, except insofar as good business demands a more conciliatory attitude.
Dr. McLaren has stated in a recent article:
There will arise a long succession of difficult problems demanding solution, but with a government resting upon the support of a politically free people led by a monarch, loyalty to whom is an article of faith, no problem need be feared. With its manhood preserved and developed by the free exercise of its facilities in all directions, no nation need dread what the future has in store.